Kate McCann: My struggle to control 'very difficult' MadeleineLast updated at 19:06 17 September 2007

Share Kate McCann has revealed that she struggled to control Madeleine McCann after the birth of her and Gerry's twins, it was revealed today.
Missing Madeleine would run around 'screaming...shouting for my attention', the mother-of-three said.
In an interview given to a Portuguese magazine before she was named as a suspect in the case of the four-year-old's disappearance, Kate also said the first six months of Madeleine's life were "very difficult" and that the girl had suffered from colic.
The detailed analysis of her medical notes could provide them with significant evidence against the GP, who is a suspect in the case of Madeleine's disappearance.
Speaking about Madeleine's upbringing, Kate, a 39-year-old GP, told Portugal's Flash! magazine: "She cried practically for 18 hours a day. I had to permanently carry her around."

This period explained "the strong bond between mother and daughter", she said.
Although the arrival of the twins Sean and Amelie shook up Madeleine's life, she accepted them very well, said Kate.
"She managed to deal perfectly with this new reality, although she herself at the time was still a baby.
"The worst thing is that she started to demand lots of attention, especially when I was breast-feeding them.

Madeleine McCann: Would run around screaming and demanding attention after her twin brother and sister were born
"She would run up and down screaming in the background, shouting for my attention."
Mrs McCann also insisted that she and her husband were "truly responsible parents" and had committed no crime.
Speaking of the night Madeleine disappeared, she said: "I was sure immediately that she didn't walk out of that room. I never doubted that she had been taken by someone.
"I went through a phase of guilt for not knowing what happened to her. I blamed myself for thinking that the place was safe.
"But the certainty that we are truly responsible parents has helped me carry on.
"I know that what happened is not due to the fact of us leaving the children asleep. I know it happened under other circumstances."
Asked about whether she and her husband were responsible for their daughter's disappearance, she said: "It cannot be considered a crime. Someone committed one, but not us."

Portuguese newspapers continued to report today that Mrs McCann will be re-interviewed in the UK this week by British police on behalf of the Algarve authorities.
But a spokeswoman for the McCanns said the couple had to date received no request for new interrogation.
The judge in the case, Pedro Daniel dos Anjos Frias, rejected prosecutors' request to have the McCanns brought back to Portugal for further questioning, the Correio da Manha said.
He insisted that the fresh interviews should be carried out by British police in the UK, according to the paper.
The re-interviewing will only take place when further DNA testing in Birmingham is completed, either tomorrow or Wednesday.
A letter of appeal will be sent to Britain, setting out all the questions Portuguese detectives want to ask the couple, along with the evidence supporting their hypothesis, the Correio da Manha reported.
A source told the paper there was only a "very low" probability that Portuguese officers would be allowed to sit in on the interviews.
A McCann family spokeswoman said today: "We have been in touch with the lawyers to try and get a steer on what is in the Portuguese papers.
"They assure us we have had no request to date for any further questioning, either from the Portuguese police or in the UK."
She could not say whether the McCanns' legal team was expecting the couple to be re-interviewed.
Since Kate and Gerry McCann were named as official suspects last week, there have been suggestions in Portugal that Madeleine was given drugs on the night of her disappearance.
The accusations have been strenuously denied by the couple but have not been ruled out by police. Although the order to seize medical files came from the Portuguese authorities, the background searches are being carried out by Leicestershire police.
A copy of Mrs McCann's diary has also been seized by police, who are now waiting for permission from the judge to seize and dismantle the McCanns' hire car so they can search for "traces of skin".
It has been reported that DNA evidence with a match to Madeleine was found in the Renault Scenic 25 days after their daughter vanished.
Yesterday it emerged the McCanns are trying to knock down potential evidence retrieved after two British sniffer dogs, capable of detecting blood and human remains, were used in the investigation in August.
One of the dogs picked up a "scent of deathî on items ranging from Mrs McCann's clothes to Madeleine's favourite soft toy Cuddle Cat.
Leaked reports from the investigation have suggested that Madeleine's parents could have accidentally killed her and then disposed of her body using the car. Although they do not know the full details of the Portuguese prosecutors' case against them, the McCanns are concerned that it may rest on the dog's reaction.
The couple's legal team has now consulted the lawyers of an American man accused of murdering his estranged wife in a case where "cadaver dog" evidence was central. They want to highlight the judge's dismissal of such evidence in the high-profile Eugene Zapata murder trial in Madison, Wisconsin.
Mr Zapata's estranged wife, flight instructor Jeanette Zapata, was 37 when she vanished in October 1976 after seeing her three children off to school.
Her body has never been found. Detectives suspected Mr Zapata of involvement in her disappearance but did not charge him because of a lack of evidence.
Police decided to conduct new searches using cadaver dogs and Mr Zapata, 68, was charged with firstdegree murder last year after the dogs indicated that they had scented human remains in an underfloor crawl space at the former family home and other properties linked to him.
But the judge ruled that the dogs' ability to detect remains was too unreliable, noting that no remains had actually been found.
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Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-482238/Kate-McCann-My-struggle-control-difficult-Madeleine.html#ixzz226ti7u6M

And once again the dogs were later proved right


The resolution of this case is an example of the healing power of justice. Part of the plea agreement was that Eugene would provide details about his actions on October 11th 1976, that led to Jean’s murder as well as what he did with her remains. The secrets that he kept for 31 years became public and provided answers to Jean’s family and friends. Linda, Jean’s youngest daughter finally got her questions answered. The truth was revealed, which never would have happened without the plea agreement.


