KJ86

I have been invited to a 30th birthday bash with a fancy dress theme of 80's Iconic! This means we cant just wear the general sweat bands, neon etc; It has to be something or someone iconic. One friend is going as a rubix cube and others as the mario brothers etc. I need ideas for a fun ( easily recognisable) 80's costume that isnt going to break the bank! All ideas welcome thanks

Im not a regular baker but when i do i seem to have success...so far :). My grandad is 78 in a few days and he is diabetic and fighting cancer. I said ill bake a birthday cake but need a diabetic recipe (he likes victoria sponges with sliced strawberry to decorate the top. Have you got any simple recipes and filling recipes I could use- thanks

I am looking for some birthday party ideas for my daughter who is turning three. Last year we did a big party, hired a room and made lots of food and to be honest it was a too much for a two year old who wouldnt remember it. I am not going to deny that peer pressure did play apart, (i know it sounds silly as grown woman) but all my mum chums were holding big parties for their children and as i had a small family party for my daughters first, we decided to also hire a venue etc and invite lots of friends and family. We spent nowhere near as much as everyone else but thats not the point. This year I have said 'no' to the over the top big party and I am going to hold the party at home for my daughters and 5 of her closest friends. As im having it at home I would still like to have a theme or a unique idea to keep kids entertained so it doesnt just feel like another play date and ensure my daughter has a great time. Ideas please, As i said i dont want to spend a fortune- all suggestions welcome :)

I am currently planning my daughters 3rd birthday party. So far we have decided on an ice cream party at home to minimise costs (last year we hired a room, made way too much food and had a sickness bug cut the guest numbers from 12 to 7!) And to be honest we only hired the room because all my mum chums were holding big parties for their children. So, this year we said 'Not again- she is 3 and wont fully appreciate a bigger party.' We are keeping it simple a mid-afternoon get together where the kids can play and then decorate their own ice cream with sprinkles, sauces and such like. We kept all the decorations from last year so literally only have to buy some ice cream and toppers and party favours.

I refuse to pay out for goodie bags as to get decent goodie bags ready for 10 children is costly. Last year we did our own chocolate dipped apples on a stick covered in sprinkles. The kids loved them and they worked out at about 75p per child. This year we want to do something in keeping with the ice cream party but still keep it very low cost. Any ideas?- all suggestions welcome!

My daughter is 2 and 1/2 and has caught head lice from her 5 year old cousin. We first tried Full Marks Mousse and followed the instructions to the letter but we still had live lice after treatment. The same happened with both Hedrin and Lyclear! The pharmacist said that as our area has had a particularly bad infestation in schools and nurseries recently that the head lice may be resistant to the pharmacy bought lotions. He said another mum had told him that aftr the lotions failed she used Listerine on her childs head- left it on for 2 hours under a shower cap and then rinsed and used the normal comb and condition technique. Apparently it killed the lice dead. Has anyone heard of this and has it worked for you- getting desperate now and costly!

My 2 year old has well and truly hit her terrible two's. She is definitely testing her boundaries etc at the mo and the health visitor at her two year check said she was above average and this could mean she is frustrated as her mind knows things and wants to do things her motor skills are not developed for yet. She said to start now with her reward chart now but the example she gave me seemed far to detailed and complex for a 2 year old. I will take her advice but want to do a simpler one -maybe take pictures of things like her potty etc and just have some big stars to stick by each one as and when she does them each day. Have you any tried and tested ideas for a behaviour chart for a toddler and how did you reward your child ie daily, weekly etc. Any advice and ideas welcome- thanks

I do a lot of fundraising for Cancer Research UK and i'm looking for some unique fundraising ideas. My last fundraiser was a Christmas party and I have a valentines bake-sale coming up in February. I was looking at doing a Mad Hatters Tea Party this Easter at our local venue but I made the mistake of suggesting it to my sister in law who this year has set herself the task of fundraising for another charity. She went ahead and booked a venue and has already started advertising and as we are not from a large town I felt I didnt want to create competition with her as raising money shouldn't be about that. As I have done the usual coffee mornings, sweepstakes, parties for different occasions etc etc. I would appreciate any new and exciting ideas for fundraising. All ideas welcome.

I hold a lot of fundraisers for Macmillan Cancer Support and Cancer Research UK and have currently got a couple events planned such as christmas party, pub quiz and valentines party, but we are now looking ahead to easter and I suggested a Mad Hatters Tea Party which we are now doing, but I would like some advice/ ideas on games we could play or any cheap money making ideas you may have which would fit with our theme. They need to be low cost so we generate a lot of proceeds.

