Product reviews

I think Gina Ford gets a bad rap because her book is badly organised and the information is poorly presented. On first reading while pregnant, I was horrified at her dogmatic tone and the very precisely timed routines.

But being a first-time mum in a foreign country without any help or support, the idea of having a routine appealed and I persevered with the book. I had to read and reread it (would have it to hand every time I breastfed) to really "get" it - but now that I do, I can't imagine going the baby-led demand route.

If you give the book a chance, you'll see that while Gina Ford has set out her ideal routines, she does want you to adjust things to suit your baby. Also as some other mums have said, you'll find that you don't need to follow her directions to the letter to find the book useful. I read Elizabeth Pantley's No Cry Sleep Solution and found that useless, and I tried Tracy Hogg's routines and sleep techniques, but in the end it was Gina Ford that worked for me and my baby. I just wish she would work with a better editor to improve the organisation and tone of her book so as not to put people off straight away, since her methods are great.

Real concerns about this book due to the dogmatic way it is written. Definitely contains some good advice but does not recognise that not all babies will fit in with these schedules. The requirements to express breastmilk left me with a huge worry that I was not producing sufficient milk which took weeks to overcome despite baby growing well. Take the book with a pinch of salt and while working towards the schedules, don't worry if you do not achieve them. One of my best tips to preserve sanity and be a happy mum is to ensure you continue to 'have a life' and get out and share experiences with other mums - which this book makes difficult.

perfect for the first time mum who hasn't a clue about babies, like me. i did become a bit military about it with my first child though and had to relax a little bit about it all, but when i had my second child (5 and a half years difference) i went out to buy it again, just to help get the feeds and sleep patterns going, i didn't follow it religiously the second time around as i had a totally different child from the first one, he was alot hungrier, but i still didn't demand feed, instead of every four hours i just feed him every 3 hours during the day. i do recommend you get this book, but take it all with a pince ofsalt, she must be well old, the language is very antiquated

Excellent guide. Fairly presriptive but good for those with no idea about sleep/ feed patterns. Our baby slept through the night (10.30pm-7am) from 10 weeks. Nuff said! Just need to ignore the slightly irritating and repetitive 'in my vast experience of looking after hundreds of babies...'

I know she's controversial but I thought the advice was brilliant. I am an anal person and the book suited me, my child and my family perfectly. People often comment on what a good sleeper etc he is, and I honestly think it is down to the routines. It did make life restrictive in the first few months, but I was willing to deal with it. Will be interesting to see if it is doable with child number 2.... Oh, and I followed it to the absolute letter until he was about 1.