The Contented Little Baby Book: The Simple Secrets of Calm, Confident Parenting

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Summary: A Valuable Resource
Review: This book is a great resource for first time parents. The author has a wealth of knowledge from years of experience as a maternity nurse. Ford explains the need for regular feeding/sleeping patterns for all infants as well as other practical information. The routines are pretty strict and rigid, however she does acknowledge that not all children will fit into the schedules illustrated. Refer to this book, take from it what you need and adapt it to suit your child. Good Luck.

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Summary: The ONLY book you'll need!
Review: "Are they always this good?" is the comment I get nearly everyday now. But it was very different three months ago. As a mother of 7-month old twin boys, I was at my wits end with crying babies who wouldn't nap and always seemed to need feeding. It was like running a marathon every day with no recovery time. As a Brit living in California, I was familiar with the "wear your baby, sleep with baby, feed whenever" school of parenting and was half mad with sleep deprivation. Then a friend in the UK suggested this book (check out amazon.co.uk for more reviews). And wow! The first night, the miserable 2 hour ritual of walking, rocking, feeding and pleading was reduced to 5 minutes and a week later they were being put down awake, napping for a total of three hours a day and sleeping eleven hours at night. With no crying! This book truly changed our lives'. Do not be put off by Gina's overbearing tone and read the book from cover to cover because there are nuggets of information spread throughout. Despite what she says, we did not follow her routines to the letter - we took her advice as a framework and tweaked it to suit us. Some of the information we ignored because we either didn't agree with it or it didn't work for us but much of it was invaluable. Make no mistake, this is a controversial book. It is for parents who are planners and organizers. If you are happy parenting on demand, continue to do so - this book is not for you. But if you and your baby are miserable, beg, borrow or buy a copy. Her methods do require you to organize your life around your baby's nap and feeding times which can be restricting, but if you are experiencing life as we were, you'll find it a small price to pay.

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Summary: The Contented Baby Book
Review: This book has been wonderful! I can not recommend it enough for expectant mothers. The book helps you to prepare for the birth of your baby, and then it helps you to understand what your baby wants. My husband and I have found this book invaluable and our daughter has followed the routines from a very early age. We do adapt the routines as necessary, but we had a guide to start with and were able to understand why our daughter was crying. By eight weeks our daughter was sleeping through the night and continues to do so.

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Summary: Invaluable! A must for all new mums.
Review: My daughter is now seven months old. She is a contented, smiley and happy baby. When she cries I am able to understand why, having used Gina Ford's book from straight from birth. This book helps mothers to understand their babys' natural sleeping and feeding patterns. The book is against both 'demand' feeding and rigid four hour feeding routines, but suggests a middle road of frequent but structured feeding, and structured daytime sleeps. Gina Ford's style is a slightly bossy - but you do not have to follow it to the letter. Use your common sense to adapt her advice personally and guide you to do whats right for your baby. I always felt confident in knowing what my baby wanted. Her routines really do work for breastfeeding mums and my baby slept through the night from 8 weeks. Sometimes, if my baby was hungry earlier than the specified 11am feed, I gave her to eat earlier, sometimes if she cried and she wasn't hungry or tired I was able to recognise what she wanted .Sometimes my baby could not stay awake as long as she suggested especially in the earlier days so I put her to sleep. Gina suggestion to give the baby a single bottle-feed of expressed milk each day was a life-saver. This not only enabled my husband to get involved in the feeding right from the beginning, but also gave me the opportunity to get some much needed sleep in the early days. An added bonus is that our baby is happy to take a bottle even though she is exclusively breastfed. Gina advocates dropping the use of the dummy by 3 months, but I have found it very useful at certain times although I have made sure never to allow her to have it when she goes down for the night. Weaning my baby was easy being that her mealtimes were already structered and I found that my baby is not at all fussy with new foods having been weaned with more vegetables than fruit first. Working part time, I found these routines invaluable and although I can't follow them precisely , they are sensible and practical- a full nights sleep enables me to be a calm mother and enjoy my baby better. I have recommended this book to all my friends who were at their wits end with their impossible babies and all have said what a fantastic help this book has been.

