Editorial Review:

Amazon.co.uk ReviewIf you are still struggling to get your newborn to sleep through the night, still getting up throughout the night to feed the little one, or perhaps you are feeling as if no end is in sight, you need to read Gina Ford's The Contented Little Baby Book. It may be the only thing you need to bring peace back into your frazzled existence with your tiny baby, or babies.

After all, this book promises to teach parents tried and tested methods to get their baby to sleep through the night by the time they are 10 weeks old.

For parents who are craving their first night of unbroken sleep, Ford's book may be the answer.

Ford's methods conjure up the image of a strict and loving old nanny from yesteryear. Her techniques go against the grain of many currently popular parenting philosophies. For example, Ford, an experienced maternity nurse, is against demand feeding, believes in the necessity of waking a sleeping baby in order to establish a daily routine. Her philosophy may not be the norm today, but Ford is confident of her methods based on years of experience handling hundreds of babies.

Providing an hour-by-hour, week-by-week guide on how to get a new baby into a routine, the book includes feeding and sleeping schedules based on a baby's age. The Contented Little Baby Book provides so much information that it may be necessary to keep this paperback book handy for reference should you employ Ford's techniques.

Experienced parents may not benefit from Ford's methods, but first-time parents may learn a lot from her ideas, and for the discerning reader of parenting books, this one is a must have. For the reader who would like to weigh other parenting methods before adopting Ford's techniques, the following books may be of interest: The Baby Book, by William Sears, M.D. and Martha Sears, R.N.; What to Expect in the first year, by Eisenberg, Murkoff and Hathaway; and Your Baby and Child, by Penelope Leach. --Abbe Jacobson

See more information on The New Contented Little Baby Book: The Secret to Calm and Confident Parenting at Amazon UK


Rating: - Useful in part but annoyingly preachy
The New Contented Little Baby Book: The Secret to Calm and Confident Parenting

Against my better judgment, I bought this book along with several others after one too many sleepless nights and it only made me feel much worse! The routines are extremely regimented (she even gives you a 'slot' for bottle washing and instructs you when to eat!) The tone is also very dictatorial and inflexible and Gina does not even countenance that her instructions may not work for all (the case studies ... Read More

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Rating: - Invaluable
I bought this book when I was pregnant and it struck a cord straight away. So much of it is common sense but sometimes you just need a steer in the right direction. I wouldn't say I followed the book stringently but found applying the principles invaluable. You should revisit the book (and routines) at least a couple of times because sometimes your baby just hasn't reached the appropriate stage yet and you may miss a bit because you haven't really registered what you read. Everyone comments how ... Read More

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Rating: - DON'T DO IT TO YOURSELF!!!
Struggling with the trials of a new baby i turned to Gina Forde for help. I religiously followed her book whilst establishing breast feeding with my little bot. I wish I had never looked near this book.

On reflection it nearly drove me to Post Natal Depression. The pressure to sustain and mould you baby was immense. No human is the same, we not meant to be moulded. I did not enjoy being a new mammy during my Gina Forde experience!

Give yourself a break. You'll get through ... Read More

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Rating: - This book helped me restore my sanity
I resisted Gina Ford's books for 4 years having heard so many negative things about them, and being determined to parent in a baby-led way.

However my second son was much more difficult to manage than my first. From the early weeks he didn't sleep in the day for more than ten or twenty minutes at a time, he cried out of fatigue during the day, and he liked to graze, feeding and dozing on and off. By four months of this (and also dealing with a four year old who loves his baby brother to bits but ... Read More

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Rating: - A very good frame of reference, but not a "user's guide to babies"
We followed the routines (more or less)from about 4 days after our son came home from the hospital, at which point he was clearly beginning to wake up from the shock of being born and respond to the environment around him. 1 year on, he's a happy, healthy little boy who sleeps and eats well, and people who have been around small children longer than we have comment that he is an easy going child who rarely cries unless hungry or tired. But the "more or less" piece of the routine is the key; yes, the book is written ... Read More

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• The Complete Sleep Guide For Contented Babies and Toddlers
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