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Why I’m too lazy for Gina…
One day I mentioned it to my friend who was on baby number two at this point and before I even finished the sentence she spat, ’BURN IT!’ like some kind of possessed demon!
Woah!!! Controversial!
….and I was about to find out why.
Ok, so a small confession. I didn’t read ALL of the book cover to cover. My god is it LONG!!! 337 pages of the benefits of a
Now, when I was told about this miracle solution to all my sleepless nights I won’t lie, I got excited. However, I really wanted more of an instruction.. booklet…or a pamphlet… not a novel! I have learnt over the years I am quite a lazy person and am TERRIBLE at sticking things out. Especially if they require an extreme amount of effort. I am also not a fan of being told what to do.
These routines are detailed,
Don’t get me wrong I like a routine, and agree with Gina when she says children thrive on it, but lord have mercy if you so much as need a wee at the wrong time!
This book preys on you when you are at your most vulnerable. When you have your first baby you are all kinds of upside down. You are
In these desperate times, something like this book, will seem like a beacon of hope. ’This is it’ you will think, ’this is what I need, a book to tell me how to look after this screaming, constantly hungry, bundle of pinkness, so that I can get back to my life! Praise the LORD!’
Because lets face it, that’s what we want isn’t it. We want
ISN’T IT??
No… I’m afraid it isn’t. I’m afraid when it comes to babies, there are no quick fixes, no one size fits all, and no baby manuals that will solve all your problems. Its a game of trial and error. Not a very fun game at times admittedly, but
It makes you think this is your only hope. Last chance saloon. This book tells you that you MUST follow this routine word for word, in order for your baby (and you) to be happy and contented and you MUST follow the routine in order for them to start sleeping through the night. As I said, I didn’t read the whole book, and made one pretty much half arsed attempt at following a routine, and gave up. Tutted at the book, slammed it shut and branded it nonsense.
However…. it had got in my head. Any time the ’R’ word was
Again… not true.
The final reason I am not a fan of this book is that it makes parenting sound easy. It makes babies sound controllable. It makes you question that what the
If you read this book pre-babies you would absolutely think that this was it. Follow the book, easy peasy, can’t go wrong. Forgetting about the most important element in all this…. THE BABY! They didn’t read the book, they don’t know when they are supposed to feed, or sleep…. they don’t even know
Lets just take a few examples from the book.
’Do not feed baby after 07.45 as this will put him off his next feed’
Hmmmm!You can bet your life that at 07:46 your baby will think ’screw you Gina’ and decide, with full force that it wants feeding…. NOW! Anyone ever tried to withhold food from a hungry baby???? It doesn’t end well on your ear drums believe me.
’Settle baby in his bed, he should have
HA HA! If getting the baby to have a nap during the day was as simple as settling them in their bed, I think I would be currently cooking baby number 3! As it happens neither of my children slept in the day without being held, rocked, or fed to sleep. Good one Gina! Clearly never heard the saying ’Never wake a sleeping baby’ either. If your baby has slept longer than 45 minutes would you really wake them? Would you??
11.45 Regardless of what baby has done earlier, he should now be winding down for a nap.
I
Now, this book wasn’t for me. That much is clear. However I don’t think I would go as far as to say ’BURN IT’. There are elements of the book that are really useful, and I know people who have used it and loved it. For me its not
In my opinion, new mums don’t need that extra pressure. Your first baby is a learning curve, and the one thing I did learn, is that routines come with time. It is very difficult to get a baby, who isn’t on solids, into a routine. I found that once we started weaning things got a whole lot easier, and all of a sudden at 6 months she was going to bed at 7pm, and sleeping through the night. This was WITHOUT following the contented little baby routine.
Ask
So what I think this book lacks is just a massive disclaimer.
”If this doesn’t work for you, you are not doomed to a life of sleepless nights. Just try something else.”
Probably wouldn’t have been a best seller though!
Mum Bore x