Am currently 33+3 with first baby - a boy.

Have been reading Gina Ford Contented Little Baby book, and would like to know what 'real people's' experience of implementing her routines has been like, if they've tried and succeeded or not.

It seems quite regimented but if it does work then it might be worth a try...?

Thanks
Vicky xx

i tried the gina ford why i found it wast for me or my lo a little to strict. i found it easer to just go with the flow. this worked for me but i do know a few mums who swear by the gf way so mybe worth a try

Thanks - it does seem almost military in operation. Don't know if I'll be able to stick to it let alone the tiddler. If a few people rave about it I might do what you did and give it a go, but not lose any sleep over it if I jack it in after a few weeks of trying

I dont want to offend anybody here but I think GF is a croc of shit!

Honestly how are you supposed to get to know and bond with your baby is you dont listen to thier cues and cries? Its harsh to bring a baby home and regiment them in this way, as I have said before GF has never had her own children and tested these routines on her dogs!!

I could never leave my 15wk old baby boy to cry, forse him to sleep and wake him all for the sake of routine! Ok so I have no idea when he will feed/wake/sleep etc but you know what? Im happy and he is happy!

Its your choice at the end of the day but if your baby doesnt 'fall' into the routines, will you just feel worse? You will have so much to cope with in the early weeks, please just enjoy your baby being a baby and cuddle him as much as poss!

Hear hear Dinks!
I think routine is good to a certain extent but she is far too regimented for my liking.
People accept that newborn babies don't sleep, but it gets better after a few weeks. I too don't like the thought of letting tiny babies cry, they need love and cuddles - you can't spoil a tiny baby. I let my lo lead me until she was about 6 weeks then implemented a bedtime routine of bath, bottle and bed - she slept through from about 10 weeks and has been a dream ever since and she is now almost 22 months!
As long as you and baby are happy that is all that matters and believe me,they grow so fast you must cherish every moment.
xx

I agree with the others I think her routine's r far too strict I tried it 4 a little while and it was so restrictive when we could leave the house etc that sum days we didn't go out at all, so I stopped. My lo sort of fell into her own routine eventually, but if it gets broken its not the end of the world.

And as the others have said enjoy your tiny baby, My lo turned 1 last week and I sunno where the time has gone!

xxx

Are you reading the actual book or the freebie that came with prima baby?

I always thought GF was too strict and never really read her books, however after reading the short version that came free with prima baby i realise i actually agree with a lot of her reasoning.

I do not follow a strict timetable and i guess a lot of what i follow is common sense but i do agree that children need some sort of routien, and i think babies that sleep well and regularly during the day sleep better at night. I do think you need to fix it to what suits you.

I also only demand fed for the first 2 weeks, then i would offer breast every two hours during the day, increasing to every 3 then 4 hours and i found mine settled v well into this routine and i had loads of milk.

At the end of the day, do whatever suits you coz a happy mummy equals a happy baby

xxDBxx 17+5 with no4

I agree with Dinks - I cannot stand this woman and think she needs to actually have a child of her own to realise how horrible she is being to them!

I have not followed any authors routine for either of my children, it has all been trial and error, with the joys and frustrations that come with that method of learning about my children.
My first child settled into a routine himself and was a very happy contented baby, and my second child has been sleeping through from 8pm till 5am then again till 7.30am, since 6 weeks old! (being put down wide awake too) Only recently have I started to give her a dreamfeed for other issues, and she dropped her 8pm feed the last couple of night too meaning she goes from 7pm till 5am every night.
She also feeds every 2 hours during the day and naps whenever she wants to (or Ollie will let her )

i dont think you need to implement any strict routine at all, just follow your babies lead as by 3 months they will have started to settle into their own little routine which works for both of you, and if you spend the first three months trying to get baby to stick to a routine you might miss out on them being a newborn, which only happens once (Obv!)

someone said that she talks a lot of sense and reason - then why do you need to buy her book? Surely you know most of it anyway, and will have a damn sight more fun learning about your own baby, what to do when to do and how to do (with the aim being making your baby happy) without frantically trying to implement a strict routine that has been based on dogs... (which I didnt know until Dinks said on a previous thread - but which is disgusting, children are NOT dogs!)

