Customer Reviews
A must buy for new parents - By: Justin Summers, 28 Jul 2008 
This book was the BEST purchase we made. Even though we read the whole book, we didn't follow it like a manual, we picked the parts we needed and/or agreed with & used those. Our baby was (and still is) peacefully sleeping through the night from 3 1/2 months on & following a routine - NOT a timetable. As parents we are calm, coping & know exactly what our baby wants & needs thanks to the advicein this book. Allin all we are are very contented household! We were TOTALLY against controlled crying & this book (along with our instincts)helped us to get our baby sleeping without EVER leaving her to cry. Our siblings have now all bought this book after seeing how well it worked for us while they were still struggling with their babies of similar ages.
Saving sanity with structure but not for new borns! - By: legrandeginge, 24 Jul 2008 Ok Ok so there ARE flawsin this book & i'm not about to say that her tone & habit of referring to her readers as "duckie" & "luv" isn't annoying but i workin child psychiatry/psychology & it taught me a few new tricks!
I started off instinctively as a mother & went with attachment parenting...which i whole heartedly believe is the best thing for a new born baby. I co-slept, slinged & demand fed.
When a baby is new to the world trying to instill structure & seperation on a teenie tiny person who actually doesn't know or comprehend that they are seperate from the world around them is just cruel & potentially damaging on a psychological level...so i really wouldn't recommend this book for neonates. However, after 8 weeks or so (whenever YOU feel your baby might be ready) then i think this book is fantastic. Once babies begin to interact & takein the world around them, structure is a really positive thing, helping them to feel safe & contained.
I started my first with a slightly adapted baby whisperer routine after a few months & within a few nights my cherub was sleeping through the night & our whole family was settled into happy, predictable bliss.
Noone should take ANY book as writtenin stone or allow someones opinion (who has never even met your child) to overwrite your own maternal/paternal instintcs....for crying out loud...surely that's common sense????...so if you can read a book OBJECTIVELY & interpret what would be helpful for your family then you will find this book an absolute godsend.
This book recommends teaching your child how to self soothe, which again, on a psychological level, is really positive. Tracey Hogg advocates dummies, but if you or your baby doesn't use dummies then there are plenty of other ways to self soothe. My little girl sucks her thumb & i have never introduced a dummy but she is still able to self soothe. She also advocates you helping your baby learn how to fall asleep independently, (as you would help them learn so many other skills) but she doesn't advocate "crying it out". Which is great for most parents...after all who can bear hearing their beloved little bub crying till they either fall asleep from exhaution of just give up because they learn that no one comes when they cry?
I found it actually increased my connectedness, intuition & confidence with my little 'un.
However, a word of warning...Tracey Hogg uses a silly phrase of "accidental parenting" a lot during the book...which could feel quite critical to the more sensitive among us, or to those that are inclined to take guide books literally. What she means by "accidental parenting" is really just that she's agrees with the psychological theories on conditioning & that babies get into the habits their parents give them (DUH!! thanks for pointing out the obvious there Tracey)....so if you feed your baby to sleep, they will come to expect it...until you condition them into another method....which is what Tracey's book is all about...conditioning your child into a routine, where both you & your babies lives are structured & predictable. The way she goes about explaining it, isn't ideal at times but her basic idea is great. If you are a new parent & have just been through those first few months of crazy, sleep deprived cookoo land with a new born then this book is straightforward, easy to read & offers some sensible advise on structure.....but please please please take this & any other book with a pinch of salt...no one can know you own child like their own parent!!!!!
Tracey Hogg hasn't solved my problems - By: Ms. C. Large, 27 Apr 2008 
After the recent birth of my first child, I bought this bookin the hope that it might give me a better idea of how to develop a routine for my son, as well as giving me some confidencein my ability to be a good parent. Unfortunately, although some of the things Tracey Hogg talks aboutin this book make sense, I could not see how I could make her routines work for me & my son. For example, Tracey aserts that babies should not feed any more frequently than 3 hourly. However, I am breast feeding my son &in the early weeks he sometimes wanted to feed every hour. Tracey suggests thatin this situation your baby is either not getting enough milk, or is comfort sucking (and should therefore be given a dummy). I knew my son was getting enough milk as he was putting on weight very well, but despite trying to give him a dummy on several occasions he just would not take it. Tracey states that if your baby will not take a dummy, then you are giving up too easily & should keep trying. However, the whole premise of this book is that the parent needs to learn to listen to their child, & my son was clearly telling me that he did not want a dummy!
The author states that if her methods do not work for you, then you are at fault & either you are just not doing it right, or not trying hard enough. This approach left me feeling inadequate as a mother, at a time when I needed to feel understood & supported as a new parent. My negative feelings about this book are compounded by Tracey Hogg's insistence on calling the reader 'duckie' & 'luv' throughout, which I found incredibly patronising.
I have since realised that being a good enough parent means trusting your instincts & dippingin & out of various parenting texts, using the bits that work for you, & ignoring the bits that don't.
Oh, & my son is now able to go for 3 hours between feeds without me having to shove a dummyin his mouth!
Brilliant! - By: Niall O. Connor, 20 Apr 2008 
This book is the best thing I ever bought I think. Especially for first time parents it is such a help. We only found it when our daughter was already 3 months old, if we had had it from the beginning it would have saved us a lot of worrying & sleepless nights! However, once we got it, we had her sleeping 11 to 12 hours through the nightin just 2 weeks. From day 1 our life became a lot easier & more structured. I highly recommend this, even for parents with older babies who have sleeping or eating issues.
Undermines your parenting confidence - By: Ms. Tamara M. Shand, 04 Apr 2008 Like many other 1-3 star reviewers I felt that Tracy's constant referral to accidental parenting caused more problems because I started to constantly doubt myself.
Her avoidance of applying the advice to age made it difficult to understand & I ended up using techniques that were not appropriate to my baby's age. IE - as a newborn it is absolutely appropriate to rock, cuddle, pick up counter to Tracy's advice to start as you mean to go.
Tracy's basic structure/routine was helpful for a total novice but it took a lot of reading to get to the nuance & age appropriate bits of it. After many months of struggling I found that Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Paediatrician Mar Weissbluth to be far more helpfulin terms of helping me to understand the science of sleep & child development - without all the judgement & knuckle-wrapping. I also liked The No Cry Sleep Solution which was far more empowering.
Good luck
