Taking Paladin now will not add a lot of tankiness. From Valor, you already have Medium Armor, Shields and Martial weapons, and most importantly, Extra Attack. As you can not swap existing levels to Paladin, I would not multiclass, unless:

• You expect to meet a lot of casters/monsters that make you save, as Aura of Protection would help you a lot in that case
• You have lots of unspent low-level spell slots at the end of the day. Divine Smite would help you convert them to damage

Even if you decide these are worth it, I would go for one more level of Bard before, Magical Secrets are that good. I would probably take Melf's Minuter Meteors or Spiritual Weapon to do something useful with my bonus actions, and Bless, as it is useful for most of the party.

After that go to 5th level of Paladin. As you want to make a Tank, the fighing style should be Dueling if you have place for a Sentinel feat, Protection if not. Convince the GM to let you change from Valor to Lore at this point, if you do it earlier you lose Extra Attack, if later, you get it from two sources, and one of them is wasted. Than 3 more levels of Paladin, and go back to Bard.
If you can not convince her, 4 levels are enough.

Taking Paladin now will not add a lot of tankiness. From Valor, you already have Medium Armor, Shields and Martial weapons, and most importantly, Extra Attack. As you can not swap existing levels to Paladin, I would not multiclass, unless:

• You expect to meet a lot of casters/monsters that make you save, as Aura of Protection would help you a lot in that case
• You have lots of unspent low-level spell slots at the end of the day. Divine Smite would help you convert them to damage

Even if you decide these are worth it, I would go for one more level of Bard before, Magical Secrets are that good. I would probably take Melf's Minuter Meteors or Spiritual Weapon to do something useful with my bonus actions, and Bless, as it is useful for most of the party.

After that go to 4th level of Paladin. As you want to make a Tank, the fighing style should be Dueling if you have place for a Sentinel feat, Protection if not. Convince the GM to let you change from Valor to Lore at this point, if you do it earlier you lose Extra Attack, if later, you get it from two sources, and one of them is wasted. Than 4 more levels of Paladin, and go back to Bard.
If you can not convince her, 4 levels are enough.

Taking Paladin now will not add a lot of tankiness. From Valor, you already have Medium Armor, Shields and Martial weapons, and most importantly, Extra Attack. As you can not swap existing levels to Paladin, I would not multiclass, unless:

• You expect to meet a lot of casters/monsters that make you save, as Aura of Protection would help you a lot in that case
• You have lots of unspent low-level spell slots at the end of the day. Divine Smite would help you convert them to damage

Even if you decide these are worth it, I would go for one more level of Bard before, Magical Secrets are that good. I would probably take Melf's Minuter Meteors or Spiritual Weapon to do something useful with my bonus actions, and Bless, as it is useful for most of the party.

After that go to 5th level of Paladin. As you want to make a Tank, the fighing style should be Dueling if you have place for a Sentinel feat, Protection if not. Convince the GM to let you change from Valor to Lore at this point, if you do it earlier you lose Extra Attack, if later, you get it from two sources, and one of them is wasted. Than 3 more levels of Paladin, and go back to Bard.

Taking Paladin now will not add a lot of tankiness. From Valor, you already have Medium Armor, Shields and Martial weapons, and most importantly, Extra Attack. As you can not swap existing levels to Paladin, I would not multiclass, unless:

• You expect to meet a lot of casters/monsters that make you save, as Aura of Protection would help you a lot in that case
• You have lots of unspent low-level spell slots at the end of the day. Divine Smite would help you convert them to damage

Even if you decide these are worth it, I would go for one more level of Bard before, Magical Secrets are that good. I would probably take Melf's Minuter Meteors or Spiritual Weapon to do something useful with my bonus actions, and Bless, as it is useful for most of the party.

After that go to 5th level of Paladin. As you want to make a Tank, the fighing style should be Dueling if you have place for a Sentinel feat, Protection if not. Convince the GM to let you change from Valor to Lore at this point, if you do it earlier you lose Extra Attack, if later, you get it from two sources, and one of them is wasted. Than 3 more levels of Paladin, and go back to Bard.
If you can not convince her, 4 levels are enough.