Complaint sent to Ofcom
I had not expected Shine production to produce a balanced or informative view of my routines, as published in The Contented Little Baby Book. I was also aware that I would be portrayed in an unflattering light. The screening of Gina Ford: Who Are You To Tell Us?, confirmed the view that their intent was to parody me, and to misrepresent my methods.
My major complaint is that the health of a very small baby was clearly compromised by this programme, purporting to be a documentary. My life’s work has been the care of babies, and I was appalled by the handling of the new baby, the child of the couple used to “demonstrate” my methods. There were so many instances of misrepresentation of my methods that I can not list them all, however the most important concern is the child’s welfare. It was quite clear at one stage that this very young baby was screaming with hunger, and to sensationalise a shabby, so-called "documentary" this baby was not fed. As I make clear in my book, a hungry baby should never be left to cry, and must be fed, even if it is long before the recommended time. Meeting a baby's needs was the reason I wrote my book in the first place. I found it deeply upsetting to watch an obviously hungry baby being used as a vulnerable tool by a production company who should know better. In those early weeks, the advice I give in my books, rests on making the environment as safe, secure and loving as possible. To see that tiny baby, being bathed on the top of a chest of drawers, with a camera pointing in his face, was awful. In my books I give very clear guidelines as laid out by The Cot Death Foundation as to how to settle a small infant to sleep safely. Together with many other childcare advisors, I was appalled by the way this baby was filmed being put into the Moses basket, contradicting this advice.
The programme also made me feel extremely concerned for the many parents who have appreciated my routines. This programme portrayed them as callous, control freaks, whose first priority is making their own lives comfortable. This could not be further from the truth. The principle of my book is to ensure that every need of the baby is met. By meeting and understanding the needs of her baby, a new mother is supported in those early days of motherhood. My first book The Contented Little Baby Book became a best seller through word-of-mouth recommendation. The fact that three of my books accounted for twenty-five per cent of childcare books sales last year is evidence that my methods work for a huge number of parents. By misrepresenting my methods, the documentary also undermines, and attacks those hundreds of thousands of parents, for whom The Contented Little Baby routines work successfully.
I believe that Shine Production are to repeat this programme claiming that it is in the public interest that my methods should be discussed. I do not have a problem with this, but I do have very serious concerns that a young baby has been exploited in order to sensationalise this programme. I would urge that the clips of this distressed baby is removed from the programme for two reasons. The first being that other vulnerable new parents may think that it is acceptable to treat a new baby this way. The second reason being that the clips of this distressed baby completely misrepresent the Contented Little Baby Routines, which in turn insults the many parents who follow them.
I hope you will deal with this complaint as a matter of great urgency.
Gina Ford
8th March 2007
Comments
Feel sorry for the wee baby
The thing that angered me the most was the fact that the couple chosen to try out the routines, had obviously never read the book prior to taking part in the programme! The mother admitted toward the end that she didn't even agree with parts of the routine. Shocked If I had read the book and didn't agree with parts of it, there is no way I would have considered putting my baby through the routines in the first place. The parents were clearly not reading or understanding the book correctly and were doomed to fail. I was shouting at my TV screen for them to stop, as it obviously was not working for them, and I felt so sorry for their wee baby. I think it was totally irresponsible of the programme makers to pick a couple who otherwise would never have chosen Gina’s routines, had the documentary not taken place.
For me one of the best quotes was from Michelle Gayle who pointed out that "it's not Gina’s job to tell us how to love our babies, comparing it with following a railway timetable - you don't expect to be told what snacks to take on board the train!" Laughing
I will also send in a complaint to the BCC.
I hope this tiny baby is being cared for in an appropriate way now
I am a parent of 3 very contented babies. I used the Contentedbaby routines very successfully for both my daughter and twin sons. I saw the programme in full, and although I expected a lot of criticism for Gina Ford and The Contented Little Baby Book, I did at least expect a fair trial of the routines. Not only were Gina’s methods completely misrepresented but the thing that horrified me most was the way this tiny innocent newborn baby was exploited for the sake of sensationalist TV. The way that he was left to cry in his room, when he was obviously hungry brought tears to my eyes. I also noticed that he placed in his Moses basket with very loose covers on top. Surely all parents have been told by health professionals how to tuck a baby in securely, to minimise the risk of cot death.