In February of 2008 at the age of 69, Eugene Zapata entered a guilty plea to a reduced charge of 2nd Degree Homicide by Reckless Conduct in connection with Jeanette Zapata’s disappearance in 1976. This was following a First Degree Murder trial that ended in a hung jury the previous fall. As a result of the plea agreement, Eugene Zapata was sentenced to five years in prison.

Mrs McCann also insisted that she and her husband were "truly responsible parents" and had committed no crime.
Speaking of the night Madeleine disappeared, she said: "I was sure immediately that she didn't walk out of that room. I never doubted that she had been taken by someone"

How can the McCanns keep saying they were responsible parents when they still went out after Madeleine told them she had been crying the night before. ??????? Not only that, they used to drink in the Bar until late, the Barman said he was supposed to finish work at 11.30pm but one night the Tapas group were still there until 11.45pm

"The worst thing is that she started to demand lots of attention, especially when I was breast-feeding them".

"She would run up and down screaming in the background, shouting for my attention."


Doesn't sound to me like Madeleine "managed to deal perfectly with this new reality".

Wintabells wrote:"The worst thing is that she started to demand lots of attention, especially when I was breast-feeding them".

"She would run up and down screaming in the background, shouting for my attention."


Doesn't sound to me like Madeleine "managed to deal perfectly with this new reality".

Hi Wintabells, kate was also waking during the night and creeping into her parents Bed. Obviously, as often happens, she was jealous of of the twins
getting all the attention . Knowing this, how could the McCanns go out every single night??? The children were all day in the creche and spent a
couple of hours every night before being put to bed.Hardly a "Family holiday".

My aunt had twin girls as a result of her first pregnancy and found the whole twin experience utterly tiring and draining. She could not afford to employ a nanny or engage outside help of any sort. She relied on her family for assistance and support, which was readily available. Three years later, she had another little girl. The twins were not envious of their new sister's attention because obviously they had each other for comfort.

Imagine though it being the other way around. Yes, I should think Madeleine felt very pushed out, even if she wasn't actually. However, I should also imagine Kate could afford more support than an average family with twins could afford.

It does really seem to me that on her holiday she was determined to get a well earned rest from the children. Nothing wrong with that if you don't leave them unsupervised. They could have enjoyed balcony nights from the privacy of their own apartment patio, around a table with a bottle or two of wine and take-away tapas with the children well within earshot and ensuring check ups on their welfare were made more frequently.

The problem on this holiday is that there were too many families all with children. Had they just decided to go away with one other couple and their children in neighbouring apartments with neighbouring patios then it would have been far easier and all children would have been easily accessible and within earshot. I love my balcony/patio on holiday. Its private, I can nip inside whenever, I can keep alcoholic drinks cool in the fridge or help myself to a cup of tea whenever I want one. Its bliss. And sometimes we have a balcony that's a real suntrap. Who needs to sit around the pool fighting over sunbeds or queue up for the restaurant?

I would not be at all surprised if Madeleine's cry for attention was because of her sibling jelousy and I would not be surprised if she did not awaken and try to find her parents.

I don't think Kate can deal with children very well full stop.
In the diary there are various entries on the twins throwing tantrums, about how bedtime is now a battle every evening. How they were difficult in the car when they were on a trip to buy shoes for them - how they had to stop until the twins calmed down. There's no amusement or understanding in it - just annoyance.

The bedtime is mentioned several times, I'm thinking they couldn't use Calpol after the 3rd of May - three months later they suggested the PJ should test the twins for drugs - after their hair had been cut very short...

Kate McCann had plenty off help before the holiday....there were always people going there to visit them and staying overnight....the twins were in the creche 1-2 days a week and Madeleine 3 days a week or Madeleine was palmed off with a nanny come cleaner.....it cost them a few hundred pound to leave them all in the ocean club creche and playgroup...I don't think she could cope with Madeleine and I can't for the life off me wonder why she had more and get pregnant before Madeleine was one year old.....she was even left in a creche when they went to amsterdam....why...Kate McCann didn't have a job so why leave her to be looked after by strangers and she was still only a baby....why not spend every little bit off time with Madeleine before the twins arrived....she was selfish.



It's one thing being 'responsible parents' but that doesn't mean you are 'loving parents'.

Which makes you wonder why Kate wanted IVF treatment so soon after Madeleine was born. Kate had been in a relationship with Gerry before she went abroad, Gerry chased after her and proposed. This suggests that Kate wasn't as enamoured of Gerry as he was of her or she wouldn't have left the U.K.. They obviously wanted children very much so you have to wonder why they didn't protect them , especially when they knew Madeleine had been crying. I remember reading that she said in her diary that Gerry wasn't much help with the children and she must have felt resentful .