El bebé satisfecho: Claves para el niño seguro, tranquilo y feliz

by Gina Ford

Gina Ford, una enfermera especializada en cuidados infantiles, ofrece a los padres su dilatada experiencia a la hora de programar las actividades relacionadas con la vida del bebé, y a solventar cualquier incidencia relacionada con el sueño, la higiene o la alimentación del pequeño.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1999

Reviews

[Allison C · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is awful -- it's a rigid approach to child rearing and it made me question myself every time I read it. I should have thrown it out ....

[Maritza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Followed it step by step & it worked!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main tenet--that babies need routine and structure around their sleep and meal times--is fine, but the way she goes about it seems completely impractical to me. In particular the feeding method flies in the face of my pediatrician's instructions to provide on-demand breastfeeding. Some sections made me snort, especially as regards time between feedings (4 hours in Spain in the summer, which would be a major risk for dehydration) and the mother's day (when to drink a large glass of water). I will give it another look in a month or two, but I can't see it working for me at all with my 3 month old.

[RJC · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful, awful, awful, advocating such strict routines that prevent interaction with the baby. Overly fixed routines that con not be broken. Awful and patronising.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I followed this book religiously when it came to sleep training, and started off very early with the schedules (my baby was just 4-6 weeks old). You don't think it's working at all, but if you just keep to it, eventually things start to click, and your days slowly tighten up into predictable patterns. (And what a relief!) My baby was actually sleeping through the night & taking predictable naps during the days at 3 months old, and was a cheerful & very contented baby during her waking hours. Our moms & the babysitters commented that they never heard our baby cry! She is now 9 months old now, and is like clockwork with her eating and sleeping schedules. She never melts down (unless sick or something), and almost always goes to bed without any fuss. It is such a blessing.

One of the most helpful things to know from this book: "No baby under 4 months should be allowed to stay awake for longer than two hours at a stretch. Care should also be taken not to overstimulate the baby 30 minutes prior to being put to bed." (p 41)

I found that the early feeding schedules in this book were not able to satisfy our baby, and so I breastfed more on-demand (my doc's rec) for the first 6 months, instead of implementing Gina Ford's schedules. That said, after 3 months, I began to "concentrate" a little more on the schedules with the feedings, but still didn't keep exclusively to them: if my baby was hungry in between, I just breast-fed her a bit.

The book has some immensely helpful info about breastfeeding, such as, "Babies between one week and six weeks usually need at least 30 minutes to reach the hind milk." (p. 53) And "If you change breasts too soon he will end up getting too much fore milk, which is one of the main causes of babies never seeming satisfied and suffering from colic." (p 56) "If he is fed enough during the day he will be much more likely to got to sleep for longer periods between feeds in the night." (p 57) The book also discusses the popular societal trend for bottle-feeding and formula feeding that "became well established in the fifties and sixties..." And this was quite helpful info, since our baby's grandmothers were keen to formula-feed, while my choice was to exclusively breastfeed.

The introduction of solid foods was too early for us in this book. We waited til 6 months to introduce solid foods with our baby. But then we took Gina Ford's advice on the topic, with much success.

In general, I found this book to be an immense comfort in the midst of all the craziness of having a new baby. The best thing about this book is that Gina Ford's schedules are able to give a new mom some real, concrete idea of the baby's biological needs (which shift/change over time as she grows). I was not militant about adhering exactly to the rigid schedules, but I did follow them whenever possible. And ultimately, now, we have a baby who is happy, and sleeps from 7 pm to 7 am everynight. Enough said.

[Frida · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing. I have read so many books and this one is the best. I worked as a nanny for many years and always adviced parents to follow this book. Some of them did and the baby was sleeping through the whole night before the five months. Some of them thought it was to rigid and kids are two to five years and still get up in the middle of the night and go to their parents bed. With my son I had the freedom to follow the book 100% and I love it working night shifts and many hours gave me the opportunity to have my son sleeping through the whole night by three months and still have the energy to play and nurture him. I was able to breasfeed until my son was a year and a half and he has been a happy baby. Thank you Gina for your awesome book I keep recommending it to everybody that I know who has babies.

[Andrea · Rating 1 out of 5]

I agree with Allison C. A friend sent this to me but once I read that you should not make eye contact with your baby at bedtime I knew that I would not be following Gina's steps for a contented little baby!!! My little darling is 3 months and has been sleeping through the night for a month now and we have lots of cuddles, chats and eye contact at bedtime. He got himself into a little routine that works for the both of us without leaving him to cry himself to sleep...how cruel at such a young age. Jo Frost's book says not to try the controlled crying technique before 6 months of age and even then I would hesitate.

[Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book stressed me out. I read it and then tried to follow the schedules but it was too stringent!!! You really have to be dedicated to a strict schedule and not leaving your house in the first 3 months, which I wasn't willing to do. It does have some good tips, but it's just too rigid for my lifestyle. Recommended for those who like to follow a strict schedule and plan. (Which I thought I was, but to stay home all day so child could sleep in his crib for all naps was just too much for me!)
:)

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book helped me get my baby sleeping through the night and on a great schedule! She now sleeps for 12-13hours straight at night. I did find it a bit strict, so there are a lot of things I kind of rolled my eyes at, but overall it has been great!

[Anna]

One UK magazine states in their review " Ford's books are like operating manuals, pointing out that although Ford worked as a maternity nurse she herself has no children of her own".
Interesting....

[Jake Berlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

aside from being rather old-school, i also just found this book really confusing. some portions felt like LSAT questions or those old "a train leaves city A at 8:30 am traveling 70 mph" questions. not that there weren't some useful tidbits, but not great on the whole.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had my baby sleeping through the night at 10 weeks old.

[D.J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This provides an interesting approach to child-rearing, some of which my wife and I are using as first-time parents, and some of which we are ignoring.

[Mithra Birdie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good advice, but way too rigid for a baby

[Stacy · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you plan to successfully breastfed this book is not for you.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sure it reads a bit like an operating manual but I think there was some really good advice here.

[Libraryanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Way too rigid for the average parent. The book is full of "Always" and "Nevers." It just didn't work.

[Yesenia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read a few books discussing baby's eating and sleeping, including sleep training related books. This one is not better or worse than any other. One general comment I have to the sleep training books is that babies will develop on their own schedule, and whether you train him or not, he will sleep through the night at some point (I've never heard a teenager who has trouble sleeping through the night!). So when you think the method in the book is finally working, in reality it might just mean that you baby is finally developmentally ready. I personally would not recommend any sleep training methods to other parent. Let your babies be. They'll grow up. They'll learn. They'll sleep through the night. They'll be amazing.

[Clare Mcgovern · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only book I have ever wanted to burn, sorry Gina.