I can highly recommend "The New Contented Little Baby Book" by Gina Ford. I have read many books since before I had my first child 9 months ago, but this one has become our 'bible' and as a result we have had a very contented little girl from day 1. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

If you love your sleep then this book is a MUST. If you want some time each day to do something other than feeding, washing clothes and changing nappies then you have to read this book.

The book is based on common sense facts and spells out all the crucial factors that new parents are unaware of when it comes to understanding a babies needs. For instance, it takes up to 3 hours for a feed to be digested, so feeding every hour will never make a baby "full", and a young baby will get tired after 2 hours of being awake so take them to bed.

The most commonsensical fact in the book is if your baby sleeps lots during the day, then they maybe awake at night.

I have had 2 children, and by using this book as a guideline, both slept 8 hours at night by 8 weeks and a full 12 hours at night by 17 weeks - bliss! They still do, and they sleep 2 hours at midday too. By following the routine outlined by Gina in her book, you can structure your day. You know when your baby will sleep and wake up so we found it easy to make play dates, and to plan outings. It also gives excellent advice on breast and bottle feeding, and weaning.