Our girl is 4 weeks old. Early in the parenting process, we found there are two types of person; those who are 'do what the baby wants' people, and those who mostly want the baby to adjust to their life, rather than the other way round. If you are the first type - find another book. If you are the second - this has been an excellent guide for us. Within 4 weeks, our baby is almost always going 3.5 - 4 hours between feeds without complaining, and sleeps 5-6 hours at a stretch at night (much to the amazement of many of our friends). I would put a large part of this to following the advice of this book.

A wonderful book that doesn't make you feel like you have to run a military exercise to bring up a new baby. It doesn't make you feel guilty if you are late (or early) for a feed or a nap, but it gives clear guidelines as to what could work for you and your baby. It's as if my daughter had read the book before me, and she almost seemed relieved when I started following it's routine. "About time Mum" it seemed she was saying. We didn't start to follow it until she was 8 weeks old, but by 13 weeks she was sleeping through the night and having good solid feeds instead of snacking which was a lifesaver on the boobs!

As a first time mum, I bought quite a few books to help me understand how to look after my baby. She came home after 4 weeks in hospital, so I was really daunted, but Rachel's book was the only one that was FLEXIBLE enough to work for a baby who wasn't quite ready to go like clockwork! We tried a couple of other methods and we had barely finished one feed before it was time for the next - not with this approach!

I was both breast and bottle feeding and was able to get her happy and contented really quickly! I like the fact that its recommended to feed her by a certain time, but not rigid ie. no telling you what to do at 2.04pm !!

My baby is thriving on Rachel's way! I'm sure that there will be challenges ahead but the flexibility and the simplicity are a godsend when you're sleep deprived and new to all this! Yes, the spiritual bit may not be to everyone's taste but her approach works wonders.

Even my husband is happy with the approach and he thought all baby books are mumbo-jumbo! Buy this book - I can't recommend it enough.

This was far and away the best, most helpful book to guide us through the first couple of months. Routine but flexible and human rather than the Gina Ford rigid-regime which makes most ordinary people feel inadequate.
Lots of useful information on what to do in most circumstances.
Highly recommended

My baby is now 4 months old and I don't know what i'd have done without this book - it covers everything you need to know about the first few months from crying and sleeping to feeding and illness. Having followed the routines laid out in this book, I really advocate the whole routine concept - my baby knows when food is coming and when it's time for a sleep. And don't be scared of being tied to a routine - Rachel's routine is flexible and you don't have to feed bang on the suggested time. I think the author really knows her stuff. I've been dipping in and out of this book and am sure I'll continue to do so for several months still. If you're expecting your first baby, I'd really recommend this book. Without it I would have had no idea when to feed or how to encourage my baby to sleep well. Buy it!