This book helped me restore my sanity - Rated 
I resisted Gina Ford's books for 4 years having heard so many negative things about them, and being determined to parent in a baby-led way.
However my second son was much more difficult to manage than my first. From the early weeks he didn't sleep in the day for more than ten or twenty minutes at a time, he cried out of fatigue during the day, and he liked to graze, feeding and dozing on and off. By four months of this (and also dealing with a four year old who loves his baby brother to bits but was showing some 'challenging' behaviour after the birth!), I was beginning to lose it. After one afternoon when I sat in my kitchen in tears with my husband unable to console me, I went to the library and got out a selection of baby and pre-school books.
I thought this book might be able to help with the daytime naps, and might have some useful tips. But when I looked at her routines, I realise they were exactly what my eldest had done, of his own accord. Maybe this makes some sense, I thought. I started the routine a week ago and now feel I am in control of my and my sons' lives. My little one sleeps for a total of 3 hours each day, goes to bed beautifully, only wakes once between 11 and 7 (I'm working on that gradually), and hardly cries. I get time to spend with my eldest alone and give him the attention he craves, meaning his behaviour is improving. My house is clean and tidy and the washing is all done and put away for the first time in weeks. And I have had time to catch up on my emails!
Some tips that are helping me make it work:
- the lunchtime nap feels like a pain as you can't go out. I resisted this for weeks despite my baby being sleepy at this time, because I had to pick my oldest up from nursery at 1pm. So I put the little one down in his pushchair at 12 with a blanket over the top and leave him alone in a quiet room. He comes out to nursery, still with the blanket over, goes home and then stays asleep for another hour.
- you may feel it's harder to use the routines if you've got one or more older children. But if you can get your baby into the habit of taking regular naps, that gives you time with your other kids - exactly what they need. So it's worth persevering.
- I use the morning nap to get chores done and the lunchtime one to sit down and eat, then spend time with my eldest. The afternoon nap I spend with my eldest or out for a walk or shopping.
All I can say about Gina Ford is - don't knock it till you've tried it! I never thought I would get on with this book, but it has turned me from a neurotic misery to a calm mum with two happier kids (so far!).
A very good frame of reference, but not a "user's guide to babies" - Rated 
We followed the routines (more or less)from about 4 days after our son came home from the hospital, at which point he was clearly beginning to wake up from the shock of being born and respond to the environment around him. 1 year on, he's a happy, healthy little boy who sleeps and eats well, and people who have been around small children longer than we have comment that he is an easy going child who rarely cries unless hungry or tired. But the "more or less" piece of the routine is the key; yes, the book is written like some kind on military manual. You have to overwrite that with your own common sense, and observe your own child to see what works and what doesn't. One tremendously helpful element of Gina's book that I hadn't seen elsewhere (it probably exists, but no-one else mentioned this to me before or after my son was born) - is that babies of 3 months or under can't go for more than 2 hours without needing to sleep. Absolutely true in my experience, but not something that I would necessarily have picked up had I not had that clue while observing my son's reaction. Nor would I necessarily have been clued in to the extent that my son's routine would change as he got older and more able to deal with the new experiences that life was providing him.
I've seen and heard a lot of heated reactions to this book. My personal conclusion has been that babies do indeed thrive on routine. If you stop and think about it for a second, that makes sense. They arrive in a world they have no understanding of and are, let's be honest, incapable of navigating by themselves. To imagine that they can establish an effective routine all by themselves is probably a little naive - a gentle nudge by their parents will help them find the routine that works for them.
And that's the trick - read the book, apply the routine, assess how your child responds and adjust as you need to. The text is written is a very authoritarian way, possible due to the author's background of dealing with middle class parents who are used to controlling their own lifes and are struggling to deal with the rigours of the new individual in their midst. I found that this book, in combination with the "Baby Whisperer" by Tracy Hogg, allowed me to have the confidence to apply the routine (Gina Ford), observe and try to interpret the reaction (Tracy Hogg) and then adapt as required (both) (although to be fair to Gina Ford, she does include a number of case studies where babies do not fit the routines perfectly, and advises parents on how to adjust accordingly)
Parenting is not a perfect science, you will get it wrong from time to time (hopefully not disastrously so), but so long as you can learn from this and remember that - whether it feels that way or not - you're supposed to be the one in control, you will most likely get the right result!