All in all, I have been left quite shaken by this programme and I just hope that the tiny baby is being cared for in an appropriate way now.
A Lost Opportunity
This whole situation seems a lost opportunity. If only an agreement could have been found. It would have been great to see and hear Gina put her side of the argument. One sided debate gives a one sided conclusion. As a long term Gina fan with very "contented babies" I've dealt with my own fair share of other Mum's who are anti Gina. But those same Mums could never argue with how "contented" Sarah has (almost) always been. A programme that had Gina's input would have a much bigger audience?
'Shine' productions Gina Ford documentary
Dear Sir/madam,
I have just watched your 'five life' documentary on the Author Gina Ford, and am compelled to contact your company.
I am not entirely surprised by the documentaries content, but disappointed in the quality of the journalism. It is obvious that the production company intended to make Gina Ford out as a fool. I don't know nor care about Gina Ford, but I am irritated when fact is not allowed to get in the way of 'the story'. I was glad to see talking heads on both sides of the argument, but you cannot say the thread of the documentary was impartial. Very little was clearly explained in regard of what the book ACTUALLY says, small clips were presented out of context so as to mislead, and total misrepresentations by talking heads were both allowed, and stood uncorrected. This was not a good documentary, this documentary set out to make a point regardless of truth or fact.
I am not a journalist, I am not a vaguely famous person with an axe to grind. I am the father of a totally gorgeous, contented, soundly sleeping, well fed nine month old baby girl. My wife and I got a copy of Gina Fords book free with a pregnancy magazine, we had never heard of Gina Ford or knew anything about her. We decided to give it a go, and after the first six weeks of her life put our baby girl into the routine. As clearly indicated in the book we used Gina Fords advice as A GUIDE, and found virtually everything in the book to be sensible, grounded in fact, true and sound advice. Your documentary portrayed the book as a severe form of regimented routine which it simply isn't. The young couple used as guinea pigs for the book were clearly set up to fail, I don't know about you, but I wouldn't set out to read a book on how to fly a plane as I was stepping into the cockpit for my first solo run, why would anyone read a book on how to bring up a baby AFTER the baby was born? If they had read and understood the book prior to the birth of their child, they might have had an entirely different perspective. Our child is happy, contented, sleeps EVERY night, eats EVERY meal and laughs more often than she cries, maybe we are simply lucky, but we did Gina Fords advice PROPERLY and it worked, do it half-assed and it WILL NOT WORK.
Your documentary was very poor, I intend to write to several television watchdog companies regarding it. It is little wonder that channel five has a poor reputation regarding the quality of its programming if that documentary was representative of your companies output.
Sincerely, Gary Lyons.
Documentary
I watched the programme last night on gina ford and her methods. I follow the book/s with both of my children with huge success with both happy children and very happy loving family life.
I have never ever left my children to cry and if you read the books correctly you are advised against leaving children to cry and controlled crying should only ever be used on the advise of HV or doctor - states this in the book. I know people who have never read a book about how to do controlled rying who have left children to cry for hours and hours - with correct controlled ctying you do not do this. I feed my children when hungry and they sleep when tired and we play and have cuddles - so whats wrong with that? I have personally spoken to Gina on a number of occasions and she is kind, caring, generous and loving and totally misrepresented. Feel free to come round my house and film me with my children and then tell me how they have been negatively affected by the routine. What about all these parents who follow a routine with their children but just fell into it themselves. Nearly every mother I know (and I know a lot) follows some sort of routine and will say "they have a nap about now "etc. Perhaps you should have also followed a parent successfully following the routine. also the parents trying to routine on the programme shouldnt have done it from the first week as the baby was too young and little and should have been fed every three hours or, of course, when hungry - if the book had been read properly by them they would have seen this.
I just found it laughable.