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Summary: Teaching granny to suck eggs??
Review: Sorry, but I can only see this book being useful if you have an exceptionally demanding baby. I don't know any of my friends or family who have used this book and yet their children sleep through the night and feed regularly during the day. My baby is 6 months old and has slept through the night (8pm to 8am) since we introduced solids at 4 months. Prior to that he would sleep from 8pm to 5am, have a feed at 5am then go back to sleep for 4 hours. He has regular naps throughout the day, but he has done this all by himself. Gina's book seems to imply that a baby is incapable of naturally structuring their day. Since man was on earth, we have rose with the sun and settled with the sun. I don't believe stoneage man followed Ms Ford... Don't waste your money. Babies feed when they are hungry and learn to sleep through the night by themselves. Parental neurosis and living by books and manuals is no replacement for instinct.

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Summary: Strict but worth it!
Review: I actually bought this book by "mistake" and thought the content would be completely different as I was just 3 days out of the hospital after my first (and only, so far) child was born. Thus, I didn't even read it until she was 6 weeks old and I was at my wits end. Within 3 days of adhering to her "strict" schedule, Ellie was sleeping through the night and no longer crying for long periods of time during the evening hours. I actually thought Ms. Ford was ridiculous the first time through but I'm telling you, Ellie is like clock-work and has been since I started--she is now 7 months old. This book is my gospel and I have since bought 9 copies for all of my expectant friends. I am just now ordering it for my friend who had twin boys. I also liked that she referred to Dr. Weissbluth who wrote "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" which I had already read. The writing style may seem gruff but it is a no-nonsense approach that cuts through to the core of the matter: How to make your baby calm, content, and sleep through the night. Easy and a quick read but worth trying her approach! Highly recommended!

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Summary: Thank goodness I bought this book!
Review: My baby would never sleep for more than 3 & 1/2 hours a night. After researching online, I came across this book. I figured, why not buy it. The rigid schedule was intimidating but I was desperate for my son to get the sleep I know he needed. After reading it, I realized my son was a "snacker". At 4 &1/2 months he would still only drink 2-3 ounces every 2 hours throughout the day so he was still hungry through the night. As soon as I regulated his feedings, everything else fell into place.
He loves predictability so the routine works. I don't follow it to the letter. I use it as a guide. He gets thrown off with parties or visitors but he's learning to adjust. He's now 7 months old and sleeps from 6:15 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. with no night feedings. He has the occassional bad night, but who doesn't?
I think each parent needs to decide what works for each child. There are no "cure all" methods!

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Summary: You can tell she has no children......
Review: Getting ready for a baby in July, and in doing research on books to buy, I came across this book and realised I had seen it before and had blocked it from my mind. This is a terrible book!!

My Aunt used it, with HORRID results. Sure, they slept through the night...as long as the schedule was followed. ANY change in it, and they fell apart. Construction down the street kept them from their "nap" time...they couldn't adjust to another time...family holiday to attend a family wedding out of state..couldn't sleep in a strange place (because they were never out of their damn house!)...my Aunts breasts always aching, because she wasn't feeding enough (got to keep to that schedule)...family emergency flipped their schedule and again, they couldn't adjust. ...needing to run out and get some things at the shops and getting caught out in bad traffic (meaning a nap is being missed) can't adjust...if they got sick and their schedule was thrown off...couldn't adjust.

What do I mean by not being able to adjust? That contented baby turns into a screaming, yelling monster...thats what I mean. What this method does, is deny the child the ability to change with what is going on, to get used to different things, to learn that not all things happen at the same time, place or way...and that its ok.

None of us would babysit for my Aunt, we avoided it like the plague, her neighbors older children did the same. No one wanted to use her schedule, as it was too rigid and unrealistic in the real world. Many of us run errands while baby-sitting and this method makes that impossible. For those of us who live in area's where there is no late night shopping, or Sunday shopping...how are we to get everything done, if we can hardly leave the house or have to do it all to that stupid schedule, or god forbid, actually WORK and raise a baby????

My step-mother had a baby about 3 months after my Aunt did and she did not use the "method"...my brother slept through the night (a good 9 hours) by 5 weeks (a few wake ups for feeding, but he seemed to favor nursing before bed and a big breakfast over waking up at night), could sleep anywhere....sure he got cranky (never much of a screamer, just whined) when he was tired or hungry and not able to eat (driving in car or buying groceries) but he calmed down as soon as he was able to get what he needed or was distracted by something else, besides he was a BABY and babies cry, its a fact and no, we don't know why half the time....he was a happy little guy (at 6 mo. he would run up to you, raise his arm, point to his armpit and yell "Ickle It!" then fall over laughing to himself), who was allowed to sleep when he wanted, eat when he wanted. He woke in the mornings calling out for whichever person he wanted to see, not scream and cry, (if it was myself or my sister, we both being of very small build, we would climb into his crib with him, and settle in for a morning cuddle, where he liked to doze a bit and "talk" in his baby gurgles) he would be content to play by himself for hours, or to sit with you and "read" books to the dog, for long periods of time. A contrast to his cousins, who woke up screaming if you didn't RUN into their rooms the moment they woke up (oddly, they went to bed fine, it was the waking that was a problem), needed attention ALL the time, refused to be in a room alone....it went on and on. (it was the same with the other "contented babies" I have met, horrid kids, that only their families seem to like, and their friends won't tell them how annoying the kids are)

