Healthy Living Books Books

Rating: - Nice book but made me feel inadequate...
I bought this just a few weeks before my first baby was born at the end of last year, I found the first couple of chapters on general baby care and newborn very useful but then as the months went by, Gina seems to imply your baby 'should' be doing this and that and I sometimes felt that my baby didnt measure up to her exacting standards and her patronising tones made me feel inadequate as a first time mother. Her strict routines are well known and of course they are in here, not as detailed as in some of the other books but detailed enough for those of us who seem to muddle through and have babies not so suited to routines.
I thought the photos were nice and some of the babycare information was good however this could all be got elsewhere in more detail, i.e. Miriam Stoppard, 'What to expect' books etc.
If you are a fan of Gina and would like to get your baby into a routine as early as possible this book is for you. However be warned it may make you feel a little inadequate as the months go on!!

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Rating: - a nice book but disappointing advice
I bought this book because of all the wonderful reviews it had gotten and read it cover to cover while pregnant. When baby appeared however i soon realized that the advice in this book did not suit my baby at all. To begin with there is absolutely no helpful advice given on colic.. we get one paragraph relating to the colic of a breastfed baby where Gina tells us its to do with how long we breastfeed our babies and that none of her babies ever had colic (making us feel like bad parents thank you!). Most colicky babies are formula fed (mine is as well, for medical reasons) and thus this paragraph isn't even applicable. She also advocates a 3 hour routine of feeding, burping, changing and sleeping and gives advice on how long naps should be. Since my baby has colic then this routine went out the window, as i found that as soon as i managed to settle my baby to sleep then according to Gina i would have to wake her up again for another feed. Obviously that was not going to work! I also found her advice abit conflicting - in one section she says to feed the baby every 3 hours, waking them up if necessary. In another section it states that formula fed babies can go up to 4 hours between feeds, which would then wreck the 3 hour routine. I also found that the advice for burping a baby - holding the baby in a sitting position and rubbing its back in an upward motion, is actually not recommended by physiotherapists here in Norway as it can cause spinal compression (in fact, it is not recommended to put a young baby in a sitting position at all here!) so i was quite confused by this book.
Don't get me wrong, i wanted to like this book as i had heard great things about Gina, and the book itself has lovely colour photographs and is split up into sections for each month. I just found that it was abit confusing and impractical and not suited to all babies. I would borrow this book from a library if you can before deciding to buy. I think i will be selling mine...

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Rating: - Gorgeous book, perfect gift
Agree with all that has been said previously!!!!!! Perfect gift for any new mum (First, fith), gorgeous pictures and lots of simple tips. Perfect addition to the Contented Little baby series, but also excellent as a stand alone book.

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Rating: - Wonderful guide to the first year
This is a lovely book,packed with so much useful information that will guide you through the first year of a newborn.
I found that I not only read it cover to cover but returned to it time and again to read up on various milestones. I particularly liked the easy layout interspersed with beautiful photography.
Whether a Gina follower or not this is a great book to have and to give as a gift.

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Rating: - Interesting but too vague
While I found this book to be an interesting overview of my baby's likely development month-by-month during the first year, I found the guidance was not always backed up by the information I needed to achieve it which left me frustrated. For example, it says that you need to vary the number of blankets you use according to the temperature of the room - great, but at the ideal room temperature, how many blankets of what thickness do you need? I found these little bits of information missing throughout the book so while the advice sounded good, I was left guessing how best to achieve it, and therefore ultimately not much better off for having read the book.