Mums, we need to talk. It's about this guilt thing. This thing we all do, all the time. I'm tired of it. Really tired. And I'm pretty sure you are, too. So shall we do something about it? Shall we ditch the guilt once and for all?

From the very minute you see that thin blue line (or pink, or snazzy digital reading - did you not buy a snazzy digital one? Maybe you should have ... ) you become part of an invisible gang. Not just the mummy gang. But the mummy guilt gang.

That drink you had before you knew you were pregnant. The brie you had in your sandwich yesterday. The coffee you said yes to at work. There's always something to feel guilty about.

As your pregnancy progresses and you start reading up on the dos and don'ts, and well meaning friends - even strangers - start imparting their infinite parenting wisdom, it's hard to feel like you're ever getting anything right.

That’s why we support C&G baby club’s Love Don’t Judge campaign. They believe there is only one way to raise a happy healthy baby, and that’s your way. Amen to that!

Decisions, decisions

And this is especially important because once your baby arrives it gets even harder: each and every decision you make is loaded. Each and every day is filled with a million and one tiny decisions about the way you should 'parent'.

When did parenting even become a verb? Didn't our own mothers just get on with being nouns?

Every day there's a new parenting headline with new advice to follow.

And even in our own circle of friends and family, everyone feels free to wade in with their opinions.

'Don't cuddle your baby too much or you'll spoil him.'

'I never could have gone back to work as early as you did. I can't imagine her being at nursery for eight hours a day.'

'Are you REALLY giving up breastfeeding so soon? I breastfed until mine were three.'

It never ends

And it's not just the baby and toddler years that are racked with guilt.

You get to school age and Evie's in the top reading group and just LOVES books whereas your child isn't quite there yet. Maybe it's your fault for - oh - we don't know - not breastfeeding them long enough so you damaged their IQ or not holding flashcards up when they were two (or hell - even when they were in the womb?).

And then you bought a ready-made supermarket sponge cake but Sam's mum posted a photo on Facebook of the amazing 3D cake with all the Frozen characters modelled to sheer perfection out of ready-rolled icing. And you feel a bit crap in comparison.

Getting it all wrong

And then when we get it wrong, the guilt hammers home even harder.

That day when we were knackered and busy and the kids were whining on and on and we lost it and snapped. GUILT.

The day when we promised we'd go to the park but had to work and they had to go to a friend's house instead. GUILT.

That day (OK - lots of days) when we were too busy and worn out to cook from scratch and it was fishfingers for tea again. GUILT.

... for a reason

The thing is - none of us are perfect. And most of the decisions we make aren't stand-alone choices. They're all tangled with other interconnecting factors that mean we can only ever do the best with the cards that we're dealt.

Yes, your sister's baby may have slept like a dream, self-settling from week two, whereas you regularly find yourself sleeping on the floor next to your sleep-fighting monkey. But that's the baby you've got.

Yes, your best friend's toddler might have guzzled veg like they were going out of fashion but your own chucks every green thing from their plate on the floor in disgust. But that's the toddler you've got.

Yes, you go to work and your child goes to nursery. But that's your mortgage and lack of millionaire husband.

We really are just doing our best.

Guilt be gone!

So isn't it time we ditched the guilt? Imagine how much nicer life would feel without it; how much better off our kids would be without our guilty baggage. Imagine what you could do with the hours you waste feeling guilty; the fun times you could all have together if you weren't wasting time on guilt.

That’s exactly what C&G baby club’s #LoveDon’tJudge is all about: empowering us all to follow our instincts. After all, we’re all in this together and we need support, NOT judgement. It's time to high-five each other for doing the best we can with what we've got. It's time to admit we all make mistakes but we always try harder next time.

And it's time to recognise that it's not our children judging us on the Pinterest-fail birthday cakes and holding grudges against us for that one day, three weeks ago when Mummy was a big grump.

It's time to be kinder to ourselves and say: Mums, guilt be gone!