My Aunt threw away this book for her 3rd child, and just had a 4th. Her later children are funny, sweet, confident, outgoing, independent...and she followed what my step-mother did for them...her older kids, nervous about changes, easily pushed around, always looking for approval, clingy and are both in tutoring and behavior classes. Yes, we blame this book for that.

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Summary: Gina Ford - requires Parental Discipline
Review: I received this book as a hand me down from two mothers who said that Gina Ford didn't work. I was intrigued by the book, so I decided to give it a whirl. I think the biggest demand in this book is the sacrifice required by PARENTS. In order to get your child on a schedule and a routine, the parent has to be willing to give up his or her own freedom. Which is not easy. For the first three months I never went anywhere (except grocery shopping during the hours my daugher was alert), never went out to lunch (ate at home because it was nap time) and sacrificed a lot of my social life. However, Emily slept on schedule with naps and started sleeping through the night (7-7 with a feed at 10) from 8 weeks. I made up my time with friends via the phone and having visitors instead of going out. I started working from home again when three weeks post partum, and having the schedule and routine made it much easier for me to explain my needs to my caretaker. When Emily went to sleep at 7, it allowed for alone time with my husband, work out time for me, and in general peace and quiet. This book only works if the parent or parents are willing to give up a lot of freedoms for the benefit of the child.

I have been told more than 100 times that my child smiles more than any other child anyone has ever seen. She laughs, and giggles, wakes up smiling, goes to bed easily (admittedly, she did fuss in the beginning), eats healthy meals, never is constipated, and is - CONTENTED.

Be warned - it does require a lot of patience and sacrifice from the parents. Initially I would get frustrated because Emily didn't seem to "follow" the routine. But each day started fresh and new. (Each day starts at 7:00 AM - even weekends - another sacrifice) But it is easier to get an infant on a routine than an older child. It is easier to have a baby fall asleep on his own in a crib, than trying to convince a toddler to stay in his bed when he wants to walk out and talk to his parents. It's easier to let an infant cry briefly, than have a toddler wailing "Mommy and Daddy" through the night. The initial sacrifices although great, are well worth it in the long run. Because of Gina Ford, I'm ready to have my second!

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Summary: Very Helpful (and not as rigid a schedule as it seems)
Review: I received this book as a gift when my first child was born. I read it and thought it sounded like a great idea in theory but couldn't understand how I could possibly put it into practice so I put the book back on the shelf and forgot about it. Four years later, after my second child was born I dusted it off and reconsidered what the author had to say. I have been following the schedule laid out by the author since my son was five weeks old and it has been extremely helpful. First, he is sleeping more than he was before I had him on the schedule and for much longer stretches at night (the first night he slept for 8 hours straight and generally was able to sleep for 5 hour stretches in between feedings once I started following her schedule). I am getting much more sleep as well and feeling much calmer and in control as a parent. I think many people criticize her method without trying it or without realizing that you don't need to follow it as rigidly as she lays it out. I don't worry about how much or how long I am feeding my son or worry if I am off by a few minutes or even half an hour. I don't pump the 2-3 ounces prior to feedings as she recommends or always give a bath at the same time of day. Generally, I stick to the times she indicates for sleeping and eating but I do not follow every detail of her routine. While her schedules for babies seem very rigid when you first read it, I think it is best thought of as a guideline to use to find your own pattern and schedule. I will say that I think she has figured out what is pretty close to a babies natural sleeping rhythym and she is absolutely right that young babies sleep better when you don't let them be awake for more than two hours at a time. So I highly recommend this book. Don't be scared by other people's reviews who think it is too rigid or who only read the book but never tried it. Remember, there is no rule that you MUST follow her schedule exactly down the minute. Remember, you have the best instincts about what is right for you and your family. I use it as a guideline and try to stay close to her sleeping and feeding schedule recognizing that this not possible every single day. I can honestly say I enjoy having a very young baby MUCH more following the author's schedule than I did with my first child when I had no schedule.