Myleene Klass on age gaps, loving lockdown and baby number four

Mother&Baby enjoyed a socially-distanced catch up with musician and presenter Myleene Klass, mum to Ava, 13, Hero, nine, and Apollo, one.

Pregnancies can be totally different

I’ve been pregnant in my 20s, in my 30s, and now my 40s, and it was a very different pregnancy. Apollo was the heaviest of my babies, so I really did slow down. I also felt hugely vulnerable, because you know just how lucky you are. You almost know too much! You start off in early pregnancies not knowing anything and then it kind of goes the other way as you discover just how many things you need to look out for, and that can be kind of intimidating.

The age gap works brilliantly for us

There’s quite a gap between my children, but it’s such an incredible gap! What’s been interesting for me – and such a huge relief – is that when you have your firstborn, you can never have a shower, never sit down… but now it’s so lovely that the girls can help so much, and that they want to. My eldest daughter, Ava, calls herself his mother because she’s just brilliant with him, so she sees herself as his mini mum, and my second daughter, Hero, will take him out on his little baby swing. There are some mornings I wake up and he’s not in the cot because they’ve snuck him out to play with him!

To enjoy the milestones

Because I feel like Apollo will be my last baby, I’m trying to slow time down – whereas, with Ava, I tried to race her to walk and was so excited for her to get her first tooth. With Apollo, I’ll be surprised if he’s 21 and tying his own shoelaces, as I’m sure I’ll still be doing it for him! You know when the girlfriends moan about those mothers? That’s gonna be me! Oh my god, I’m going to be that mother-in-law, because I just want him to be my baby forever.

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Uh oh. Some of us mums are being chastised for ‘pumping’. 🤣 No one bats an eyelid prepping their own breakfast, why choose to get flustered over my baby having his? Boobs were designed to feed. How funny that some fat, cells and glands could so deeply offend so many. Being a mum is hard enough. You can’t do right for doing wrong. Seemingly, everyone knows how to raise YOUR baby except you. If you feed with formula, you’re supposedly the devil, if you breastfeed, you’re offending those that don’t or can’t and worse yet, the patriarchy won’t be able to control themselves...stop titillating the men folk! My body, my baby, my choice. I’ve been exclusively breastfeeding Apollo for 11 months. He’s my miracle baby. It’s a part of our bond. I love, LOVE doing it for him. The photos of other women breastfeeding, pumping, normalise things for me and if mine, in turn, do the same for other mothers who feel embarrassed, judged or that they should need to stifle their baby under a Muslin lest they offend some wallflower with their life giving, breastfeeding skills, I‘ll continue posting. The cracked nipples, feeding through mastitis, engorgement, bleeding, blocked milk ducts, the fear someone’s left the freezer drawer open and ruined your milk stash, the night pumping, the leaking, the boulder sized bras cutting up your shoulders, the extra weight your body clings onto, trying not to spill a drop as you decant at work, timing your feeds so you don’t explode, watching what you eat and drink, these mums deserve support and respect, not critique. What a bunch of babies.

A post shared by myleeneklass (@myleeneklass) on Jul 14, 2020 at 7:46am PDT

It’s lovely to be part of a team

Both my partner, Simon, and I have been single parents for so long, so neither of us really knew how to do it together, as we’ve never had to. So, to be able to parent together and to watch him do the things he does, like do his work with a baby on his hip, is a real privilege, and it’s a side to him I guess I wouldn’t have got to see. I was working the other day and he’d looked after the baby and fed all the children and I was like, oh my god, I should have baby number four in the oven already!

I’ve loved lockdown with my family

I know there is a lot to feel negative about right now, but I’m really enjoying the positive side of lockdown. I’m getting the mat leave I never would have had. I’m loving being at home and being with all the children, seeing what the girls are up to. I just love the time I’m having with Apollo, and that there’s no rush to do anything. I don’t have to be anywhere; it’s just unadulterated family time, and I’m treasuring it.

Music is a great all-rounder

I cannot imagine or fathom why people would think music is a soft subject, but it’s always been treated as such. So this is a wonderful time for music to be reintroduced, because it uses all the elements of all of the subjects. Being able to pull all those things together and do music lessons with my children, and to put these out to other mums who are finding homeschooling quite challenging, is really wonderful. To see that kids are getting extra points now from their teachers for going the extra mile with my music classes is just so exciting, and to know I’ve done that with my girls is something we’ll be able to treasure forever.

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