About Me - Jo Tantum

Jo started working with baby’s and toddlers at the age of 16 at a local Family Centre in Nottingham. At 17 she started studying for her Nursery Nurse Diploma at Basford Hall College in Nottingham. As part of the course Jo undertook several placements including working with babies with breathing difficulties at the Nottingham City Hospital; working with baby’s in Day Nurseries and with a family with twins.

After qualifying Jo worked as a nanny for 7 month old twins and a 3 year old; and in a Day Nursery with babies as young as 6 weeks old.

Jo gained more experience working as a nanny in Australia and for a family with newborn twins in Wiltshire. Realising that she wanted to continue working solely with 'babies' Jo made the move into Maternity Nursing which gave her the freedom to carry on traveling and care for lots of children around the world. To give more families the support they needed to become happier and confident parents understanding their baby's needs, Jo wrote Baby Secrets. This became a best seller and has even been translated into Polish.

Earlier this year Jo also travelled to New Zealand to launch Baby Secrets at the British Embassy in Auckland. During this time she also had a huge PR launch which included TV and magazines. Jo is a Baby Sleep Specialist and Twin Expert, she now runs a private practise offering Rescue Packages to sleep deprived parents and is holding Sleep Workshops at Harley Street from July.

Go to the Links page to find out more about Jo and her secrets on GMTV and BBC Radio Nottingham.

About Collette Mitchell

Welcome Collette, you are now part of the Baby Secrets Team.

Collette is from East Sussex and has been working with baby’s and children for over 11 years. Over the years Collette has qualified from various course including the NNEB(CACHE) and has certificates from National Association for Maternal and Child Welfare – Working with Babies –(NANCW) and Family and Community Care (GNVQ). She has a current First Aid Certificate and CRB check .

Collette has worked with many families with babies and small children during the last 11 years , all with glowing references! Here are just a few...

“Collette is a wonderfully capable Nanny who contended admirably with my 3 young children. She is a gentle and kind person who demonstrated thoughtfulness and a caring attitude on a daily basis. She has excellent organisational skills and remains calm and efficient under duress”
Dr Katherine Gardiner – Consultant Neonatal Paediatrician – King Edward Memorial Hospital .WA.

“Collette has a calm and pleasant personality ,She is honest and trustworthy and I feel that she is very well suited to a career in childcare, I wish her every success”
Jennie Jefferies – Proprietor –Jigsaw Day Nursery-St Leonards on Sea

“I found Collette to be reliable and trustworthy, and a lovely young woman .Collette became part of our family. We wish her all the best in her future endeavours”
Patricia Aromin MD –Paediatric Neurological Surgery –USA

How Jo and Collette met -
I met Collette 4 years ago when I was teaching a set of 10 month old twins how to sleep through the night in their cots! Collette was their Nanny . She worked closely with me for 10 days eagerly learning my methods so she could continue after I left. I found Collette to be calm, patient and understanding to the babies needs, and they obviously adored her.

I have kept in touch with Collette and we have now worked through my ‘Baby Secrets’ training programme together. Sharing all my Secrets! Throughout this Collette has shown that she understands baby’s and their families needs.

I have been finding it increasingly difficult to help all the parents who contact me for advice and help. I am delighted I have found Collette and I am very confident that she can help me ,help you! I will still be on hand to advise Collette with the families she works with.

As I cannot clone myself! I feel Collette is the next best thing and I trust her to pass all the knowledge she has gained from me and reassure all the parents out there who need help and support with their little ones!

"I was born and raised in East Sussex. I then trained for four years as a nanny at Eastbourne College obtaining three childcare qualifications, (GNVQ, NAMCW, & CACHE). I have been an international nanny for 12 years working with babies and children aged 4 months to 12 years. I enjoy working with babies; I have known Jo for four years since we worked together sleep training 10-month-old twins. I have recently taken training from Jo, learning all her “Baby Secrets” and I'm really looking forward to putting her training into action, to help parents better understand and enjoy their baby and achieve many good nights of sleep for the whole family."