The Contented Little Baby Book - a must girls!!!

[Tineke]

Hi Girls!!

A must for all of us! I have been given this book form a family friend and I sware it is the best thing I have so far...

'The Contented Little baby Book', written by Gina Ford

It's all the secrets of calm, confident parenting:

1. Recognize the difference between hungar and tiredness
2. Hear what your baby is really saying
3. Establish good feeding and sleeping pattern from Day 1
4. Choose baby Equipment and clothes
5. Set up the nursery
6. Deal with crying and colicky babies
7. Wean baby from breast to bottle
8. Introduce solid foods

It is fantastic. It also tells you how's best to raise the child all round. We will all have our ideas but this book deals with everything.

I hope you look into it.

It's become one of my bedtime books!

Tineke

 

[petchy]

this might work for some, but i have read it and found i disagree with so much in the book. i'm gonna do things my way! (she says, quietly confident...)

 

[Tineke]

I am sorry you didn't get anything form this book Petchy

I find it to be very interesting and am looking foward to applying the teachings so that I can experience these things for myself.

What parts in particular did you find has not worked for you?

I love discussing books tee hee



Take care,

Tineke

 

[Kerry]

This book is one of the maternity sectors biggest bugbears!!

Gina Ford has never even had children!!

Last year the BBC were asking for couples to take part in a programme called The Gina Baby House - similar to what they did with baby house on ITV - there was so much uproar and anger about the programme that it was scrapped - surely that tells you something.

The book is all about waking baby for feeds, timing everything and I have known people go mad trying to stick to it. Its unnatural for babies not to feed when they want to and for how long they want to, thats what feeding on demand is all about. And as for waking up a baby from a deep sleep - have you ever tried it??? You won't!!

Having said that it does work for a few people so if you want to try it then give it a go but that book won't even get over the threshold of my house!!

Sorry rant over!!

 

[Tineke]

Hi Kerry,

That's what I needed to know!!

I was hoping that someone who had practised her writings would give their point of view, after Petchy's post. I am not familiar with the author, and I am glad to know more of what she is about.

I can see your point and for sure, why would I want to wake my little baby while they are in deep sleep.

I am glad you responded to this post as myself being a mum for the first time, these are the things we need to hear about and learn.

Thanks babe!!

Tineke

 

[littlebump]

It is an interesting book, and I'm sure there will be somethings I'll find useful, but I have to admit most of it made me feel uncomfortable - far too regimented.

My midwife, and our NCT teacher (also a Doula, Kerry) slated the book - you could practically see the steam coming out of their ears when Gina's name was mentioned LOL!

Kerry - do you recommend any alternatives?

LBxx

 

[minikins]

Hi Tineke,

Check out this thread already on the subject.

I have found good and bad in this book,as with most books really, you take what you need and sounds good to you and scrap what sounds not so good.

As I am breastfeeding, I have found the day time routines to be to regimented, however, the nightime routine and saved me from insanity and it has worked for me now for over a week so I know it's not a fluke.

Dominic now goes down at 7pm with not much fuss, if any at all, after feed, change, massage and top up feed etc. I then wake him at 10.30pm for a feed, then he stays asleep till about 3.30am. Then wakes the usual time for the day at 7am. So I only get woken once a night for a feed and have a life with my husband at night time.

Good luck with everything.

Minikins

x

 

[littlebump]

Wow - well done Minikins.

Did you go anywhere to learn baby massage, or did you pick it up in books? I'd love to try it and have heard lavender is OK to use - just a lot more diluted than we would use on ourselves...

LBxx

 

[ree77]

Hello Ladies!

I don't think I necassarily believe in waking babies for a feed, but I do understand their point. They are trying to get babies on "schedule" so that they are easier to take care of and so that you and hubby have more "quality time" as minikins explained. I have tried putting my newborns on schedule before i.e. waking them for feeds, and for me I did not find it benefical, as you can already imagine it is very difficult to wake a newborn up if they are in a deep sleep. Then if you succeed in waking them up they are usually not happy!! lol So I had always found it best to allow them to eat when they are hungry...The only thing that I did try to control was the intake of formula my oldest son would eat morning noon and night if I let him which him being my first and me not being as educated as I am now I let it go on thinking he was always hungry those eating habbits have carried on with him. He's now 10 and still will eat morning noon and night if we let him, now my other children are the complete opposite and they are the ones that I really watched their intake with. Everybody has their view points on things as to feeding as these are mine. We always seem to learn from our first child I think they are actually the teachers and we are the students!!!! Scary thought I know!!

xoxo Ree

 

[Kerry]

My advice is that normally a baby will have created their own routine by about 8-12 weeks without you even noticing. All of a sudden you will realise that they are doing things at the same time every day, ie, sleeping, feeding, even pooing!