Sorry, but i stand by what I said on any previous threads - she is an evil woman likening children to dogs!

I think its more the cues that work, rather then timed routine, so as long as you do, say, bath bottle bed in that order then baby will understand its bedtime, it doesnt have to be done at set times all the time
xx

Quote:

I read loads of parenting books personally like Supernanny (and she hasnt got kids either) and most are common sense but personally i find it supporting reading other peoples interpretations, and some tips have been helpful.

Im not at all pro GF tho.

xxDBxx

I also think that GF is poop & the best routines are the ones you and baby work out together.

Gabe (now 14 months) slept through from 7 weeks and I never did any kind of scheduling. By 3/4 months he was in a great routine. He doesnt really have one now but he still sleeps through, 12 hours a night.

One thing I will stress though is baby is best to go down to bed awake from a very early age otherwise it can cause sleep problems later on. Newborns will often settle themself to sleep but an older baby who is used to being put down asleep won't....

def agree with TL and the putting down awake x

Glad I havent upset anyone! I think its good to read some books and see what works for you, you can pick up lots of little hints and tips and things you might not have thought about.

I know when my baby was tiny he never seemed to be awake (but he was prem) so the putting down awake wouldnt have really fitted with us! Do remember that babies dont have the brain path to create a memory (so therefore a habit) until about 9mths old, so even if they are falling asleep feeding or being cuddled etc this WILL NOT SPOIL THEM!!!! They may well have a preference for it but it is impossible to be a habit before this time due to the way the human baby brain works. Its like how they may well settle better for 1 person over another- its preference for them due to smell/ touch/ the way that person feels when holding them etc.

I also think that different babies need different routiens, ds 1 and 2 have needed much more structure even now they are nearly 2 1/2 but ds3 is easy going so it depends on nature.

xxDBxx

The thing is it is best for them not to get a preference for it. I'm not saying never put them down asleep (it is lovely to hold them to sleep - I still did it occasionally until Gabe refused it around 9/10 months) but if you do it every time they can get quite reliant on it, so I have heard anyway.

l tried the Gf routine wen Summer was 6 wks old. And it was horrible. l brought the book from ebay. But found it quite hard to actually implement it. l stopped reading the book and just went with was best for me and my baby. She slept thru about 12 weeks and has a great routine now. But thats thru us doing bath, bottle and bed.

l think in the book it said not to go out for so many weeks so babys routine doesnt get messed up. l couldnt do this.

lf l was you just take your own lead with your baby.

X

Actually GF does not tell you to let your baby cry. In fact her regimes should help you avoid that. Her routines are based on a 3 hour feeding schedule and in the early days your main thing is to wake up the baby for feeding. Her reasons for this is that newborns want to sleep and can get night and day mixed up or, even worse, become dehydrated. In fact one of my friends decided to demand feed and her baby ended up back in SCBU at 2 weeks because she hadn't eaten enough and ended up fainting. The advice she was given by staff was to wake her baby every few hours for feeding - very similar to GF's early routines.

The most important page to read is page 34. This explains that you need to read her reasons for things and not just dip in and out.

However although I actually support GF I do not follow her routines to the letter. Abby was in an incubator for the first few days of her life and the staff fed her regularly. When I had her on the ward with me I fed her every few hours. I couldn't make her last as long as 2pm for a feed so she was fed more regularly than the book suggests - I did not let her cry for a feed. Within a week Abby was down to 1 overnight feed and dropped this at 9 weeks (she is breastfed).

From speaking to different people I have found that GF's routines have worked very well for difficult babies as they soon work out what is expected at different times. However as Abby was a calm baby I didn't need to follow all times to the letter - this was a relief as it meant I could go out without having to organise every part of my day around nap times etc.

