Expert profile

I’ve worked for many years as a teacher, mainly with special needs children, and also as a nursery nurse. At the moment I’m working towards a Diploma in Child Psychology. I’ve talked to many women who worry so much during their pregnancy that they don’t really connect with the amazing experience of creating a new life. I advise mums-to-be to take time out just to focus on simply enjoying their pregnancy and changing body.

Marilyn, baby feeding advisor and mum

My top tips

• Aim to make meal times as calm and leisurely as possible during weaning. Make the emphasis enjoying food and social interaction.
• Always try to put your baby into their cot awake so that they learn to fall asleep by themselves and if they wake up in the night they aren’t frightened by being in a different place.
• At the weaning stage your baby needs to be exposed to as many flavours, textures and colours as possible to help avoid faddy eating in childhood.

About me

With my first pregnancy I could not tolerate the smell of alcohol and even refused to walk past pubs! I think that must have been my pregnant body’s way of telling me what was and wasn’t good for me and my baby.

Babies are so different, even when they have the same mum. With my first baby I really battled with breastfeeding. With the fourth baby the problem was the opposite, I battled to stop and fed her until she was well past her 2^nd birthday!