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

by Gina Ford

Book Overview

Learn the secret to getting your baby to sleep through the night--so you can get the rest you need. You've heard horror stories about babies who cry constantly, need to eat every two hours, and never learn to sleep through the night. And now, whenever you think about your soon-to-be-born bundle of joy, you can't help wondering how you're going to manage those two a.m. feedings and non-stop crying jags--and how you're going to live your already-hectic...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451202430
• ISBN13: 9780451202437
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: New American Library
• Length: 177 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Essential for first-time parents

Like any clueless first-time mother-to-be, I swallowed up on as much baby material as I could possibly get my hands on. However, there are only two user-friendly books which I constantly refer to and which I strongly urge first-time parents to read. They are Gina Ford's "The contented little baby book" and "Nanny Wisdom" (Justine Walsh and Kim Nicholson). Some reviewers want to discredit Gina Ford by the fact that she has no children herself, but neither do the nannies of "Nanny Wisdom", and yet these two books are packed with no-nonsense, straight-to-the-point information that will prove more useful than all the others out there put together. These women have had more field work on babies than we as parents will ever have, and their method has worked time after time, so they must know what they're talking about. Gina Ford's fifteen-minute-stint routine is a bit extreme but you don't need to follow it to a tee. Combined with "Nanny Wisdom"'s more flexible ones, you should be able to work out the ideal routine which works for your own family. If you stick consistently to the basic feeding and sleeping schedules (and I underline "consistently" with the odd exception to allow for disruptions in your agenda now and then), you can make a world of a difference in your parental experience. You must choose an approach which works both for you and your baby because neither will benefit from a woolly agenda, fizzled-out parents and babies who squeal hours on end because their basic needs of sleeping and feeding are loosely seen to. Plotting out a schedule and following it with ruthless precision has proved the only way to keep us all sane through the mayhem of sleepless nights, jarring colicky spells, swelling breasts and a severe case of baby blues. Both books advocate that children thrive on routines and rituals because having an idea of what the day will be like makes them feel more secure. And routines are a godsend for parents too, because you can schedule appointments and outings between feedings and napping times. You also know that after 7 or 7.30 P.M.,once your little bundle of joy is punctually put to sleep, you'll have the rest of the evening to enjoy a film, read a book and catch up with your husband. The controlled-crying method which so many parents abhorr is not a torture you cruelly inflinge on your baby. You are bequeathing him the great gift of learning to sleep unaided by himself and get the so much needed rest that will help him cope with ever more active days. My now eleven-month-old boy has been able to sleep through the night since week six and glided more or less uneventfully through teething, weaning, night outings and holidays abroad. Like any other baby, he has his days, but in general, he's not a fussy eater non sleeper and will eat and sleep virtually anywhere: on the stroller, in a crowded café, on a plane and in portable cribs of all sorts. People often compliment me on how well-behaved and charming Nicholas is. A couple of

Saved our life

This book was a godsend. I think it goes without saying that you will be unable to follow Ford's schedules to the minute, but by giving you a general pattern, she gives you some predicatibility to your day. I honestly am very puzzled by the people who claim that this book somehow suggests that you starve your baby. Did they read the book? She gives you target feeding times, and suggests that you feed when he's hungry, but slowly stretch out the feeding times (by 5 minutes a day) until you are at the suggested times. In effect, she is supporting the "feeding on demand" theory -- she's just helping you to structure your child's day so that he is "demanding" to be fed at certain times. Put it this way: I followed this schedule while breastfeeding and my son was (and is) consistently in the 90th percentile for height and weight! I put my son on the schedule at 5 weeks. We had to work hard to keep him awake for the first few weeks so that he would nap at the proper times and at night. Almost immediately he started sleeping from 7-10:30pm very easily, giving me and my husband a real evening back -- we could eat dinner, watch movies, and email, like the old days. He continued to wake up once at night (around 3:30) after the 10:30pm feeding until about 10 weeks, but after that he began sleeping from 11pm to 7am. Best of all, thanks to Ford's suggestions we never got him hooked on a pacifier, or rocking, or any other sleep association -- we put him in the crib wide awake and he babbles to himself until he falls asleep (and plays quietly in his crib in the morning until we come get him)! One note -- heed Ford's warning about trying to put this plan into effect only with a supportive environment. It does take focus and work, and my mother, who was staying with me at the time, was a total naysayer and constantly tried to sabotage me. However, I stuck with it, and after about a month even she had to admit that the schedule was working both for my son and everyone else. But it would have been A LOT easier if she had gotten on board from the beginning. Everyone we meet comments on what a happy baby we have, and I tell every pregnant friend I have to get this book. I watch my sister, who has three children who eat at different times of day and stay up to all hours -- she or her husband have to drive their youngest around in a car seat to get him asleep, and he still has a pacifier at 2 1/2 years old -- what a nightmare. She, like many of the other reviewers here, is convinced that this is just how my son "is," and her children would never be amenable to a schedule. Guess she'll never find out...her loss!