Like when the woman was bathing her baby and she said "well I don't know if I'm doing this right" - like it was all the fault of the book/Gina and like it would be any different whichever way she did it! New babies do cry when they are bathed. It is just how it is. It was like whatever went wrong - it was the fault of The Book. There was nothing in there to say, well it takes hard work and perseverance but things do settle down and you do start to see a pattern.......I really wish we could make our own programme because I think we are all normal nice mums who would give Gina and The Book a fair representation!
Comment
I am pleased to see that at at last Gina Ford's methods are being exposed on television. My heart went out to that tiny baby who was crying to fed, and the parents wouldn't because some childless guru says its not the right time.
Complaining to the BCC
Considering the title of the programme I expected the portrayal of the routines to be biased; however I am apalled at the quality of the programme and I will also be complaining to the BCC.
The psychologist and others suggested that following the routines could cause psychological damage to a baby - THERE IS NO EVIDENCE TO SUBSTANTIATE THESE CLAIMS! The 'experts' interviewed were just giving their personal opinions and the scientific community would never accept this as evidence of anything! They didn't even have any anecdotes of their experience of 'damaged' children to share with us - and anecdotes are the very lowest form of evidence there can be!!!!. I feel that the lack of evidence was not made clear and the programme was misleading.
They did point out that the routines have not been researched but failed to make it clear that THIS IS WHY WE CANNOT CONCLUDE THAT BABIES FOLLOWING THE ROUTINE ARE AT RISK!
All we have is the experience of people who've tried the routines - its not everyones cup of tea and I agree is probably suited to certain types of women. I don't mean this in a smug way, but I think people who generally lack discipline and order in their lives would struggle anyway...
I will be sending in my complaint this week.
Amateurish physiological analysis is offensive
Letter of complaint sent
Dear Sir,
We felt very strongly about the Gina Ford Program we have watched last night on 5Live and as very dedicated followers of the CLB routines and parents of a very happy and healthy Baby Girl , we feel it is appropriate for us to complain about the inaccurate comments on the CLB routines and the book .
Of course it is a democratic right to criticize and we are all lucky to be living in a democratic system.
However we are very saddened by the fact that a program has been put together in such a way, that none of the comments made about the routines and how they should be applied , has got any resemblance to the truth. It is very sad, that the young couple who were "trying" to follow the routines, had no idea about intelligent interpretation and logic application to something they are reading.
The book and the routines are there as a guideline to be adopted and applied by parents, who are in tune with their baby's needs and are dedicated to give their baby their full time, undivided attention for at least the first 8-10 weeks of it's life to make the routines work.
Nowhere in the book , is there ever any reference to letting a baby cry, let alone such a young baby. Nowhere in the book, is there ever any reference to letting a baby go hungry.
Gina herself is strongly against young babies being left to cry and at every opportunity she warns all of "her mums" against this - furthermore , she always re-iterates the fact that the routines are to be adopted and changed according to each individual baby's needs.
She is a very warm and dedicated person with a fantastic sense of humour , who spends all her time watching out for our problems and calls us all to help out . For her it is not just about selling books , and she and her team of experts who dedicate their time on the website to us mums and problems we are experiencing , cannot be matched by any other "child expert" who's books we also read before deciding on Gina Ford's methods.
To make amateurish physiological analysis of a person on national TV is not forbidden but it is also not common sense and I can totally understand why someone can find this offensive - I found it painful to watch how people think they have the qualifications to condemn somebody to being a somewhat disturbed person who is trying to destroy 100s of families as a reaction to her own up bringing.
I would also like to highlight hereby Gina's concerns which she voiced to us months ago when she heard about this program's format, about having a camera crew living in the same house with a young family and the effect it would have on the babies well being and the young mother's ability to cope - it really begs the question, how focused this young couple were on their 5 minutes of fame, rather then the well being of their 2 days old baby and their process of bonding in the very important first days, when there was a TV crew monitoring you all the time.
I am proud to say that we are one of thousands of happy parents with extremely happy, contended and healthy babies, and our friends, family, doctor, health visitor, midwife, all comment on what a lovely baby our daughter is and how much she is thriving on Gina's routines.
