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

It helped me a lot in the first 3 months but unfortunately my baby changed his routine and i didn’t want to follow this method. Every baby is different and not all routine fits for each baby. Overall this book gave me a better understanding of a simple routine at the end of the day you need to adjust what works for you and you baby.

Not many American's are familiar with Gina Ford but she is renown in England. IF you follow her guidelines to a tee, you will enjoy hours of sleep, your child will be well rested and adjusted, you'll be able to plan because you are on a schedule and life will be bliss with a newborn. the key is following the somewhat rigorous schedule which many people can't figure out how to do. You will need to make adjustments but like anything the first week or 2 are tough but then it gets easier and then it's just the way of life. I hear so many parents speak of having to sleep with their child, oh my child is different, oh s/he just won't go to sleep, we could never have a schedule - we are too busy, etc. All excuses in my book. Look, it's simple, usually the problem lies with the parents - it's their issue, they need to go to this or that event, they like holding the baby all night long, they don't want to hear the crying, etc. Get over it! kids need boundaries. This book helps you set them early on and while you are helping your child you are really helping yourself. Gina does an amazing job of outlining a very sensible feeding and sleeping schedule, and most importantly the little things that are often over looked like black out blinds. it's an easy read, and your pages should be earmarked. By 10 weeks we had gotten rid of the baby monitor and our baby was sleeping from 7pm to 7am with no waking up. The benefits don't stop when they turn 1 - by teaching the child at an early age the lessons in this book, they carry through the rest of their life. Today, at 8, my child goes to sleep with no trouble at 8pm and sleeps until 7am. Date night at my house every night! I have given this book as gifts to 1st time mothers and the ones who thank me for it have babies who sleep through the nights and they too are well adjusted. The others, well they rattle off one or more of those excuses above. I've read all the other baby books out there because I'm a huge fan of research and not one of them stands a candle to Gina Ford. If you buy one thing to help a new mother or for yourself, this is it! Forget the baby clothes, toys, and other gifts, this book will keep giving all your life and through your child's.

At two months old, our son's sleeping and eating schedules were totally erratic. My husband and I were playing baby roulette, constantly guessing at what he needed whenever he cried. He was fussy when he was awake, and he would only nap in 15-30 minute intervals. We were exhausted, and frankly, worried that we would never grow to love our baby. Enter "The Book." Out of desperation, I jumped right to the schedules after lightly skimming the other chapters. We implemented the 8-12 week old schedule that night with a fierce devotion. Within 3 days, our son was taking 3 solid naps a day and sleeping for 4 hour blocks at night. He was also much more content during his waking periods. We were ecstatic. A week into the schedule, however, we started to run into problems. Some days, he would be screaming for a bottle an hour before he was due to have one, and we felt horrible "holding out" until the allotted feeding time. Other days, he would wake in the middle of a nap and be unable to go back to sleep. The schedule didn't say what to do in those situations. OR SO I THOUGHT. Frustrated and convinced that the schedule wasn't working, I decided to go back through the book in its entirety, to see if there was anything I had missed. And indeed, there were a number of things in the chapters that weren't in the schedules. I ended up typing out my own schedule with various notes incorporating the tips from the other chapters. With these refinements, we were able to get our baby completely on track, and we had the confidence to deal with "off days" without worrying that we were losing the schedule completely. Today, at three months old, our son takes three naps every day, and he goes to bed at 6:45 each night, waking only once for a feeding at 3am. (To be fair, we wake him at 10pm before we go to bed for one last feeding.) He takes 5 bottles every day at regular times, and he's generally happy and calm when he's awake. Is he a perfect baby? No, not by any means. But my husband and I are now confident that we know what he needs when he needs it, which has made the baby feel more relaxed and happy. Plus, the regular schedule means we all know what to expect each day, and we can plan our activities accordingly. So, if this system works so well, why only four stars? Because most exhausted parents are going to do exactly what I did, which is flip to the schedules first, without really reading the entire book. I know it says to read the whole thing, but when you're desperate and sleep deprived, you just don't have time. The author could have easily done what I did, which was create a more nuanced schedule that incorporates the tips from the various chapters. I'm not sure why she strung out all the important tips throughout the book, but that's how she did it, so you have to read the whole book. Otherwise, you'll still just be guessing some of the time, and you'll lose the confidence that's necessary to make the schedule work. One last note about the tone of the book. Several reviewers on Amazon have commented on how severe the author is, and how often she uses words like "must" and "cannot" when imploring parents to follow the book to the letter. While we generally follow the timing of the schedule, we don't completely follow her method in every way, because we've learned that some things just don't work for our baby. For instance, our baby has reflux, so he sleeps in an inclined rocker, not in a crib. We also put him to sleep tightly swaddled, though the book says he should only be loosely swaddled at this age. Lastly, we allow him to fall asleep for his final nap with a pacifier, which is a HUGE "no no" in her book. We've learned that this is the only way to ensure he takes that last nap, which he still really needs. So, take her exhortations with a grain of salt. There are some things that just won't work for your baby. The sleeping and eating schedules, however, will make a HUGE difference for most families, especially if they are stuck in baby roulette mode, like we were. Best of luck to all the new parents out there!

My husband called me from the airport when I was pregnant with my first and told me he ‘found a book that was the answer to how we should parent.’ Now, I have to say that I was sceptical but also humble enough to think that there would be experts out there who definitely knew more about raising happy babies than me. We have since used Gina’s Contented Baby book for our two children (and her others, e.g. potty training and weaning and contented toddler) and we recommend it to all expectant parents we know. Gina’s book and methods are straight forward and highly logical. Her routines are very clear to follow and explained so the parents can learn and adapt them as necessary. There is also a lot of problem solving guidance that I’ve found really useful in fixing issues. I also have appreciated how the routines adapt to the child’s age to make sure that we stay on top of changes that are needed. I’d also like to stress that I’ve found the routines and methodology to be very compassionate to both the needs of the child and the parents, making sure both have what they need and are as well rested as possible. The routines do require a lot of dedication and should be followed as closely as possible. They require parents to prioritise the routine as much as they can but, after witnessing many friends suffer the downsides of not prioritising routines, this is something we were happy to do. We have had two babies that we have raised with the Gina Ford routines and we are often told how happy and contented they are. Due to the routines, if they are upset, I’ve nearly always been able to understand why and I’ve not had to guess. Both my exclusively breastfeed children have slept through the night (with a dream feed) from a young age and my husband and I have nearly always had evenings together due to predictable children bedtimes. I’d recommend these books to anyone who is expecting a child and who is open minded enough to appreciate that, whilst our little miracles seem unique to us, they will probably have all the same predicable challenges as other babies and Gina Ford more than likely has the solution.

Will recommend to everyone!

Un dinero muy bien invertido. Me compre otros libros de ella. Si sigues lo que dice y lo combinas con algunos ajustes dependiendo de tu hijo, saldrá todo perfecto!

Saved our marriage and saved our sanity It’s a full manual to having a contented baby who sleeps through the night and saves your sanity and marriage.

A very good book .should be read by all new parents.