Gina Ford - please don't flame me yet.....

[CupcakesHay]

I'm just wondering if anyone who has used Gina Ford can give me some advice - whether it works, or doesn't. how you found it, etc.

I'm thinking of trying it (yes, i know - it's obvious, i'm a first time mum, etc) - but I would like to make more of an informed decision about it, from people who have actually tried it.

I've done a bit of a search on MN - and realise a lot of MNers don't like it - but i'd like to hear from anyone who has used the routine or tried it and not got on with it - whether positive or negative - as when I was reading it, I'm quite drawn to it - even though it looks like it'll take a lot of work!

Luckily don't have any friends, so I can cope with the never going out & seeing anyone routine!

And no - I didn't express when GF said. It's meant to help you with the growth spurts but frankly the best way to deal with those is plonk yourself on the sofa with an unchallenging DVD and a large glass of water.

I did express in the mornings and DH gave her a bottle at midnight, giving me more sleeping time.

I found Gina useful in suggesting the general shape and quantities of things - how many naps, roughly how long and when, how many feeds etc.
I like to have a routine, but also like to be able to change it if I need to. You need to be in charge of the routine, not the other way round!
With Gina's timings, I put on a margin of at least +/- half hour. If I put LO down for her nap and she isn't sleepy, then I just get her up again. And if she sleeps longer, then great, as long as she isn't going to be too late for a feed and be starving when she wakes.
Basically, GF is great as long as you don't let it rule your life, and as long as you don't take it too seriously

I did GF, and when DS1 wouldn't do what she said ended up thinking I was the most appalling mother. Doing the routines meant I couldn't go out anywhere and looking back, the intervals between feeds were just mad. Didn't help my PND either

I read Gina Ford and didn't like the look of it.

Having breast fed 2 children I would say that unless you breast feed on demand for the first 2-3 months, there's a strong chance you won't make enough milk. Sticking to a routine for breast feeding a newborn is a recipe for disaster.

And as for expressing milk - words fail me! Unless you actually want your life to be a lot harder than it already is, let your baby have the milk from it's source - no need to add a middle-man!

Like many others on here, GF made perfect sense to me when I was expecting, and was baffling once the baby arrived. IMO the expressing, for example, is a faff you don't need when you just feed the baby.

The version I read (2006) contained lots of comments about breastfeeding that I strongly disagree with and caused problems for me - I won't say anymore on a public forum as I don't want to get MN into trouble! It may well have been updated anyway. I would say that if you need to know anything about bf then NCT or MN is the place to go

But the advice on to get up and have "bedtime" at the same rough times every day was helpful I think - both of mine settled into "day" and "night" mode early on because I followed this. With dd I made bedtime later (9pm) because she cluster fed (bf) in the evenings and then just moved it forward gradually when she stopped the cluster feeds.

I also prefer some of the other baby books because they tell you signs of hunger, tiredness etc to look out for and encourage you to really listen to your baby - again I didn't see this in GF but that may have changed.

I did the timetable for my DD which was useful for nap times, feed times etc. But she didn't sleep in a darkened room! She slept in her car seat or pram as I used that time to do errands, go to supermarket etc.

I think you have to know what kind of person you are to know if it's for you. I couldn't do it to the letter - I needed some routine but a little flexibility too - and found it quite frustrating to try..

Anyway, found GF useful as a guide as to how to structure my day and the whole less sleep, more food in the day for a sounder night certainly makes sense. My daughter and I seemed to meet halfway with a routine. I tried to be respectful of her nap times and feed times but we still got out and about and she would also nap in her buggy and in the car. I can see that GF just wouldn't work for some babies (or their mothers!) but certainly don't think her book is the devil's work...

I EBF on demand with my son and GF worked amazingly for us, still does at nearly 2 years, with that midday nap. Can count on it.

We're waiting for the newbie (7 weeks) to get a bit older before we try and get her in the day time nap routine, but she's already following the from 4pm routine and is sleeping 11 - 5.30 (or 6 this am) regularly, which is amazing for us.

I read Gina Ford and the Baby Whisperer ones. I think they both had bits that I have found helpful at some point. I did start a bedtime routine after reading Gina Ford.

I think that having a Gina Ford type routine probably works very well if you are a professional child carer. I should imagine that kind of structure for each day makes sure that you get everything done.

As a first time Mum on maternity leave I thought it made for a predictable, but extremely dull life with very little variety and no spontaneous events. That's assuming you have a child that you can persuade to follow the routine.

I used it and still do loosely. it was brilliant for the first 6 weeks, we were in teh perfect ruotine, baby conformed to the routine perfectly- we all got lots of sleep, and as a novice new mum it was great to have a 'timetable'. it woreked well for me. after 6 weeks it kinda stopped working as my son did his own thing- refused to nap for the 2 hours, no matter what i did to encourage it, the fact that i couldn't stick to it made me feel like i'd failed.

i would reccomend it as a routine to base your day around, but don't worry when things don't go to plan. My son is 18 weeks now and Gina is virtually out the window, but it was useful in the early days.

good luck.

I USED GINA my bb slept thr night at 8 weeks and is such a happy bb - now 5 mths old - hardly cries as knows when feed is due and when he naps - helps mum be happy as can nap and plan things more. is not as harsh as people say and in fact helps baby as her feeding regime ensures baby very unlikely to get colic or overtired- my bb now sleeps from 6-45pm - i wake him at 10-15pm for a feed then he wakes between 6-30 and 7-30 also try tracey hog the baby whisperer helps you to understand the cries, one thing about gina is my bb never took as much feed as she states and needs less sleep at main nap and longer in pm but is really good routine for happy parents and baby who know when and what to do