I could go on and on about the whole subject, but I believe the only appropriate thing to do for a serious broadcaster, is to leave "sensational journalism" to one side and make a program about 1000s of parents who's babies and toddlers thrive on Gina Ford's routines.
Upset at the type of parent I was portrayed as
My two girls are lovely, happy contented babies and people are always commenting on how 'good' they are...especially for twins and how 'lucky' I am. I know luck has nothing to do with it, but Gina's advice about how to structure their day has.
The first three months with them was very tough and I only began to see the light at the end of the tunnel when we started to implement the routines at 3 months. Within a day we saw dramatic improvements. We sought advice from Gina to get them through the night and after one night following the advice they did it and we have never looked back.
I want to thank you for writing the books, I can imagine that my life would be very different now if I had not discovered them and I would certainly not be able to enjoy my two lovely girls as much as I do.
Although I am not very eloquent with words I will send in my complaint as I too was appalled at the TV documentary. I was most upset at the sort of parent I was portrayed as, they could not be further from the truth.
I do not damage my Children
Gina,
I think the reconstructions were ridiculous and the cartoon was laughable. You know you have our support and thousands of other mothers support you too.
Personally, I felt the baby was too young and little to be straight on to the first week routine and should have been fed every three hours (OR WHEN HUNGRY) and had more sleep. It was a shame to do what they did with him.
I think it is very fair to constructively criticise any book and discuss negatives and positives of your and any other books and this is very welcome I assume to authors when done correctly. however when the book isn’t read and properly followed then it isn't a fair judgement.
I felt that the blonde woman that seemed like a mumsnet person didn't seem to understand the book or ever read it properly and the elderly gentleman that was some psycho - what it didn't seem to get it either.
Also SO BLOOMIN WHAT if you don’t do loads of media interviews and TV appearances - you don’t need to go on plugging your book. I am sure you feel that its parents choice if they follow it or not - you are hardly saying that EVERYONE HAS to follow it or they are a bad mother - its our choice.
It was nice to hear some of the positive points made by some experts and celebs, however I do feel personally attacked when they said that I am damaging my children - that is very wrong.
Gina doesn’t ram CLB in their face
I saw I saw the program and thought it was very one sided although I agree that Eamonn, Ruth, Michelle Gayle and Clare were great.
I didn't like the title of the program at all as Gina does not go around telling people what to do and ramming clb in their face. It's up to the individual whether they wish to read the book / follow it in the first place. Also I knew from the title that it was going to an unfair portrayal of Gina.
I feel the situation with the young baby was very unfair on the mum and baby in question. It made uncomfortable viewing. Especially when she didn't realise that she could feed her baby early if hungry. Feeding 3 hourly or near as would have been better.
If a baby had to be used in the making of this program then a situation with a slightly older baby where demand feeding etc. hasn't worked and then showing the routine applied properly and seeing the results obviously in a controlled loving way would have been better.
Unfortunately people do not realise unless having done clb that there is flexibility within the routine you do not have to stick rigidly. All Gina really is trying to do which seems obvious once you know is structure feeding so the baby feeds frequently in the day has the appropriate naps to eventually encourage good sleep at night. I think people outside of clb don’t realise this. It makes sense otherwise you get in to the situation where baby sleeps all day and feeds at night.
The people that annoyed me most on the program were Miriam Stoppard and Lowri Turner. Lowri's comment along the lines of high powered super efficient, super organised women etc. love Gina Ford implying that they want their baby fitted in to a timetable to suit their busy lives. This could not be any further from the truth to what I am like. I am actually quite messy and disorganised and don't have a high powered job. Thanks to Gina's routine I have two very happy children and pockets of day when I can actually get things done.. I did things my way first time around with Katy and when I got to four months I had pnd an unhappy baby which all turned around fairly quickly once we discovered gina's books.
It also really annoys me that Gina gets the blame for controlled crying like she invented it!!!! I seem to remember that it was Ferber? This technique along with gradual withdrawal can be invaluable if done properly in teaching a baby to settle. Tanya Byron and supernanny use the same or similar and they don’t get a load of flack over it. Some baby’s will always have a short yell before going off to sleep and would get more distressed with constant handling anyhow.
