or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
52 used & new from £1.98

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The New Contented Little Baby Book: The Secret to Calm and Confident Parenting
 
See larger image
 

The New Contented Little Baby Book: The Secret to Calm and Confident Parenting (Paperback)

by Gina Ford (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (722 customer reviews)
RRP: £10.99
Price: £5.49 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
You Save: £5.50 (50%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Want guaranteed delivery by Tuesday, November 17? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
31 new from £4.91 21 used from £1.98

Special Offers and Product Promotions

  • We've got all your newborn (and older) needs covered with great savings on selected Mother & Baby books from gurus Annabel Karmel, Gina Ford and many more.


  • Looking for baby products? Visit the Baby Store at Amazon.co.uk for special offers on gifts and essentials.


Frequently Bought Together

The New Contented Little Baby Book: The Secret to Calm and Confident Parenting + Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect and Communicate with Your Baby + What to Expect the First Year
Price For All Three: £22.46

Show availability and delivery details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect and Communicate with Your Baby

Secrets of the Baby Whisperer: How to Calm, Connect and Communicate with Your Baby

by Tracy Hogg
3.9 out of 5 stars (127)  £7.87
The Contented Baby's First Year: The Secret to a Calm and Contented Baby: A Month-by-month Guide to Your Baby's Development

The Contented Baby's First Year: The Secret to a Calm and Contented Baby: A Month-by-month Guide to Your Baby's Development

by Gina Ford
4.4 out of 5 stars (45)  £9.56
What to Expect the First Year

What to Expect the First Year

by Arlene Eisenberg
4.2 out of 5 stars (78)  £9.10
The Complete Sleep Guide For Contented Babies and Toddlers

The Complete Sleep Guide For Contented Babies and Toddlers

by Gina Ford
4.0 out of 5 stars (48)  £6.56
The Contented Little Baby Book Of Weaning

The Contented Little Baby Book Of Weaning

by Gina Ford
4.3 out of 5 stars (91)  £6.35
Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Vermilion; New edition edition (6 April 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0091912695
  • ISBN-13: 978-0091912697
  • Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 13.4 x 2.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (722 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 395 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #24 in  Books > Health, Family & Lifestyle

Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

If you are still struggling to get your newborn to sleep through the night, still getting up throughout the night to feed the little one, or perhaps you are feeling as if no end is in sight, you need to read Gina Ford's The Contented Little Baby Book. It may be the only thing you need to bring peace back into your frazzled existence with your tiny baby, or babies.

After all, this book promises to teach parents tried and tested methods to get their baby to sleep through the night by the time they are 10 weeks old.

For parents who are craving their first night of unbroken sleep, Ford's book may be the answer.

Ford's methods conjure up the image of a strict and loving old nanny from yesteryear. Her techniques go against the grain of many currently popular parenting philosophies. For example, Ford, an experienced maternity nurse, is against demand feeding, believes in the necessity of waking a sleeping baby in order to establish a daily routine. Her philosophy may not be the norm today, but Ford is confident of her methods based on years of experience handling hundreds of babies.

Providing an hour-by-hour, week-by-week guide on how to get a new baby into a routine, the book includes feeding and sleeping schedules based on a baby's age. The Contented Little Baby Book provides so much information that it may be necessary to keep this paperback book handy for reference should you employ Ford's techniques.

Experienced parents may not benefit from Ford's methods, but first-time parents may learn a lot from her ideas, and for the discerning reader of parenting books, this one is a must have. For the reader who would like to weigh other parenting methods before adopting Ford's techniques, the following books may be of interest: The Baby Book, by William Sears, M.D. and Martha Sears, R.N.; What to Expect in the first year, by Eisenberg, Murkoff and Hathaway; and Your Baby and Child, by Penelope Leach. --Abbe Jacobson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.