I recommend you go with your instincts but if you are an organised person (as I am) then a routine will help with your day. I read a number of different books and Abby's final routine is a mixture of GF and the Baby Whisperer.

Hope that helps,
H xx

Suprisingly my husband actually wanted to try the GF methods and was very keen when we were pregnant...maybe not so suprisngly actually as he's in the army and used to regimented structure.

I thought it all sounded a bit much like hard work (and a bit mean too!) and wanted to go with the flow and now at 7 weeks we are still going with that...

We have no structure, no sleep patterns and I still feed on demand so maybe trying to implement a routine could help babies like mine?

We do a bath, feed and story at the same time every night and an attempt to put him in his crib but we usually end up co sleeping and no night is ever the same as to when he wakes for a feed. Its still usually at least 3 times between 11pm and 6am though.

Different things might work for you that don't for other people so don't rule anything out until your baby is here!

x

Hi I've got Gina Ford's book and The Baby Whisperer. I started with Gina Ford at first and found it impossible for my lo to stick with the nap times and he likes his sleep in the day. I'd have one fairly successful day then the next day would go all to pot. I'm now following more along the lines of The Baby Whisperer where you listen to the babies cues rather than clock watching, its a lot easier and a lot more laid back.
xxx

GF was recommended to me by another mum who had followed the routines from the moment they arrived home from hospital and found it worked really well for them.

At first we didn't use a routine as it just wasn't possible and I was feeding on demand anyway. As Ciaran got older he did naturally fall into a GF routine for about 2 days with no struggles, then on day 3 he had bad colic and it went to pot. At that point he didn't get back into the routine and I wouldn't have been able to enforce it.

The best advice is to keep the routines to hand as it does help you to guess what may be the problem when they are crying and you can't work out what's wrong. Some timings are amazingly accurate - my lo always has to sleep 2 hrs after he's woken up in the morning (which is what GF recommends at a certain age) but he is carrying on with that now. The advice on no early evening (after 5pm) sleeps also tends to be good.

Routines have there place if you need them, but generally the best routines tend to be the ones you create yourself, and do be flexibile enough to change them regularly. If you can be flexible and work to your babies cues then it tends to keep both you and your baby happier.

Hi G/C from preg.
I and DH have been discussing the best type of routines for Bubba, this is our first so our minds were open. I have not read the GF books but have seen some implementations which have left me horrified. Not being able to pick baby up when it crys, no cuddles aft certain time - grandmothers who are afraid to ask to hold the baby for fear of spoiling the regimental routine.
I came to the conclusion that the GF / baby whisperer can be as strict as you want it be and its how down to the aspects you personally chose to implement.

Personally for me , being a first time mum sounds difficult enough without trying to enforce something like GF so i will be taking a mix of adviice on how to do it but will not be regimental it will be baby led as i think now every single midwifery dept in country now recommends it.

I agree with dinks though i just dont see how someone who has never had kids can be an 'expert'. They may have theoretical knowledge but they have no practical experiance. Would you let a midwife who had done all the theory deliver you on her own without some experiance around to help her, or him?

Am sure in due course will be bothering all you ladies for plenty of advice abt feeding patterns, normal poo consistancy/ colour etc LOL xx I think every parent just wants to get it right . I know its a big concern for me x

I bought GF, 2 Miriam Stoppard, Baby whisperer and Jo Frosts Confident baby care. I was obsesed with reading loads of baby stuff so I wouldn't be so clueless !

But in the end I found GF and baby whisperer too strict and didn't suit me or baby. After attempting a few routines very early on I just went with the flow for a few weeks and over time I adopted little bits of every book I had read to form a routine that suited us both.

AT 9 months we still loosly follow this routine and he is (mostly) and greta sleeper, happy to sleep in his cot or pram and in travel cot when we are away from home.
He eats well and is generally a happy baby.

Following a strict routine works for some people and not for others. Just do whatever suits you and baby, you'll end up with happy baby, happy mummy.
Good luck. S x