If you want to be a positive parent don't buy this book - Rated 
I bought this book on the recommendation of my friends. When my son was born I followed it to the letter. But my son did not want to sleep when Gina told him, or eat when she dictated. I ended up feeling as if I was doing everything wrong. This book completely shattered my confidence which is not a good thing for a new mother to feel.
After three weeks of being feeling a failure my husband literally threw this book away. After a few days of me doing what felt right and going along with my son I felt so much happier. But for a long while after her 'routines' were lodged in my brain and I felt terrible if he wasn't a sleep at 3pm, or whenever. Despite her warnings of doom that if I didn't follow her routines to the letter my son would never sleep through or feed properly, we bonded and thrived.
My confidence soared, I starting doing what felt 'right' and became mych closer to my son. And though I don't see it as a sign of good parenting he was sleeping through by 8 weeks.
With my second baby I completely ignored her book and every thing went even better.
I'm not denying that there were some good points to be had from her book but I found these tips in other books too. But her fundamental philosophy is flawed. These little tiny babies are not meant follow routines rather set their own one, you can help guide this but not dictate it.
Remeber that the author has never had a child of her own and thus doesn't really understand what a new mother is going through.
If I had my time again I would never read this book as it basically ruined my enjoyment of the first few weeks of my baby's life and made it a very stressful experience.
allowed me to continue breastfeeding... - Rated
On the one hand, I found this book invaluable... the plan for increasing my milk supply was FANTASTIC... After 6 weeks I was struggling with a continually hungry baby screaming for milk all afternoon and not gaining much weight... I decided to give breastfeeding one more week - luckily I found Gina's plan and it saved us! It was hard work, but I found it a lifesaver having someone telling me something definite to do about the problem... I was able to take control without depriving my baby of anything (and, in fact giving the poor girl some time to sleep with a full tummy for once!)
On the other hand, I have found it much easier to allow my baby to set her own routines since we sorted the feeding problem... we have a more flexible routine since I discovered that babies change from one day to the next and cannot be forced to do anything they don't want to (like sleep!!)
So I would definitely recommend this book... but take it with a pinch of salt... pick and choose what suits you and your baby...
Nothing but praise - Rated
My wife and I had our first beautiful baby 5 months ago. By week 5 we were basically doing a "cry on demand" routine for raising our child. Feeding him when he needed to be fed and putting him to bed when we thought he needed to go to bed. At week 5 my wife had to start expressing milk and was in a tremendous amount of pain in the breast area. That together with our baby waking up through the night was making child raising a testing experience if I can use that term. I essentially at that moment took on the role of Mr Mum. We purchased this book a few months earlier on the advice of a friend and hadn't really opened it up. That night I spent about 4 hours reading the book. The next day we started putting our baby into routine following Gina's recommendations. Since week 5 and now which is about 4 months, we would have visited his room before 6.30am maybe half a dozen times. Our baby is happy, where happy (because where getting a good nights sleep) and we can plan our days as we have a good idea when he will be awake, feeding or asleep. In every respect I have nothing but praise for this book. Maybe it works with some babies but not all, I can only use our baby as an example and in that respect it has been an overwhelmingly positive experience. Most parents try and get their babies in a routine but with Gina one simply applies it a little more strictly. I.E many people say "never wake a sleeping baby" We have no problems waking our baby at 10.30pm for that rollover feed as we know he will only wake up distressed at 3am if we don't. We don't follow it to the letter but more as a "strong guide" if I can use that term. We still give our baby an afternoon nap from 4 - 4.30/4.45 as it's simply too long for him to go from 2 - 7 without a sleep and we find he likes to have his morning nap at about 8.30am not 9am as recommended. We also followed the half feeds initially in the morning and evening before and after his bath. This morning like clockwork at 6.50am he started yapping to himself in a happy fashion waiting for mum or dad to pick him up, change him and feed him. I have nothing but praise for this book and thank Gina from good old "down under" for putting it out. We will definitely be buying her follow up books as our boy gets older. One tip, be careful who you praise it to. Some people can be a little aggressive in their condemnation of it. The two terms I have heard to describe it are "Boot Camp for Babies" and the "Nazi Book." Both offensive and completely wrong. Finally to a previous poster who talks about the fact it doesn't talk about giving your baby love. That is frankly a stupid comment. If your dumb enough to not give your baby love after reading this book and think that Gina is in anyway saying that, then frankly your not competent enough to raise a child. We could not give our baby more love, cuddles and kisses if we tried.
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