I followed contented Gina Ford's Contented Little Baby

[puffling]

Am I the only one here who found this book useful? Here's why?
If I hadn't read it, I wouldn't have had a clue when to feed (more relevant as dd was eventually formula fed). I wouldn't have known about naps and night sleep. I had no received knowledge as I don't have much family. I did read other books but they seemed waffly and woolly.
Once I was more confident, I found that dd didn't follow GF to the letter, but it was a foundation for me.
I don't understand why people have a problem with writers who give definitive solutions/advice. If they don't like it, they can simply ignore it.

parp

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can you tell its late on a saturday night?!

oh yes, look at the time

A friend bought me the GOSH book which I found more informative tbh. It gave a general description of what to expect rather than this is what you should be doing type view.

Still didn't prepare me for hte massive shock of having your first baby - especially a non-conformist one!

But yes, some have found CLBB useful.

Why is it inadvisable? I'm not criticising the book and I actually felt like writing it in response to several very unpleasant current threads that while not so specific as mine are insidiously unpleasant.

dont think anyone is going to bite!

Im off to bed anyway, sleep is MUCH more important than rising to this.

one thing leapt out at me in your post about knowing when to feed - yes, it probably is suitable advice for ff - I think? - but bf babies seem to cover a wider spectrum than Ms Ford seems keen to acknowledge and trying to follow her routine with a bf baby who doesn't like feeding every x hours would be a nightmare.

I tried to gf my babies but it caused me heartache - the book said they should be doing this nap thing and so I believed it. finally I threw it away and actually listened to my baby instead and it turns out they like being carried round, kept in the circle of family, fed when they are hungry/thirsty and slot in nicely to family life. til I realised that, there were a lot of tears - mostly mine

anyhow, my theory is that there are babies who will naturally fall in with something similar to gf routines and so mums think gf is great, and babies who want to do things differently, and their mums will always think gf is talking a load of old rubbish

I have found gf useful as a talking point with new mums but gf wouldn't like what I have to say

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I don't want anyone to bite or rise jinxed, it's honestly my opinion.

Dior, I agree my post isn't necessary, but I'd rather write an honest open post than reply to one of the sarcastic ones.

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puffling I'm sure there are LOADS of people who found it great. Gina Ford is a massively best-selling author, so out there in the real world there are many thousands of people who have found it useful. i'm sure there are many who didn't, too.

i think it's a pragmatic approach to use it as a 'foundation' and to give basic guidance on feeding and sleeping if the letter of it doesn't suit.

I was given the book by my SIL and tried the suggested nap times and feed times, which transformed my colicky, fretful baby into the 'contented' baby within days. It was bliss. My ds was a joy and so was motherhood.

Therefore I found her suggestions for structure helpful, as have oooooooooooodles of others.

don't forget that the proportion of posters on mumsnet compared to the 60 million or so people in this country means that views on here are not necessarily representative!

lol DIor

I'm going to bed now, not trolling.

Puffling - no you're not the only one. I did find it useful as I had no experience with babies at all. Like you, I didn't follow it to the letter, far from it. But just things like realising that I should expect DS to be tired after a couple of hours really helped me to understand him better. Lots of claims are made about GF and her books that are untrue. She makes clear that her routines are guidelines to be adapted to the individual baby as appropriate. She makes clear that a hungry baby must always be fed. It really grieves me to hear of parents leaving a hungry baby to cry "because Gina says he/she shouldn't be hungry yet" fgs!

Gina Ford's books have many faults but there is definitely useful stuff in there. I found her weaning one pretty useful as well.

There, I've outed myself!

DISCLAIMER: my DS is most definitely NOT a Gina Ford contented little baby. I'm not a dedicated follower by any means.

Some people got themselevs into a real mental mess following the book. Probably they were taking it too much to the letter, and not understanding it was simply a guide. Like most things controversial helpful to some, dangerous for others (Facilitated Communication springs to mind- I'm a fan others run for the hills and describve it as dangerous- not something that most have to bother with).

Me? No opinion. DS1 was born BEFORE TCLBB was published so was raised partially on Penelope Leach and partially on fumbling around and finding my own way. I am officially ancient.

Gess - mine also had input from Penelope Leach and Miriam Stoppard. My mum, bless her, was pretty useless, every question being met with "I can't remember".

PMSL my mum was a bit like that - or "oh its all changed now I don't know".

Ah, but Gess and Twinkle ... mothers don't remember. We've had threads on this before.

Honestly, they grow up, you still adore 'em ... but you don't remember.

I can't remember what my kid was like a year ago ... not in any particular detail!

parp

if it works for you - cool
personally Gina not for me...but hey i can always use a duster