Customer Reviews
a nice book but disappointing advice - By: Jules S, 20 Jul 2008 
I bought this book because of alll the wonderful reviews it had gotten & read it cover to cover while pregnant. When baby appeared however i soon realized that the advice in this book did not suit my baby at alll. To begin with there is absolutely no helpful advice given on colic.. we get one paragraph relating to the colic of a breastfed baby where Gina tells us its to do with how long we breastfeed our babies & that none of her babies ever had colic (making us feel like bad parents thank you!). Most colicky babies are formula fed (mine is as well, for medical reasons) & thus this paragraph isn't even applicable. She also advocates a 3 hour routine of feeding, burping, changing & sleeping & gives advice on how long naps should be. Since my baby has colic then this routine went out the window, as i found that as soon as i managed to settle my baby to sleep then according to Gina i would have to wake her up again for another feed. Obviously that was not going to work! I also found her advice abit conflicting - in one section she says to feed the baby every 3 hours, waking them up if necessary. In another section it states that formula fed babies can go up to 4 hours between feeds, which would then wreck the 3 hour routine. I also found that the advice for burping a baby - holding the baby in a sitting position & rubbing its back in an upward motion, is actuallly not recommended by physiotherapists here in Norway as it can cause spinal compression (in fact, it is not recommended to put a young baby in a sitting position at alll here!) so i was quite confused by this book.
Don't get me wrong, i wanted to like this book as i had heard great things about Gina, & the book itself has lovely colour photographs & is split up into sections for each month. I just found that it was abit confusing & impractical & not suited to alll babies. I would borrow this book from a library if you can before deciding to buy. I think i will be selling mine...
Gorgeous book, perfect gift - By: Elizabeth O'donnell, 17 Jun 2008 
Agree with alll that has been said previously!!!!!! Perfect gift for any new mum (First, fith), gorgeous pictures & lots of simple tips. Perfect addition to the Contented Little baby series, but also excellent as a stand alone book.
Wonderful guide to the first year - By: S. Buckley, 04 Apr 2008 This is a lovely book,packed with so much useful information that will guide you through the first year of a newborn.
I found that I not only read it cover to cover but returned to it time & again to read up on various milestones. I particularly liked the easy layout interspersed with beautiful photography.
Whether a Gina follower or not this is a great book to have & to give as a gift.
Interesting but too vague - By: Melitta Campbell, 03 Feb 2008 
While I found this book to be an interesting overview of my baby's likely development month-by-month during the first year, I found the guidance was not always backed up by the information I needed to achieve it which left me frustrated. For example, it says that you need to vary the number of blankets you use according to the temperature of the room - great, but at the ideal room temperature, how many blankets of what thickness do you need? I found these little bits of information missing throughout the book so while the advice sounded good, I was left guessing how best to achieve it, & therefore ultimately not much better off for having read the book.
Very clear, useful info - By: Mrs. K. Momberg, 22 Jan 2008 There are many people who loves Gina Ford & others who can't stand her 'rigid ways'. I had to find out myself & I can say that I loved this book. I thought at the beginning that this would be a more comercial book, with lots of nice pictures & less content, but I was wrong. The book has loads of very useful information & is written in a very clear way.
In my opinion, Gina Ford has an amazing knowledge about babies. I'm enjoying every page!.