I do agree that the tone of the book may put some people off but as Ruth said I want a book that tells me how to look after my baby not something nice to read with jokes etc. or something along those lines.
CLB gets results – Fact and the children are not damaged. They have their needs met and are happy.
I feel sorry for the couple with their first baby
I did 9 miserable weeks of demand feeding and sleeping and only after starting Max on the routines do my DH and I feel that we are really enjoying beautiful baby! He has gone from crying all the time (and I mean all the time!!) to a happy smiley baby. Even my MIL approves now she has seen the results in so little time.
I would love the programme makers to have done a doc on us between 8 and 12 weeks to see the transformation.
Yes it was hard work to try to get the routines in so late, and we still have a few teething problems but it is definitely worth it!!
Also can I just add that using the routines to me means using your own common sense as well, if you can see your baby needs something before the book says, you do it and try to catch up later.
I feel sorry for that couple with their first baby and no experience of babies, we were the same, I hadn't even HELD a baby before Max came along! However instinct and common sense go a long way to helping!
I appeared on the programme
I was interviewed for the programme and used Gina's routines with my son to excellent effect when he was a baby. I was upset with the 'tone' of the programme and the inference that all mums who use Gina's routines are control-freak career women. As I said on the programme, her routines and timings give new parents guidance and reassurance. I am most upset that I appeared on a programme that portrayed Gina and her plan so disrespectfully. I have only the highest accolades for Gina, quite simply I would have been lost without her book in my early days as a new mum.
Very upset by this programme
I feel very upset at this programme which portrayed Gina as some kind of baby monster! I have the perfect example of a happy, healthy, contented, adorable 9 month old child who has followed Gina's routines since day 1. She is a child after all and it does not always go to plan. She sometimes wakes in the night and often does not follow the routines exactly but they are only a guide after all..but without those routines she, without doubt would be a different baby. It's not just the routines that are important to us new Mums. I learned more about breast feeding and sleep than in any workshop or parent craft class, of which I attended many. I also observed in the many baby groups and classes that the happy, well rested new Mums were the ones who were following..to some degree or other Gina's routines. If one does not agree then don't buy the book but to make such a programme really upset me. Gina may never have given birth but how many midwives and paediatricians have also never had a child? Do we undermine their skill and knowledge? Of course not.
Parents of the baby did very well, considering
I thought the programme was good and unbiased. I thought that the parents of the baby did very well considering this was their first baby. It was great to see that she was breastfeeding and I can understand that they must have found Gina's methods difficult if not impossible to follow.
Janet
A cheap Trick
Some excellent comments here. I also disliked the way that opinions about controlled crying and the routines were presented as fact. By the way, I'm not a Gina mum - I wasn't happy with the routines, found I preferred doing things my own way, and have a delightfully happy and contented little boy, so clearly Gina's method isn't the be-all and end-all. But I strongly believe that because babies are individuals, it's important to have different methods available, and that one only has to listen to the experience of parents to see that Gina's methods clearly are beneficial to many babies. (I also would have loved to see the programme film, or at least interview, one of the mothers who started out with a different method but then found how much happier her baby was on Gina's routine.)
The reason I wanted to add this comment is in response to the comment above on the scene in which the baby was apparently left alone to nap despite crying. I say 'apparently', because this scene may well have been totally misrepresented by the TV company. I would never in a million years have put this together for myself, but my husband, who was watching it with me, pointed out that:
a) as the parents leave the room, the father says "We'll be back to get you if you start crying." Which is an odd thing to say to a baby who's already crying.
b) The camera shot cuts from a shot of the baby in the Moses basket (unswaddled, even though the voice-over describes him as swaddled), to a shot of the parents leaving the room. If the crying actually had been present in both shots, there would have been a momentary discontinuity in the noise as the scene moved from one shot to the other. In fact, the noise was continuous.
What my husband concluded from this is that the baby was, in fact, settled and quiet when the parents left him in the room, and that the crying soundtrack was *dubbed over* the crying to make it look as though the parents left the baby crying when they actually left him quite settled. Which is, as my husband points out, a cheap trick.
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