My mother-in-law keeps being really nasty about the fact I am seriously considering giving up breast-feeding my baby son. She says all mums should feed their babies for six months and I will harm him if I don't do so. Is she right?

Well, medically speaking, there's not the slightest doubt breast-feeding is better for babies than bottle-feeding is.

However, I'm sorry to say that at the moment fewer than one in 100 new mums manage to feed their babes exclusively on breast milk up to six months of age. So you're far from alone in wanting to give up earlier.

Before you actually decide to pack it in, check out the National Childbirth Trust website, at www.nct.org.uk/breastfeeding