The New Contented Little Baby Book: The Secret to Calm and Confident Parenting

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But, as the critics cry, having had no babies of her own, how can she really know what it is like to have a baby cry it out?

I found that the early feeding schedules in this book were not able to satisfy our baby, and so I breastfed more on-demand (my doc's rec) for the first 6 months, instead of implementing Gina Ford's schedules. That said, after 3 months, I began to "concentrate" a little more on the schedules with the feedings, but still didn't keep exclusively to them: if my baby was hungry in between, I just breast-fed her a bit. How to "cry it out" once your child is developmentally ready. Definitely read the book instead of just googling how to do it. Interesting to read the psychology of what to do and why. When people ask me how I have had six boys and not be crippled by the sheer exhaustion of it all, I say I’m not tired, because they sleep. I knew when to leave them, when to go to them and when to know that today, it wasn’t going to go according to plan. This book is awful. A friend of mine read it and declared she was either going to burn it or give it to me if I was curious. Now that I've read it I think I may well burn it, lest it fall into the hands of a mother who would be quite fine with her new baby without being told _every second of every day_ what she should be making her child (and herself) do.For each new baby, I dug out that Gina Ford roadmap and by the fifth kid I pretty much knew it off by heart. One of the most helpful things to know from this book: "No baby under 4 months should be allowed to stay awake for longer than two hours at a stretch. Care should also be taken not to overstimulate the baby 30 minutes prior to being put to bed." (p 41) By creating routines that match a growing baby's innate natural rhythms, Gina prevents the hunger, overtiredness and colic that can lead to excessive crying. Babies who are settled into Gina's gentle routines are happy and contented because their needs for food and sleep are appropriately met and they should sleep for their longest spell at night from an early age.

So impromptu lunches were out, as are late nights with a baby sleeping in a car seat under a restaurant table. In the circumstances, I have to reserve judgement on this one to some degree since there is so much specific (ludicrously so, seemingly) advice in here - so I'll look at what I've written here toward the end of the year maybe. I had to be stroking his hair, with a lamp on and the door left open, and the baby needed perpetual motion to nod off.

Weaning your baby on to solid foods is one of the most important milestones during the early months of parenthood, and Gina's expert advice on weaning makes a baby's transition from milk to solid foods as straightforward as possible. Successful weaning establishes a pattern of healthy eating in babies, avoiding the pitfalls of fussy eaters restricted to a narrow diet. For those readers who say that the author’s routines and suggestions are “cold,” this isn’t a how-to book on providing your child with what it wants on-demand, and if that seems harsh then it’s just not your style. This is a book that’s meant to explain how routines can ultimately benefit your child and your entire family. I never got the impression that following these routines was somehow unloving, especially since the author explains how overhandling and overstimulating your baby is not in its best interest.