Books : The New Contented Little Baby Book

Rating: - Every child is different
was given this book when my first son was about a month old, person who gave it to me raved about how fantastic it was, read it expecting very big things and thought some of the information was very good and some not so good.
As every child is not exactly the same, this will work well for some and not so well for others, but anything is worth trying once.

---

Rating: - Book needs a warning
I would definitely stay clear of this book if you want to actually enjoy your baby and not have to take the poor child to a shrink later in life due to traumatised baby-hood. This book provides some sort of army regime for your toddler whereby there is no space for listening to the baby's personal needs and behaviours and probably provides more stress and trauma for the baby than anything else. I can understand people who have difficult babies may resort to this book, but there are other ways around this. I picked up the book the other day to see what Gina mentions with regard to starting with solids (which takes place at 6 months usually) and when I saw she recommended toast with jam for breakfast I couldn't believe it (how do they eat toast without teeth) and sheppards pie for lunch...hello? I mentioned it to a professional mid-wife in Switzerland who barely let me finish before she said "throw that book away". She had dealt with several parents who were attempting to follow the book, two of whoms children had to be taken in to hospital casualty to be tube fed as they were not putting on weight due to the stress entailed by the regime. Furthermore, several parents lose faith in themselves and get more desperate as they struggle with succeeding on this completely unrealistic and dangerous regime

Enjoy your baby - listen to the signs and learn together.

Good Luck

---

Rating: - Totally Amazing!
I bought this book when my son was 2 weeks old and started him on the routines when he was about 1 month old and I was a bit worried that it wouldn't be for me as I like to rely on my instinct and go with the flow.
Howerver, I didn't find the routines restrictive at all and the idea behind the baby getting most of their milk during the day time hours seemed to make total sense. My son was 6 weeks premature and I was told that he would take about 6 months to settle down into any kind of routine. He slept through the night 7 til 7 at 2 months. Whenever my son went "off plan" for whatever reason, ie. dropping nap times or not sleeping properly, Gina had a probable reason and a plan to overcome it. I have to say - she was right every time and her plan sorted it out within a week. However, I wasn't a total slave to the plan, Joe dropped one of his feeds a couple of months before Gina advised to and also dropped a nap time quite a long time before she advised it, so I wasn't tying him to the bed and forcing him to sleep when he didn't need it. I also found her advice on controlled crying excellent and I did follow that to the letter and it worked, it just takes a bit of time and patience. I also used her for potty training as well and I started when Joe was 21 months during the easter holidays. Within 2 and half weeks he went from being totally untrained to being completely dry and using the toilet by himself, he would get on it and then call me for help. Within another month he was totally dry at night and a month after that was weeing standing up. He's been trained for a year and a half and has only had 3 night time accidents.

I'm now expecting my second (Joe is now 4)and I have every intention on following Gina again, the morning nap will have to be tweaked and started later as I'll be on the school run but I've every confidence it will work.

A lot of people are very sceptical and think it is too rigid ie. sleep times etc but if you read her carefully she does take other children and family needs into account and suggests adjustments to timings etc. I also know three or four people who were "totally against" her philosophy but who's own routines were actually no different to hers!

I would say, give it a whirl - you can't lose. If you don't like it, don't do it, but certainly don't knock it till you've tried it.

---

Rating: - Love it or hate it
I found this book to be badly written and quite difficult to follow. The same points could be communicated using half as much paper and the author seems to spend an awful lot of time blowing her own trumpet.
Don't let this put you off though, the underlying theory of the book is a good one but it is not presented simply. I perservered and found that by referring back to certain parts it made a little more sense.
I almost wore myself to a frazzle trying to implement the routines exactly as laid out in the book when I got straight out of hospital and in the end I adjusted and simplifed the routines a little, wrote them on the noticeboard (so my husband knew what was going on!) and everything just clicked.
My little boy has almost completely dropped his night feed at 8 weeks and was sleeping five to seven hours pretty much from ten days old.

The most valuable tip in the early days was to express in the morning so my husband could do the 11pm feed, allowing me to have a bath and get to bed around 9pm.

My advice would be to read the book, and take some of the ideas and fit them into YOUR routine, otherwise its pretty difficult to even leave the house as every minute is accounted for.
Good luck.

---

Rating: - An absolute godsend
I bought this book when my baby was 8 weeks old and was very sleep deprived. I was very sceptical about it and was convinced it wasn't going to work but I have to say it did. I followed the routines for feeding but adapted the more strict bits to suit myself and my baby. The result was (and still is!) a very happy contented baby who at 12 weeks slept through the night. Getting those evenings back is priceless! I am proud to admit to being a control freak and found the book an absolute godsend. I would recommend it to all new mums who have no clue about what they are doing!!I am now using Gina's book for weaning which again has proved an absolute success.