I would see how you get on doing it YOUR way and your baby's way - if you come across any hurdles a good book is the baby whisperer book by Tracey Hogg (who sadly died this year) she has much better idea's of how to sort things out, maybe not all of them but overall its a nice book and she was a wonderful lady.

PS - I am very familiar with the 'steam' effect that the word Gina Ford has on people!!

 

[minikins]

Just to clarify I let Dominic wake up in a natural way, over a period of 10 minutes, I just take his sheets off and he starts to wake up naturally and now he is used to getting up at 10.30pm so he starts to wake up now before i even get to him - yaay!

I am going to get the Baby Whisperer as I have heard good reports too.

 

[dani]

ive read a ton of pregnancy books and one i enjoyed and advise everyone to read to get a good laugh is

Belly Laughs by jenny mccarthy

this book is hilarious she dont hold nothing back not even the way she words what shes saying it made me laugh so much that i couldnt put it down i read it all the way threw

 

[petchy]

hi tineke, sorry i haven't been on here a lot over the last few days - been so busy with things! i just thought the book was so regimented and a little harsh. i'm not saying don't try to get a routine in place, but i'd like to ease baby into a routine that suits him when he arrives, and accept that babies' patterns of eating, waking and sleeping do vary.

that's just what i thought anyway!

 

[rach]

i fed on demand when i had my son which as he was feeding little and often (every 2 hours) night and day was exhausting but what kerry says is true by 8 weeks my son had worked out his own routine he was bed by 7 which gave me and o/h time together woke for a feed about 11:30 and then slept till 6 in morning which after the first 8 weeks was a relief
hope this one falls into a similar routine fairly quickly xxxx

 

[Ally]

I think its just a case of different things suiting different people. I used to be a nanny and now I am a social worker and work with families in crisis, dealing with families on the brink of care proceedings or just simply not being able to look after their children anymore or need a little support. My job is to reduce the amount of children in care so we work intensively with families. This means I have seen a lot of parenting techniques and I don't think you can say one way suits all, you have to find what you like as the happier you are and more relaxed you are the happier I think your baby will be.

My sister in law lives by the contented baby book and her 2 girls are in a very good routine and seem very happy and contented. I am due my first baby next March and would not want to do it as although I see it works in one way I feel that it is very restrictive. I would like my baby to be able to be a little more flexible as I think it is part of life that one day might be slightly different to the next, not every day, the same routine. I think you need a routine as a basis but it has to be adaptable.

Oh I am ranting but not making sense, basically I would just say if it works for you then go for it and as long as you enjoy your baby and you are all happy then that is all you you can ask. Go with what feels right, I think a happy, loved, stimulted baby is a contented baby, how you go about it is completely individual.

 

[minikins]

Wow - well done Minikins.

Did you go anywhere to learn baby massage, or did you pick it up in books? I'd love to try it and have heard lavender is OK to use - just a lot more diluted than we would use on ourselves...

LBxx

Ello you,

We got shown at Postnatal class the other week and I also have read up on it in the Pregnancy Question and Answer book. He goes through the odd moment where he cried thoughout but now he is getting used to it and he knows what happens next so that's good and as he gets older he will enjoy it more and more - hopefully . I wish I got massaged as much as him - lol !

xx

 

[littlebump]

That's great - sounds like a great 'winding down' kind of technique, so he associates the massage with going to sleep. Hopefully you'll have one very chilled out baby!!

LBxx

 

[minikins]

I bloody hope so

 

[Tara & Liam]

I agree with Kerry on this one.

we never altered anything with Joshua to Kieran and yet kieran slept right through from 9 - 7 from 6 weeks old and Joshua was a nightmare.

my sil, feeds her baby every four hours, even forcing the baby to drink all its milk as (in her words) "you will drink this feed as you wont have another one for four hours" i was horrified when i heard this (not seen it for myself). my mw just said to me that when she used to put her babies down for sleep time at night, she used to just get them to take as much milk as possible and therefore they slept for longer (advise which i am taking).

If a book makes you feel more confident with raising your baby then go ahead and use it, but from my limited experience, each baby is different, so i dont see how one book could help with millions of babies with different personalities.

x