cally - i hear you on the early wake ups - we have had a lot of those lately... and the norm is now about 6 which i still hate!! we have him going to bed at the normal 7-7.30 time so at least that transition has happened, i had these awful visions of him being too tired to stay up past 6.30.
MM - N has one bottle of milk a day at bedtime.. he asks for it but i am sure it is habit not a need... i think if they are getting calcium from other sources then if they drop them - great. personally it isnt something i will force i figure he will drop it soon enough and i love giving it to him! well done on losing the night one though - i know how hard it is to see those break throughs through when you are tired and you KNOW something else will work faster...
we went and checked out the creche nearby again today and i think we will go with it... for 2 days a week. so he will have 2 days creche and 2 days fdc til i stop work. not ideal but ok.. and then i think we will stick with the creche. it is excellent and i think he will thrive there actually - it is a small room with 10 kids 15 months to 2yo ish. and the outdoor area is AWESOME! he went wild when we were out there. think it will be fab for his gross motor skills... anyway will see how we go but feeling great it is getting sorted and dh is also stoked. it is good to hear how katie and leila love their day centres too.. makes me feel more positive about it all (MM how is maddie going at hers??).