Review

'Gina Ford is the Delia Smith of parenting...while Delia tells you how to make the perfect omelette, Gina Ford in her baby-care manual The Contented Little Baby Book, draws on 30 years' experience to tell you how to nurture the perfectly happy baby.', YOU Magazine .'for me she was an absolute godsend', Kate Winslet, Baby & You ."It is hard to overestimate the good she has done...How to reward this great benefactor of mankind?...My wife takes the view that only sainthood will do.", Peter Osborne, Political Editor, The Spectator .'"I devoured it (Contented Little Baby Book) in one sitting. It was hilarious. The claim that a baby of five months could be trained to sleep from 7am to 7pm made me laugh out loud. Little did I realise that this was the start of my conversion to the gospel according to St Gina. That Gina Ford would soon acquire an almost divine status in my life....I look back on my BGE (Before Gina Era) and think of how many of my babies has cried and cried as I ever more desperately struggled to get them to sleep....My only regret, of course, is that Gina did not write her book years ago, when my older children were born. I look in the mirror and wonder what a difference that would have made to the bags under my eyes. If motherhood had always been as easy as it seems this time, I might not have had five children - but 10. Maybe Ruth Kelly's secrets is that she has a copy of St Gina."', Martine Oborne, Evening Standard --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(10)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?


 

Customer Reviews

722 Reviews
5 star:
 (367)
4 star:
 (90)
3 star:
 (40)
2 star:
 (45)
1 star:
 (180)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (722 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
211 of 218 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Very useful but not a bible, 13 Oct 2007
By E. Purton "EllenMP" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Bottom line: Are you a control freak? (be honest)If so, then this is the book for you. If not, then give it a miss.

I did not read this book with my first, who was a nightmare baby sleepwise, but was eager to avoid that fate with my second so I did buy and read it then. I found her general baby care advice very sound and helpful and wished I had read at least that first section with my first. As for the much discussed routines, I think that she has based them on what has worked with lots of babies and therefore they will work fine for lots of babies.

You have to take the book with a grain of salt and choose to use as much of the routine as works for you and your baby. I liked to dip into it every week or two and get an idea of how Gina thought things would be changing for my baby and then make up my own plan based on my baby's needs as well as the rest of the family's.

I have to say that I would often put him to bed thinking he wasn't tired, but give it a try because Gina said to and then find him out cold in seconds, so I do think she knows a thing or two about typical baby rhythms. However all babies are not typical, her routines are virtually impossible if you have an older toddler to manage as well, and if you are a go with the flow kind of mum you may find you don'e enjoy being a slave to a routine.

On the other hand, I think many new mums (especially type A ones) feel completely lost when they bring a new baby home. They have no experience with babies, and very high expectations of themselves. Finding themselves confronted with a whole new job, one which is far more important than anything they have done before and yet for which they are entirely unprepared, can bring on panic and depression (to say nothing of the effects of sleep deprivation and hormone upheaval.) This book can be a solid anchor for a new mum who feels out of control and overwhelmed. It tells you how to care for the baby, what to do with it all day, how to structure your new life, how to take care of yourself, and how to feel confident you are doing things more or less right. Once you feel like you have a grip on things, you can throw it away, or use whatever parts of it are working for you.

