Gina Ford, the baby-raising guru known as the Queen of Routine because of her strict rearing methods, has hit back at critics.
Gina Ford, the baby-raising guru known as the Queen of Routine because of her strict rearing methods, has hit back at critics.
The Scots-born former maternity nurse cited her dominance of the baby publishing market as proof that her no-nonsense approach did not harm infants.
Ms Ford, who has no children of her own, reportedly told a newspaper: "You'd think, by listening to them, that my mother brought me into this world to boil babies and eat them for dinner."
The childcare expert has demanded a public apology from Mumsnet, the parenting website, over accusations made on a discussion forum.
One sarcastic comment claimed she "straps babies to rockets and fires them into south Lebanon".
Her solicitors wrote to the website's service provider last year warning they could be targets for legal action.
Ms Ford's best-selling Contented Little Baby Book offers an antidote to liberal parenting and has provoked fierce criticism. She said: "Three of my books corner 25% of the childcare market. Why is that happening if I am damaging babies?"
Her supporters, including Kate Winslet and Heather Mills McCartney, insist babies raised her way are contented and able to sleep through the night from eight weeks old.
Ms Ford's views are inspired, she says, by her own upbringing. Her mother, Helen, gave birth to her at 20 and brought her up single-handedly on a farm in the Borders after her father walked out on them.
When Ms Ford was 10, she was responsible for cooking, and shared her mother's bed until she was 11.
"My mother let me rule the roost, so I was very tired and had problems with school. Years later, when I asked her why she hadn't put me to bed, she said it was because I didn't want to go, but she wished she'd known then what I had learned about babies."
Ms Ford said she was unable to fulfil her desire to have children. Instead, she became a maternity nurse, basing her methods on observation of children.
Justine Roberts, co-founder of Mumsnet, said: "If Ms Ford is saying that a public apology will suffice, that shouldn't be too difficult because we said some time ago that we would apologise. We also agreed to a string of requests including pre-moderating the site with regards to any postings that referred to her. What we didn't agree to was to pay upfront damages and legal costs she had incurred. We think it is fairly ridiculous that so much legal time and money has been spent on this action."
The parties meet for mediation on March 7.
Daily Routine
- Ford advocates a strict daily routine - for both parent and child - broken up into five-minute slots.
- The baby must be awake and fed by 7am and parents must have their breakfast by 8am.
- The baby must be allowed to cry, for up to an hour if necessary, so they learn they will not always be picked up.
- Parents should not make eye contact when they feed the baby at certain times.
