Mention Gina Ford and people will either stare at you with a blank expression (they’ve never heard of her) or they have a very strong opinion.
She certainly has the marmite effect, a love hate relationship with British mums. Her books about contented babies, twins and toddlers are certainly best sellers but how helpful are they.
I have a problem in that I’m a fan and I say this as I’m more than aware that I’m in the minority.
In my circle of friends it’s not popular to say that you’ve used her books and found them extremely useful. However, despite their scepticism, they all comment on how well behaved your baby is, how he sleeps through the night even after having a 2 hour sleep in the day.
I was given The New Contented Little Baby book by my best friend when I was pregnant. She’d found it a life saver when her son was six months and was wanting him to sleep through. She’d given it to me so I could reap the benefits a lot earlier but she was wary about my reaction.
Initially on reading it I was scared stiff as I didn’t know how on earth a baby could behave in the way she was describing. I fully appreciate how mums are put off by her blunt style of writing and rigid regimes.
However, every baby is different and I found it useful. When my son William was a few weeks old I knew what he would allow me to do and we adapted the routines around him. You do need to read through the whole book and not just look at the routines page.
It did take a while and there were days when there was a sense of failure when he hadn’t slept or eaten bang on the time he was meant to. But I was determined to persevere and now William is in a great routine.
I know routines aren’t for everybody, particularly those with hectic lifestyles, but I’m currently watching a friend struggling to get her nine-month-old daughter in to the habit of getting up before nine in the morning. She goes back to work in a few weeks time and she’s finding it tough.
Perhaps Gina Ford does have her place after all.