Baby Squad

If your baby or toddler is driving you round the bend, the latest parenting programme may give you some reassurance, if not the solution to your particular problem!

Sam Pope spoke to Patsy Palmer, Baby Squad's presenter, to see how her programme differs from all the other parenting shows around.

• The new kid on the block
• "It's really a televised coffee morning!"
• "There's no hard and fast rule to parenting."
• "If a TV programme can provide some answers, then brilliant!"
• Where to next?

Bringing up children, and how the heck you do it, has become one of the hottest topics around. It seems everyone is glued to parenting programmes that make you thank your lucky stars that other people's kids behave even worse than your own. Even non-parents tune in, fascinated and probably rather horrified by what they see (and perhaps quite grateful that they have an effective contraception).

The new kid on the block is UKTV Style's Baby Squad, presented by mother and ex-Eastender Patsy Palmer. As a working mum, Patsy jumped at the idea of being able to shoot a ten-week series on something she feels strongly about and which fortunately fitted in well with her hectic parenting and work schedules, while providing her with some fantastic parenting tips too!

"The concept for the programme came from the calls parents were making to the Cow & Gate hotline," explained Patsy. "Many problems kept cropping up time and time again, which showed there was a real need to provide information to address them. What makes us different to some of the other parenting programmes out there is that we ask real mums and dads to contribute their words of advice on a particular dilemma, and then they choose an expert from a panel to address a family's particular problem. It's like a televised coffee morning!"

Basically, the camera crews go in and film the featured family and examples of the problem(s) they are facing. Patsy and her panel of mums and dads watch the footage, discuss the problem - adding their own experiences and pearls of wisdom - and then decide on an appropriate expert to send to the family to deal with the situation professionally. The expert helps them out for a week then leaves them for a month to put into practice the coping strategies suggested. Once that month is up, the expert returns to see how the family has managed and if they have seen any improvement.

Patsy is keen to emphasise that mums and dads should take what they can from the series and not regard the advice as gospel. "At the end of the day, the advice will work for some people but not all. What's great is that there's a lot of wisdom going round for them to think about, from the expert's suggestions to the tips given by the panel of parents. There is no hard and fast rule about parenting and whatever route is taken has to be one that fits with the family."

Many of the problems raised on the show are ones Patsy herself has dealt with in the past, including feeding, sleeping, behaviour and sibling rivalry. I asked her if she had access to such a wealth of resources when dealing with the trials and tribulations her children put her through as babies and toddlers.

"I was certainly not afraid to ask people for help and advice with my three!" she laughed. "Mainly friends and family but anyone really who could understand what I was going through. That's why I think it's so important to have programmes such as these. In the past, parents had easy access to an extended family for help whereas these days, people are more spread out and, more often than not, work. They need all the help they can get so if a TV programme can provide them with some answers, then brilliant."

"The joy of this as well is that they can get advice on television. Some parents are reluctant to ask for help but this way they have access to suggestions via their TV. They can then decide to follow a course of action or not - the ball's in their court."

Having enjoyed making this series, Patsy would definitely be interested in doing another. It has given her some useful insights into parenting and the problems faced by today's mums and dads. And her favourite moment? "I think it has to be an episode where people thought this little boy's bad behaviour was down to his having red hair!" she laughs. Enough said…

Baby Squad starts on UKTV Style from Monday 19th September.

Where to next?

• Having toddler troubles of your own? Look at our On the Couch series!
• Bad behaviour driving you potty? Have a moan with other parents on our forum!