The parenting experience you've always dreamed of

Okay, my daughter will be two years old in a few weeks. We've been following Gina Ford since she was five weeks old, so I feel qualified to finally write a review. To sum it up: This book is fantastic, run don't walk to your nearest bookseller and get this book. Or, alternatively, you could just sit right where you are and click your mouse a few times. I could go on and on about the wisdom of this book, but a lot of other folks here have shared many of the same experiences we've had so I'll try to cover some new ground. My daughter at two has watched about one hour of television, including videos, her whole life. I've had friends ask me -- How do you do it? How can you take it? These friends say they just need the break for the 15 to 20 minutes that the kid sits motionless and passive in front of the boob-tube. I understand they need a break and I don't begrudge them it. The answer is, I don't need a break. And why don't I need a break? Because I, lucky duck, read and followed Gina Ford's advice. If your child is going to sleep at 7pm, and sleeping for two hours midday, you have plenty of time for yourself. No need to feel deprived - and perhaps begin to harbor resentment? - there. And if that isn't fabulous enough in and of itself, there's an added bonus: Your child's a pleasure to be with because she's had all her sleep! I spend most of the time my daughter is awake together with her and enjoying her company, doing things I feel positive about as a parent, not sticking her in front of a video. Are there off days? Of course there are. But they're the exception and not the rule. Please don't be scared off by those naysayers that will have you believe you'll never breast-feed successfully if you follow Gina Ford's book. I breast-fed exclusively until my daughter was six months old, at which time I began to introduce solids. I continued breast-feeding until she was 13 months old. Later she refused to take a bottle, so the only milk she received was from the breast. The weeks before I started using Gina Ford's book my breast feeding experience was actually quite miserable. Not being able to figure out that my daughter was screaming because of sleep deprivation, I assumed hunger, and was putting her on my breast four times an hour. My daughter never drank well at that time - since the problem was actually many, many hours of missed sleep - and I was constantly engorged. To be honest, had I not been so motivated to breast-feed, I probably would have given up. Then, when I began using Gina Ford, the experience began to be the enjoyment I had always dreamed of rather than the nightmare it had become. Hey all you pooh-poohers who say of Gina Ford -- She's not a mother. Neither is Dr. Sears, but I bet you read and worship him, don't ya? Those who may be considering this book might think -- This kind of book is for go-getter parents, the types who are always on top of everything. At least that's how I felt when I first read this book. Thank my lucky

It's not a fluke!

How I have longed to write a review of this book for 2 years now but I had my doubts.... All my friends told me I was just lucky to have such an easy baby. He constantly smiled, rarely cried, slept 12 hours a night and seemed so alert and active in his waking times and at the same stage as babies 2 or 3 months older than him. I was certain it was this book my husband and I call 'our bible'. So everyone waited with baited breath to hear how this next baby would take to it. And lo and behold again I have the easiest baby. It is possible it's a fluke and that both times I have been exceptionally lucky.... but I don't think so. The book was recommended to me with the advise of try it for 2 weeks before you give up. And I pass that on to everyone I recommend it to. With my first baby we started it at 6 weeks and he was sleeping through till 7am (other than 10pm feed) at 7 weeks. With the next baby he was a little more gradual (but we were also less structured) and he slept through till 7am at 10 weeks. This book makes parenting easy. It means you all get to sleep well and we are all aware sleep deprivation is the 'mother of all evils'. The benefits of this book become more obvious as time goes on and I see the experiences other friends are having with their non-sleeping babies. Patting them for hours to get them to sleep, loss of sleep for both mother/father and baby because the baby can't sleep without help, relationships suffering, angry with their children and their partners because they are tired, and worst of all just not enjoying parenting. With this book you will find you have so much time on your hands you want to wake them up so you can play. And when they are awake you can really truely enjoy them as you are also well rested. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. The worst thing about it is that as a normally non judgemental person I get most upset when I see so many people doing it wrong. And reading ridiculous reviews about how bad it is. My baby hardly ever cries and if you read the book you would read that Gina mentions that she would be surprised if any of her babies cried for more than a few minutes in a whole day. This is because you know exactly what they want and at what time- so rather than having to wait for them to cry to get your attention- you anticipate their needs. Hence happy children. Another advantage we have found with the book is that my husband and I are always on the same page so to speak with where the baby is up to. We don't have to give a full brief when one is rushing out the door and the other one is taking over. We know when they need to nap, eat and bath. And each day we don't have to make up new plans of when we are going to do this or that. What a brain strain that must be to those people who have no routine. I hate routine for me but on those days when the baby routine is out the window due sickness or traveling or special events life becomes hard work. With this routine we know exactly what we are

It should be called "contented little parents"

Gina Ford shares her expertise in a non thretening, non coercive and highly intelligent manner. She gives you schedules for rasing a baby that will sleep 7pm-7am from three months (or less), and will eat everything put in front of them and drink from a cup by one year. Eating and sleeping being the primary issues from birth to one year, this book goes straight to the heart of what matters to new parents. There's no patronizing comments, telling you how to play with a child, no sending us to therapy to work out our issues if you can't bond, no making you feel inadequate. Gina Ford helps everyone feel like there's a few generations of knoweldgable women standing around helping you get through the first year. It is an essential read for modern parents - mothers who need their baby to sleep through the night by three months so they can go back to work; modern mothers who want their babies to eat well and healthly; modern mothers who are often isolated from family or others and need a direct and competent voice. It's totally empowering way to give you control of what feels like an out-of-control situtation. Its easy to read and easy to follow. When things don't go to plan one day, start afresh the next. By helping you take control of eating and sleeping patterns, you're free to work out your own ways to love, sing, play and generally be with your 'contented little baby'.