2 separate questions here - both mummy/child related.....

[sissy89]

1. My 6 week old has a blocked nose and is really struggling to sleep/feed. I'm going to get some saline drops but is there any that anyone recommends? Are the calpol ones good or is there anything that's better than that?

1. My 7 year olds birthday on Sunday. She didn't want a party this year, just to take some friends out for lunch so I've booked a table at her favourite restaurant. They get a starter, main and pudding. I'm just looking for things they can do to keep entertained while waiting for food. Little games etc....can anyone think of any that they can do say around a table? They won't be able to get up and run around etc as the restaurant will be busy.

I am absolutely worn out (due to point 1 in this post) and literally cannot think of anything

Thanks people x

1. no idea
2. between courses. Look at circle games, this is a bing/bong, I went to the shops and bought/Chinese whispers/animal aplhabet. Simple crafts eg colouring in a party hat or those art sets where you scrap of the black to show colours underneath. Try Wilko and Baker Ross.

The calpol ones didn't seem any better than the unbranded ones to me, i found the best thing for helping sleep with a blocked nose was one of the plug in menthol things, but i cant remember if there is a recommended lower age limit.

For restaurant entertainment, what about story cubes? My 7 year old loves playing that, and it should keep then entertained long enough between courses.

We had a calpol plug-in thing that fills the room with a scent that helps them breathe. It’s with the calpol in our Tesco. And you need a snot sucker- it’s one of the less glamorous aspects of parenthood, but ours was a godsend for our perpetually snotty Ds. Use the saline drops to loosen the snot, then use the sucker to get it out. Use it during the day too to prevent build up. Raise the head of the cot if you can so they don’t get bunged up. We used to put a smear of vicks on the rim of the bottle to help him breathe while feeding (or on your bra/boob if you’re BF)

Our Ds was born with a cold, and has had almost constant colds for the first 3 winters- this is his fourth winter, and he’s had three colds since September 1st! I feel your pain

Snot sucker AKA nasal aspirator

www.pharmacyfirst.co.uk/snufflebabe-nasal-aspirator-cased.html