The Complete Sleep Guide For Contented Babies and Toddlers: Amazon.co.uk: Ford, Contented Little Baby Gina: 8601300062648: Books

I am a first time Mum and felt that I needed guidance with my baby. I had heard people speak of Gina Ford and so decided to buy her book. Ms. Ford is very confident about her views of how to handle a baby's sleep pattern and some of it is common sense - room temperature, number of blankets, sleep when the baby sleeps, 7am-7pm timetable etc. I wish to say to mothers, especially first time mothers like myself who are not so confident about their own judgement, that it's ok not to follow the "rules" in a book like this and to follow your own instincts. I found that I didn't agree with Ms Ford as far crying down is concerned nor with some of her other opinions and theories and we have never needed blackout curtains in order for our baby to sleep through the morning sun,In particular, she has a theory that if you rock your baby to sleep, nurse him/her or they fall asleep basically anywhere but in their cot, that you are setting a precedent and that after that your child will not go to sleep in any way except this way. She recommends that if they fall asleep in a way other than just putting them in their cot awake, that you should wake them back up as you are putting them into their cot! Our baby falls asleep various different ways all the time - in the bed with me, while nursing, being rocked, on his father's shoulder and just in his cot. We never ever wake him purposefully when we are transferring him back to his cot and we have never had a problem with him demanding just one single method of going to sleep as Ms Ford suggests will happen.The bottom line is, Ms Ford has some good advice in this book that is useful but do not be afraid disagree with it and go with your own better feeling on how to deal with your own child . You know best and frankly Ms Ford's ways may not suit you and your baby. One size does not fit all when it comes your relationship with your baby.

I can't say how much this book has helped me. It is absolutely a must-have for a new mother. If you have never read it, you might have heard something that people said she was stern and strict and the schedule was difficult to follow blabla. I think they are just purely jealous of Gina Ford because she is doing so well.The routine is not difficult to follow. After struggling to build my own routine and fed my daughter at different time, I actually found Gina Ford's routine is the best for a baby. I used to let my daughter sleep 10 to 10 so she went to bed with me. After tea time I was already exhausted from the day but I had to play with her and carry her around. Finally I decided she should sleep earlier and I moved her bed time earlier and earlier by 15 minutes every 3 or 4 days. Then I reached the 7:40 to 7:30. She sleeps through the night and I don't have to play with her for too long after her tea. I 'd like to go for 7 to 7, but my husband works from 7 to 7 in the day. He would not be able to see our little one at all on a working day if she goes to bed at 7.Anyway, I can't recommend more of Gina Ford. She is absolutely the godmother of this area. Buy this book and get your child a good sleeping pattern, so you can sleep through the night and be energetic in the day to play with her and take her out.

When our little boy was about 6 weeks old we realised we had a problem with his sleep during the day. He would not nap unless he just fell alseep on one of us. We had somehow fallen into that trap and now if we put Harry in his cot during the day he screamed the house down! We were first time parents and didn't really know much about getting our baby to sleep during the day and it was becoming a problem. When should we put him down for a sleep? How long should he sleep during the day? These were the kind of questions we had. We had a look on amazon at books about babies and sleep and 'The Complete Guide For Contented Babies and Toddlers' seemed to be the one that was going to answer all our questions. We had heard of Gina Ford and were slightly sceptical but we thought we would give it a go. It was a brilliant decision. The book arrived and not only did it help us solve Harry's daytime sleep problems, but it helped us to understand his sleep patterns and needs much better. It is also very iteresting!The book gives you an outline of how much sleep a baby needs and how that sllep should ideally be divided up across the day and night. It also offers reasons for why certain length sleeps should take place and certain times, the importance of a bedtime routine and explains about babies sleep cycles. Once you have taken on all of this information it helps you to structure your baby's sleeping. For many new parents this is something that would be incredibly useful. The book then splits up into 0-6 months, 6 - 12 months 12 - 24 months and then 2 - 3 years and looks at what to expect with sleep at this age, what to aim for, common sleeping problems and case studies.It also deals with sleep associations and sleep training. It recognises the emotional difficulty that sleep training creates and advises certain situations when it would not be a good idea to sleep train. It then outlines 5 different approaches to sleep training and recommends minimum ages or each approach.It is a book that I have referred to time and again since I bought it and imagine it will come in handy over the next couple of years. you do not need to follow Gina Ford's routines to get use out of this book but it does form part of the 'Contented Little Baby' series. I have to say this book then did lead to me buying the 'Contented Little Baby Book' and using Gina's routines and I would throughly recommend all of her books as they are excellent.Please don't be put off because you think you won't like Gina Ford based on what you have heard people saying about her routines. If you are having trouble with your baby's sleeping then this book is fantastic. You never know you might find that Gina Ford appeals to you once you start reading it. That happened to me :)People often comment on how well Harry sleeps and how he can settle himself to sleep no problem and it is because of the advice we got from this book we were able to help him become a sleeper like this!