“Babies and toddlers are people, too, and they deserve empathy and respect, not ‘training’ through techniques such as rigid routines, controlled crying or spanking,” she says.

“This allows children to respond positively to their environment and to develop appropriate boundaries through mutual respect and strong family relationships.”

Pinky is the guest speaker at this month’s Canberra Baby & Beyond Expo at the AIS Arena.

She trained as a nurse but, on a whim, enrolled in a copywriting course that took her career in a different direction; she started writing health education and parenting articles for magazines.

Her no-nonsense parenting approach hit a welcome chord of relief for parents who were becoming overwhelmed and increasingly anxious with the overload of information about babies available on the internet.

“Information was kept in an ivory tower before the internet. Now people have all the information, but it divides us into camps. We have lost our intuition with so much noise all around us. That’s why I wrote my first book, ‘Parenting by Heart’,” says Pinky.

She has gone on to publish three more books, “Sleeping Like a Baby”, “100 Ways to Calm the Crying” and “Toddler Tactics”. She also runs a private practice in Melbourne, is an International Board Certified lactation consultant and launched her own range of “boobie bikkies” specifically to help support the nutritional needs of breastfeeding mothers.

“Today there is more pressure on parents to get it right. Mothers can feel like failures after reading rigid books and it increases anxiety about sleep time and routines. No one tells people that you can make changes gradually, in steps, with love,” she says.

Pinky will give free seminars at the Canberra Baby & Beyond Expo on baby sleep and toddler tactics.

“People are often comfortable with the gentle approach in the first year, but as babies grow older it can be challenging for parents. They need to better understand the capacity of the child to address what is happening,” she says.

“Look at what’s really going on for your baby – your baby isn’t out to get you! Ask yourself is it safe? Is it respectful? Does it feel right? Take a step back. You know your baby best.

“I have got really lovely emails from women who go from being stressed to enjoying their babies. It’s not acknowledged how hard, tiring and intense motherhood is.”

And her name? “Pinky” seems to have been derived from her real name Patricia during school days, though no one in her family, she says,  seems terribly sure why.

Canberra Baby & Beyond Expo. AIS Arena, Bruce, 9am-3pm, August 15-16. “CityNews” is the expo’s media partner. Tickets and information at canberrababyexpo.com.au