It is important to realize with this book that it is for the MUM, not the baby. Most babies will be fine on this routine, on another routine, or on no routine at all as long as they are kept warm, dry, fed and loved. A happy mum (and dad) are a great plus for your baby, so if you think you are the type of person who will need some structure and guidance to keep you sane, then by all means buy this book and give it a try. If you think you want to use your instincts and be free to go with the flow, then this isn't for you.
Comment Comments (5) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
70 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book..just don't follow it to the letter!, 21 Oct 2007
By Mrs. L. M. Pottage "Laura P" (Uk) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
I read this book from cover to cover (several times)when i was expecting and loosely implemented it when my daughter was born and have to say have found it absolutely invaluable in raising my little girl who is now 9 months. I think the trick is to follow it, but not to the letter (also to read the book thoroughly and really 'know' it). Most of what Gina advocates is absolute common sense. Yes..it is very rigid if you stick to it 100% but we didn't do that. We took Gina's basics and based our schedule on her ideas. I didn't even try to get my daughter into any kind of routine for the first 4 weeks or so but then (based on Gina's routines)i helped her gently find a pattern of eating and sleeping that suited both her and me. She was sleeping 11-7 by ten weeks and was sleeping 7-7 by 5 months.(she's bottle fed and weaned at 5 months). She is now 9 months old and she always has been, still is and hopefully will continue to be a very contented happy little baby. I really believe this is mostly down to the routines we've followed and the way in which i've applied Gina's theories. She's thrived on a routine...She is happy, bubbly and only ever really cries when she is tired or hungry. I have never had to leave her to cry it out...if you read the book correctly Gina does not advocate that. I was a first time very anxious mum in need of abit of support and a push in the right direction. Gina gave us that and i am now the proud, confident mum of a wonderful baby...it worked for us!! Buy it..and read it before the baby's born!
Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
50 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Contented Baby Book, 13 Nov 2003
By Mrs H J Williams (Bedford United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
I bought this book on a recommendation from a friend and wished that I had never listened to them. I put my poor baby through Hell because of this book. Gina Ford is fine at telling what to do when things go right but there is no advice when your baby chooses not to follow her strict regime. This book makes you a prisoner in your own home as she insists the baby sleeps at set times, in her own room and that she eats at set times. Unfortunately my baby can't tell the time yet!! It made me feel inadequate because I couldn't get my baby to fit into her routines - not something you want to be feeling as a first time mum. Thankfully I saw sense and disgarded this book before I had done too much damage.

By far a better book is the Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg. This book saved my life. She puts her babies into a routine but it is not time dependent, you follow a cycle and that cycle can vary in length. She matches cries with body language so you begin to understand what it is your baby is asking for. Tracy Hogg also gives alternative courses of action for when your baby doesn't play ball. I read it cover to cover - a refreshing, common sense approach that does work. Unlike under the Gina Ford regime I now have a very contented baby through listening to the Baby Whisperer.

Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars not a bible
I've ordered this book because a friend told me it was her bible and helped raising 2 children.

I didn't use this book as a guide to the routine, i.e. Read more
Published 8 days ago by Leyli

5.0 out of 5 stars Great help to a clueless mom
If you know it all, don't bother with this book.

But if you want some guidance on what will work best for your baby and you, get this book. Read more
Published 10 days ago by Black Sheep

5.0 out of 5 stars Contented baby and contented parents
If you want your baby to be happy, comfortable, sleep well and to feed well BUY THIS BOOK!!! If you want sleepless nights, strange feeding patterns and crying all the time then... Read more
Published 13 days ago by Mr. S. K. Rose

1.0 out of 5 stars No Cuddles for Baby? Don't be silly!
This book is very counterintuitive and old fashioned in my opinion. It reads like the sort of thing people will be laughing at in 20 years time. Read more
Published 15 days ago by A. Taylor

1.0 out of 5 stars Delayed delivery. Very poor service
I had ordered this book on 20 Oct and have still not received this. Home Delivery Network who delivers seems to have delivered this to a wrong address on 23 Oct and I am stranded... Read more
Published 17 days ago by Sunil Kumar

4.0 out of 5 stars Useful in parts
I read this when I was pregnant and hoped I would be able to implement it. As a teacher, I was used to timetables and structure and I liked how these routines worked. Read more
Published 18 days ago by P. L. Seago

1.0 out of 5 stars this should not be the first book you buy
- This is not a parenting manual. It is a parenting system. If you want a really good manual for information and advice, get Penelope Leach's "Your Baby and Child" (Dorling... Read more
Published 21 days ago by Mrs. C. Leigh

4.0 out of 5 stars best thing since sliced bread
My baby boy at five months was having trouble sleeping and as a result of this I was having very little sleep. Read more
Published 22 days ago by Mrs. R. Pinglaux

5.0 out of 5 stars Grandma's godsend
The saying "Mother knows best" ceases to exist when your own child produces your first grandchild!!the web says. Read more
Published 25 days ago by G. M. Macfarlane-miller

5.0 out of 5 stars Two contented babies, thank you Gina!
I like structure anyway and so was always going to be a fan of Gina Ford. I am now a mum of two and a friend to many other Gina and non-Gina mums and I can honestly say that if... Read more
Published 1 month ago by L. MacNeil

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 

   


Listmania!


Look for similar items by category


Look for similar items by subject


Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.