Ford - The new contented little baby book: the secret to calm and confident parenting

The New
Contented Little
Baby Book

Gina Ford

The New
Contented Little
Baby Book

The Secret to
Calm and Confident Parenting

New American Library

N EW A MERICAN L IBRARY

Published by the Penguin Group

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Published by New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Previously published in the United Kingdom by Vermilion, an imprint of Ebury Publishing, a Random House company. For information contact The Random House Group, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London, Greater London SW1V 2SA, England.

First New American Library Printing, March 2013

Copyright Gina Ford, 1999, 2002, 2006

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

REGISTERED TRADEMARKMARCA REGISTRADA

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:

Ford, Gina.

The new contented little baby book: the secret to calm and confident parenting/Gina Ford.

p. cm.

Rev. ed. of: Contented little baby book/Gina Ford. 1999.

Includes index.

ISBN: 978-1-101-61513-3

1. Newborn infantsCare. 2. Newborn infantsHealth and hygiene.

3. Newborn infantsWeaning. 4. Parenting. 5. Child rearing.

I. Ford, Gina. Contented little baby book. II. Title.

RJ131.F64 2013

649.1dc23 2012027286

Designed by Pauline Neuwirth

PUBLISHERS NOTE

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this book is complete and accurate. However, neither the publisher nor the author is engaged in rendering professional advice or services to the individual reader. The ideas, procedures, and suggestions contained in this book are not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician. All matters regarding your health require medical supervision. Neither the author nor the publisher shall be liable or responsible for any loss or damage allegedly arising from any information or suggestion in this book. The opinions expressed in this book represent the personal views of the author and not of the publisher.

While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers, Internet addresses, and other contact information at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication. Further, publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

M y first book,The Contented Little Baby Book (first published in 1999), was based on my personal experiences of working with more than 300 babies and their families in many different parts of the world. It became a bestseller and has been used, and continues to be used, by hundreds of thousands of families across five continents.

The popularity of my advice, and loyal support of the books followers, is testimony that babies can and do thrive very successfully on routines. Unlike the old-fashioned and inflexible every-four-hours routines, my routines are based on a babys natural feeding and sleeping rhythms, ensuring that a babys needs are met before he gets distressed or overtired. Most important, the routines can be adapted to suit the individual needs of each baby; from extensive experience, I know that all babies are different.

In the time since my first book was published, I have communicated with thousands of parents as a result of my consultancy work and through the Contented Baby Web site, www.contentedbaby.com. The regular and direct contact has enabled me to obtain useful feedback from parents on the Contented Little Baby (CLB) routines, which in turn has inspired me to fully revise and update my original book. The CLB routines and my core philosophy remain the same, but my advice has been expanded in response to this valuable feedback and adapted to todays circumstances.

I am confident that this revised book will be even better at teaching you how to recognize the difference between hunger and tiredness, how to establish good feeding and sleeping patterns, and how to meet all of your precious babys needs. With help from this totally revised edition, becoming a parent should be a happy and deeply satisfying experience for both you and your baby. The CLB routines have worked for many thousands of parents and their contented babies, and they can work for you too.

1

Preparation for the Birth

W hen one talks of preparing for the birth, the first things that spring to mind are prenatal care and decorating the nursery. Both are important in their own ways. Prenatal care is of the utmost importance for a healthy pregnancy and helps to prepare you for the birth; and decorating the nursery for the new arrival is fun. While many of the prenatal classes available do give some advice on what is ahead after the birth, they often focus on the birth itself and overlook very practical tips, which, if offered early enough, can save parents hours of time and stress after their baby is born.