Healthy Living Books Books

Rating: - Dis-contented Little Baby
I read this book after hearing many positive things about it. I found lots of the information useful, such as suggested hours daytime sleep according to age, feeding guidlines etc. However, the actual day routines themselves I found to be too restricting and easy to find yourself way out by the evening. I also didn't like the controlled crying approach and found that my easy to calm baby became more difficult to calm when using this approach. I much preferred the gentler appraoch of Tracy Hogg in 'The Baby WHisperer'.
If you find strict routines suit you and your baby the this is a good book. If your prefer more flexible guidelines and a softer approach then try Tracy Hogg's books.

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Rating: - rubbish! rubbish! rubbish! wouldn't want it for free!
i was mortified when i started to read this book. i was at my wits end with my 4 month old baby, who would wake 5-6 times a night and i was desperate to get some sleep so i turned to books for some help. all i can say is that this book went straight in the "to give to charity" pile.what a load of rubbish! suggestions of waking a happily sleeping baby to feed it certainly did not strike me as a good idea. i do not have the experience or "expertise" of gina ford, but tracy hogg does and her methods are much more focussed on the baby's needs not just the parent's convenience. babies are not a "problem" which needs managing, they are little persons and so can not be treated like an inconvenience which needs soting out. i actively warn parents against this book and it's methods!

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Rating: - I don't agree with all the 1* reviews....
Bought this when my DS was born and found it 100% helpful, he fed every hour, and wouldn't sleep unless i was holding him. I followed the routine (no it is actually possible, you wouldn't believe it reading the reviews below!! )
and it worked perfectly for us. Happy baby and happy mum.
I give it 4 stars as I believe it has to be read with slight caution. It may not work for everyone. People may want to take bits and pieces of advice from it. The result for me was a contented baby.
I recommend it on the basis that it can help - it is very similar to most other routines, however Gina Ford does put peoples backs up with her tone of voice, she clearly doesn't have children of her own as the advice lacks the emotional concern a parent would have for a child.
I'm sure this review will be flagged "not helpful" by her many detractors but it is 100% genuine

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Rating: - recipe for postnatal depression/ babies can't read!
As a community midwife(with three young boys myself) lots of my time is spent dealing with the mess this book creates. A few babies will conform to the schedule, most will not despite the frantic efforts of their parents. The result is a woman who blames herself for failing, this feeling is amplified by the pressing need for the majority of women to return to work, and for the baby to be compliant in order for this to happen.

In short the book appeals to couples eager to stay in control and makes promises it cannot possibly keep in the majority of cases. Buy something a little more forgiving and accept that early parenthood will be unpredictable and tiring - you won't need something else to beat yourself up over.

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Rating: - Use it as a framework!!
Oh how I wish I'd had this book at the beginning but my midwife didn't approve so I trusted her. I've since realised that she doesn't have children and is therefore somewhat unaware.

If you try to do this book to the letter you will feel inadaquate. Better to use it as a framework and tweek things to suit you and your child. As the time has gone on though, I've come to realise that she's mostly right.

I have lost count of how many problems i've avoided because of what i've read in this book and the toddler one. My daughter is two now and every so many months I dip in to see what i'm aiming for. Its full of great info although i'm not a great fan of her writing style.

My advice is get it, get Tracy Hogg too (she's a bit more lefty) and remember "framework" and "small changes". It still won't make it easy but at least you'll have some idea what is going on and when.