There you go, bloss - here's the article in full:
May 09, 2004
Queens of baby care in clash over tough love
Judith O?Reilly and Jon Ungoed-Thomas
Parents risk ?mental harm?
WHEN it comes to bringing up a baby, they are the giants. But now Penelope Leach, the author and child psychologist, has launched a scathing attack on the theories of fellow expert Gina Ford, claiming they could undermine a child?s development and even cause psychological damage.
Leach came to prominence in 1977 with her book Your Baby and Child. Her strategy of being very responsive to a child?s demands ? dubbed ?baby knows best? ? was adopted by a generation of mothers.
Two decades later Ford, a former maternity nurse who lives in Edinburgh, published The Contented Little Baby Book and asserted that a baby certainly did not know best. She recommended a strict regime which she said would result in a happy baby and stress-free nights.
It was a challenge to the more liberal views of Leach but the book rapidly notched up sales of more than 250,000. At dinner parties across the country, parents would congratulate themselves on balancing their hectic schedules and family life with the help of Ford?s strategy.
Ford?s schedules, which parents say are ?military? in their precision, cover every aspect from the exact time to open the ?blackout? curtains of the baby?s room to the number of times a day the baby should be fed. Mothers were advised not to cuddle their baby whenever they felt like it.
Leach, a psychologist, has revealed serious concerns about Ford?s advice. In an article on behalf of the Association for Infant Mental Health, she warns that Ford?s theories could ?distort? the relationship between parents and their baby.
She is careful not to name Ford in the article in the association?s newsletter, but warns that a regimented upbringing ? including ?controlled crying? where a baby is left in its cot despite its protests ? can undermine the child?s sense of ?secure attachment?.
She writes: ?The security of an infant?s attachment to mother and the sensitivity of her care go together. Stress, including the stresses that lead to insecure attachment, damages an infant?s capacity to learn and may in extreme cases damage it for ever.?
Leach?s views are endorsed by the association. Paul Barrows, its chairman and a child psychotherapist, said he was concerned that too regimented an upbringing might undermine a child?s sense of its worth.
?It might be good if you want them to fit into some very structured system like the army, but not if you want to foster individuality or imagination,? Barrows said.
Ford, who has no children of her own and has been described as a cross between Jean Brodie and Barbara Woodhouse, said last week that she was disappointed by the article and disputed its conclusions.
?I?m a great admirer of Penelope Leach and there will always be different schools of thought, but what I find totally ridiculous is implying the parents who follow my books are damaging children,? she said.
?My book is strict on the parent, but it?s not strict on the baby because the baby?s needs are being met. I say in my book that I would be horrified if any of my babies cried more than five or 10 minutes a day. This isn?t about denying a baby food or love.?
Ford is not wholly convinced by Leach?s theories. ?Mothers not only have to cope with the family, they have to cope with work. We must move forward and help them with this,? she said.
?There was this huge gap for more than 20 years where mothers were told they had to use their instincts, pick the baby up, let the baby sleep in bed and do what it wants. It can be very tiring for the parent and also may mean the child doesn?t learn the right sleep habits.?
Shelley Kerr, 32, a mother of two who lives near Ashford in Kent, follows Ford?s advice. She says it does not affect her relationship with her children.
Kerr, who has six-month-old Oscar and three-year-old Amelia, said: ?My son still has an enormous amount of love and an enormous amount of cuddles, but a baby needs routine. Especially with a baby, it?s a lot of guesswork, trying to work out what they want.
?The people I?ve heard speak negatively about Gina Ford or her book are people who haven?t done it. They?ve heard about her, maybe flicked through the book and thought ?Oh God, that looks like hell?.?
Abby Flanagan, 37, from London, said she tried to follow Ford?s theories when her son was born. ?It didn?t suit me at all,? she said.
?It just wasn?t the way I wanted to bring up my child. I had a few friends that did do it and, yes, they did have contented babies but, no, they didn?t have much of a life.?
Leach, who has two grown- up children, wrote Your Baby and Child to help to convey to parents that the relationship with a baby was one of ?negotiation and compromise?. It has sold more than 2m copies in 29 languages.
Ford has had more professional practical experience of baby care than Leach, working as a maternity nurse for more than 12 years. She now runs a consultancy for parents who use her strategy.
Leach said last week that her article had been prompted by the concerns of other professionals. ?When I meet child minders who tell me, ?I have had to alter my entire daily routine because I am not allowed to take this child off the premises between 9.30am and 10.15am because he has to be in a dark room to be asleep for particular minutes of the day?, then I think, heavens to Betsy, it has all gone a bit far.?