People ask me all the time about what I can’t live without for the babies.  And I’m not really sure that there are just a couple…that’s why I have the Baby Favorites Gallery.  But there are definitely a few things that my sleep deprived brain is so thankful for!

Gina Ford is my hero.  She wrote a series of books starting with The Contented Little Baby: The Simple Secrets of Calm, Confident Parenting.  When we had our first baby, I thought I knew it all.  I mean I had been babysitting since I was 9, and was a nanny in college for a 10 week old baby and grew with his family until they had 3 boys.  Surely I could handle my own little bundle of love???

Laugh with me moms!

My husband has said that our third baby is by far the easiest (at her ripe old age of 7 weeks) but I explained to him, it’s really only because she is chartered territory to us now.

With Addie I went crazy on Amazon, read all the books they say to read and still really couldn’t get a handle of what to do. I mean I could do the basics, but there really are soooo many “what ifs”.  Is it ok to just gave her a binky at night, what if she REALLY IS hungry 15 minutes early??  Add to this the unpredictable nature of kids (with my scheduled nature) and I was having quite a few sleepness days and nights.  This is where my FANTABULOUS friend and college roommate (Co-Creator of Juliska, Rockstar Mommy to 3 little girls, traveling the world making it a more beautiful place one place setting at a time) comes in.

This is a mom that has it soooo together, that when she called and told me ” You NEED The Contented Little Baby, I swear by it, and so does every person I’ve ever given it to”.  I ordered it the moment we got off the phone.

And she was right.

It’s a little old school, English Nanny style (but hey, The Super Nanny can get it done, so why not).  I loved that it gave me a schedule to follow, and case studies of babies that all varied slightly that she had worked with.  That the schedule is good for breast feeding (my sister in law liked that it reminded her to eat and drink water at certain times) and formula feeding (me) moms.  It gave me goals to work towards for sleeping and eating for Addie, that ultimately had her through the night at 10 weeks.  I will admit that Hayden was a little tougher, it took me closer to 4 months but that had more to do with an eating issue she had.  The DAY we moved her to a better formula, she fell into the schedule.  Piper has been right on track since day one, and as of last night woke up at 4AM to eat, and then not again until 7AM this morning.

Every mom needs to find what works best for them, but I truly don’t know what I would have done without the series.  Even now, I still refer back to the books in making adjustments to eating and sleep schedules.  At the moment I’m reading The Contented Baby with Toddler Book and loving it just as much!  I also quite frequently refer to The Complete Sleep Guide for Contented Babies & Toddlers

Biggest tip I can give you is to find something that makes you comfortable at being a mom.  These books worked exceptionally well for me and our family, BY FAR FAVORITES for me. (and my husband!)  You may not feel the same, and that’s ok.  The important thing is to find what works for you and your family (and keeps you sane in the process!)

Best of luck!