Any other ideas for future fundraisers are always welcome- thanks.

My 21 month old daughter suffers with separation anxiety. It all started from about 4 months old as she had colic and only wanted myself and my other half to comfort her and has continued since then.

She even has anxiety when were with family. Some days she is more confident than others and is happy to play in the garden with my sister and mum without me, but if i try to leave the house or just go to the loo without telling her where im going she goes into hysterics.

We have just sleep trained her and she is learning to self soothe, which im hoping will inturn help with the separation anxiety. Needless to say she did get more clingy after we initially started the sleep training, but now we are now looking at combating the separation anxiety.

I would appreciate any suggestions or experiences you may have had with separation anxiety and how best to combat it ie should i leave her with my mum, explaining ill be back in a little bit and return after 10 minutes and build the time up each time? My mum and family are very happy to help with this and at least she will be with someone she knows.

Any ideas welcome.

I started controlled crying with my daughter (21 months) for the first time tonight based on a plan set up by myself and the health visitor. It took 45 minutes of her hysterically crying with me going back into her room at regular intervals and she finally went quiet and i found her asleep on the floor. I gently put her back into bed and feel really proud of myself.

Only now ive been speaking to my friend who did the same thing with her little girl about 4 months ago and I asked her what to do if my daughter wakes in the night (which is not common for her). She told me she only did the controlled crying at bedtime and settled her daughter as much as possible in the night ie put dummy back in on stroke her head and once the bedtime was off to a tee the night time wakings sorted themselves.

Do you think the slow way is better and i should stick to my original bedtime controlled crying routine and allow the night wakings to slowly sort themselves as my daughter becomes better at self soothing or should i continue the controlled crying through the night?? Any suggestions and experiences????

Im throwing a baby shower for my friend. One of the games we will be playing is Baby Shower Charades and I could use some help with some funny baby related topics for the guests to act out. For example - Taking A Pregnancy Test.

Nothing dirty please, but funny as to get all the guests involved and laughing :D

I have a 19 month old daughter and she enjoys arts and crafts. It has gotten to a point where I have worked my way through my list of projects ie - crowns, handprints, diy wrapping paper, stickers, calendars etc. The problem is that she is still too young to focus for long periods of time without getting bored and most online ideas are either fiddly or we've already done them. So, would appreciate any more ideas (unique ideas) to keep my daughter entertained.

I have a 19 month old daughter and she enjoys arts and crafts. It has gotten to a point where I have worked my way through my list of projects ie - crowns, handprints, diy wrapping paper, stickers, calendars etc. The problem is that she is still too young to focus for long periods of time without getting bored and most online ideas are either fiddly or we've already done them. So, would appreciate any more ideas (unique ideas) to keep my daughter entertained.

I am 39 weeks pregnant and yesterday was experiencing what felt like nerve pain in my lower back and braxton hicks. During the night i woke up and could barely roll over and get up for the toilet and this morning it really hurts when i walk. What could this be?

My boyfriend and I currently share a flat with one other person. I am now 20 weeks pregnant and need to be out ideally by the middle of Sept as our flatmate is leaving due to my pregnancy. The flat we're in at the moment has no heating (causing some damp issues) and three flights of stairs just up to the bedrooms and my landlord is very flaky and unhelpful.

We are in a very low band in the homechoice register and if we have to pay more rent on a property, we would rather get somewhere we like.

We're saving for a deposit and rent for a new place but in the long run can only afford 1 bed flats. A friend of mine told me that if we can save up the deposit and 1st months rent for a decent sized property (because of my cut in wages and not returning to work after the baby is born) we can apply to the council and claim housing benefit. She said it doesn't matter that i would have moved into a more expensive property- they are so short of houses in Cornwall that they would make up my rent for me.

Is this the case or will they say that we chose such an expensive property now pay for it! Or could this be an option for me. It would save us moving again if we decide to expand our family in the future.

We have never claimed anything before and are both unsure on how everything works. We will have a low income. Does the amount of housing benefit depend on the amount of rent you have to pay?

I feel lots of movement and flutters consistently, but I am worried that the little one will get stage fright and not cooperate. Is there any thing i can do to try and keep my little one active. I heard cold juice drinks work?