Until babies learn to read the book for themselves, it won't work for everyone (The New Contented Little Baby Book - Gina Ford)

Member Name: k81979

Product:	The New Contented Little Baby Book - Gina Ford
Date:	18/04/09 (59 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of useful snippets of advice

Disadvantages: Assumes all babies are the same and fill automatically fit the routines

On the surface, this looks like the ideal book for someone like me. As a teacher, I'm used to strict routines, and even outside of work I like to do things in a certain way. The structure of this book appealed to me in the months leading up to my baby's birth.

And it makes it seem so simple! If you do certain things at certain times, your baby will be happy and content, and you will be a happy mummy! The only problem is ... my wonderful newborn son, though obviously intelligent beyond belief, is unable to read the book for himself so that HE knows what to do as well!

The routines are VERY regimented. Times need to be stuck to religiously if they are to work. Whilst this seems a great idea in principle, what are you to do if your newborn does not want to feed every 3 hours, but instead is more of a 'snacker' during the day, as my son tended to be for the first few weeks. Leaving him for 3 hours would have been cruel to both of us, he just couldn't go that long. What do you do if your baby won't go to sleep at the prescribed times? Again, my son is a good night sleeper, which means he naps less during the day, so I find it difficult to get him to sleep at the recommended times.

I have to admit here, I didn't ever try the whole routines, as it was a non-starter from the feeding point of view. The book just seems to assume that all babies are exactly the same, without their own little personalities. My son is not a fussy baby, he is content and doesn't cry an excessive amount. He has slept well at night pretty much from the start, and this is all as a demand fed baby who has plenty of cuddles and no strict routine yet.

Having said this, I can see the routines being useful for older babies. We are starting to get into a very vague pattern of sorts with feeding and sleeping, and it may be that we start to get in sync with the routines as my son gets older. However, it will very much be led by him to begin with, and will be coincidence rather than me forcing a routine upon him.

There is plenty of good advice in the book, and the routines give a good idea of what you should be doing for your baby throughout the day - useful for first time parents with no previous experience of babies! Sections on weaning and sleeping are full of good advice, but I think the best thing to do is to take the advice and mould it to your own routine - or lack of!

I would still love to be in a routine with my son, and can honestly say I wanted the advice in the book to work. It is just too prescriptive for me and doesn't consider individual babies, which to be fair would be impossible. I know a friend of mine swears by the routines, it just wasn't for me in the end.

Summary: Good to dip in and out of, but didn't work for me.