Real answers to mums' questions

Early pregnancy symptoms usually appear 4 to 6 weeks after the first day of your last period, around the time it is late: tender breasts, deep tiredness, nausea, needing to pee more often. None is reliable on its own, because many look like premenstrual signs. Only a test, from the first day of a missed period, confirms pregnancy.

A urine pregnancy test is reliable from the first day of a missed period or, failing that, 21 days after unprotected sex. Ideally use your first urine of the morning and read the result within the stated time. A positive is almost always right; a negative may simply be too early: repeat the test a few days later.

Doctors count pregnancy in weeks from the first day of your last period, called "SA" (weeks of amenorrhoea) in Morocco and France. Weeks counted from conception are about two weeks fewer. The due date is set at 40 weeks in the UK, Canada and the US, and at 41 weeks in France. The first-trimester scan then refines the date.

A pregnancy lasts about 40 weeks counted from your last period. In the first trimester, up to 14-15 weeks, the organs form and the embryo reaches about 6 cm. In the second, up to 28 weeks, the bump grows and first movements are felt around 18-20 weeks. In the third, baby mainly gains weight: just over 3 kg at birth.

An uncomplicated pregnancy includes two or three ultrasound scans depending on the country, alongside blood tests. Around 11-14 weeks, the first pregnancy scan dates the pregnancy, counts the embryos and measures nuchal translucency. Around 20-22 weeks, the second checks anatomy and growth. Around 32 weeks, in France, the third checks baby's position and the placenta.

Boy or girl is decided at fertilisation, but the sex can only be seen on a scan: sometimes from 14 weeks, more reliably around 20-22 weeks, if baby is in a good position. Analysing fetal DNA in the mother's blood can also reveal it, but that is first and foremost a medical screening test. The Chinese calendar, bump shape and cravings predict nothing.

The best baby activities are simple: play on the floor together several times a day, put your baby on their tummy while awake, talk, read and sing. Everyday objects are often all you need. No screens before age 1. And if your baby turns their head away, squirms or cries, it is time for a quiet break.

Doing Montessori at home is not about buying materials: it means setting up a space at your child's height, letting them move and do things for themselves, and giving them real everyday tasks. Observe them, remove what gets in their way, offer a few simple, real objects. Studies, carried out in schools, show moderate positive effects.

Playing outside every day helps children move, let off steam and learn to judge risks. The WHO recommends at least 3 hours of physical activity a day from age 1: the park, the beach or the courtyard are the perfect playground. Let them climb and run, but make no compromise on sun, water, helmets and roads.

Before age 2, the WHO and Canadian paediatricians recommend no screen time at all, with the Canadians making an exception for video calls with loved ones. From 2 to 5, aim for one hour a day at most, and less is better. France goes further: no screens before 3, then occasional use alongside an adult.

Growing up with several languages does not delay speech or cause any disorder: a bilingual child says their first words around 12 months, like other children, and their vocabulary is counted by adding up all their languages. Mixing languages is normal. Above all, speak the language you know best, often and with pleasure.

Singing songs for babies from birth is one of the things the Canadian Paediatric Society recommends every day, along with reading and talking. A singing voice captures a baby's attention, and rhyme and repetition may support early language. Lullabies for sleep, action rhymes for play: sing in whichever language feels natural to you.

The sbou3 is the seventh-day celebration that, in many Moroccan families, goes with announcing the baby's name and the aqiqa, the sacrifice of a sheep. Its customs vary from region to region. To keep it a pleasure, delegate the organising, spare the new mother, ask guests to wash their hands and keep a quiet corner for baby.

The baby shower, which comes from the United States, gathers the mum-to-be's loved ones, usually in the third trimester, for games, a buffet and gifts. In Morocco it pairs easily with the seventh-month henna, the khamoussa or the laqmous. Plan a pregnancy-safe buffet, a reveal with no firecrackers and a registry to avoid duplicate gifts.

In Morocco, Ashura (Achoura), on the 10th of Muharram, is first and foremost a children’s festival: toys, dried fruit, family couscous, the chouâla bonfire and the water games of zamzam. To keep it joyful, ban firecrackers and fireworks, never leave a little one alone near fire or water, and choose age-appropriate toys bearing the “Cم” mark.

For a successful first birthday party, plan it around your baby's naps, keep the guest list short and set up a quiet corner. Choose paper decorations out of reach rather than latex balloons, a low-sugar cake with well-cooked eggs and no whole nuts, and a simple gift that grows with their new skills.

Beautiful sbou3 decoration comes down to three things: a well-dressed table, a photo corner and a touch of colour, traditional or modern. Prepare it before the birth, and let someone other than the new mother set it up. For baby's sake: latex balloons out of reach, real candles far from him, and incense in another room, or not at all.

The sbou3 menu often follows the day: harira and sellou at dawn, the aqiqa meat for lunch, and a big dinner in the evening with pastilla, tagines or couscous depending on the region. Count guests per sitting, delegate the cooking or hire a caterer, and watch the heat: a cooked dish stays out of the fridge no longer than two hours.