Anyone done Gina Ford from day one, breastfeeding, with a toddler to contend with as well??

[oliveoil]

My second baby is due in August and I am wondering whether to try the GF method from day one.

With dd, I remember the early days as a haze of feeding feeding feeding on demand and want to know whether it is feasible to do the GF method, breastfeeding fully, whilst having a 22 month old to contend with as well (ha ha ha).

I didn't discover the GF book until dd was 3 months and didn't follow it 100% then either, bit too strict, but if it means my life being a bit more controllable, I will give it a go.

Thanks.xx

Message withdrawn

Am stalking you .

How did you distract the older child? I have been told this is the hardest thing.

My cousin has oliveoil. Same age gap as Bloss. I'll mail her this link...

BR

I want to know too, since am stalking you both, due September, 22 month gap.

I have a 22 month gap between ds1 and ds2 and managed this (after a fashion!). The first couple of weeks I fed on demand while dh looked after ds1, and then after that I more or less followed GF. To distract ds1 while I was feeding I made sure that he was set up with toys, and had a pile of books next to me that we could read. The best distraction though was to put the TV on. I had been telling ds1 that the baby would have his milk from me, and luckily he showed no interest in it himself, and no signs of jealousy.
Will you have any help for the first few weeks?

ooh, interested in this too! Have DS1 (2) and am due in October.

GF worked really well with DS1 so we're keen to try it again, but wonder how practical it is with a demanding toddler?

Yes zubb, dh will be off for a couple of weeks and can take extra time here and there (works for the family business). Also, MIL is round the corner and fab so she would help out as well.

Did you follow it as strictly as she says - ie expressing exactly 2 oz off this boob etc?

we did and there's 15 months between my 2. To be honest, both mine found it hard to go the distance between the feeds that GF advises so my hardest thing for the first 4 months (until weaned) was keeping them distracted for 3 or 4 hours however long the gap was.

I used to read to my toddler whilst bf. Get the books ready and make sure you have a pile next to you. Also TV is good if the books don't work. The other thing I got my toddler to do was tickle the baby's feet to keep him awake whilst feeding as ds had a problem falling asleep on the boob. She loved doing this and felt really involved. And at that age they understand tickling and love touching the baby!

I found it impossible to follow GF with DD from day 1 ... DS needed to be taken places (like swimming lessons and kindy) just at the times she needed to be in her cot ...
So I took what I needed from GF (like start your day at the same time every day rule and the awake from 5pm rule and the late feed) and let the other stuff go.
Three weeks ago DS started going to Kindergarten every morning ... and somehow, with no encouragement from me DD has turned into the model GF baby (she is 17 weeks)...
What I will say to all of you is, don't stress about it ... you will have enough on your plate with new baby, sore bits and pieces, stroppy/jealous precious first born, leaky boobs etc etc to worry about when to eat your breakfast and when to change the baby's nappy!!!

You have to be flexible, but it can work. I kept ds1's routine as it was and then fitted ds2 round that as far as possible. We are never really out before 10 in the morning anyway, so it worked well that ds2 went back to sleep between 9 and 10, as then I could get ds1 ready and play with him. For the feeds I just fed ds2 wherever we were, and haven't had any problems with that. The park is always the easiest as then ds1 has a ready made distraction! For the lunch time sleep that was either at home or in the pram, and the same in the afternoon.
I was lucky in that both kids seem to have fitted into GF really well, but I think it is much more important to be flexible with the second one, especially as you don't want to change things too much for the first.

I'm far too slow at typing! and Ghosty said it so much better than me!
OO - I never expressed at all, so really only took the sleep and feed times from her.

yes, you have to be flexible. For example, my ds always used to fall asleep before his lunch when I was picking dd up from pre-school at 11.30 and this would throw the routine out the window! So either I gave him a very early lunch and let him have his long sleep in the pushchair or I tried to keep him awake on the journey.

The key is to apply the principles and not to worry too much if you fall out of the schedule. As long as they get enough naps, don't sleep too much during the day and don't oversleep in the morning, they should be OK!! I also found that ds was more exhausted than dd ever was at his age because he had a toddler to watch and entertain him all day which seemed to really tire him out!

All your advice underlines what I already thought, all very well following a routine to the letter with one, but not with a toddler grabbing your leg. Think I will go with the flow for the first couple of weeks and see how things pan out.

Zubb - interesting that you didn't express, did you not try her on the occasional bottle of ebm or did you use formula? I was told not to give either until 6 weeks or so by hv and had a NIGHTMARE trying to get her on bottles after.

I didn't try a bottle at all for the first 6 weeks, as ds1 had taken to a bottle really easily when he needed to so I was quite complacent about it! My Mum looked after ds2 at 10 weeks and he took a bottle fine from her, but then dh tried to feed him at about 12 weeks and had a nightmare!
He is going to a childminder from next week and so will be having a bottle with her. I'm going to start this weekend to get him used to it - wish me luck! Have as ususal left it far too late, and I could be one here posting for advice by Saturday afternoon!

Doing it at the moment (but flexibly) with a 5 week old and 25 month old and it's working really well.
everything that others have said, but the things that have really worked for me are:
Fed every 3 hours, plus whenever he wanted for first two weeks. (dh around to look after dd) I make a big fuss when dd eats anything of saying "Can ds have banana/pasta etc" and then saying "no - he can only have mummy milk, poor ds" she now pretends to offer him her food and then takes it back.
She doesn't get up until 7.45, and I start him at 7.30 (add 30mins to all GF times). So first feed is in my bed without her. the only expressing I do is after this feed, whilst dd has a bottle of milk as well. Dh puts on microwave steriliser before he leaves for work at 6.30 so it's ready for me.
dd (a lapsed GF baby) has her lunchtime nap 1.30 to 3ish, so I manage to do the after lunch bf without her as well. For the ones where she is there we resort to cbeebies.
Crunch time is bath/bedtime, but by doing averything 30 minutes later, ds has bath at 6.30 (dd "helps" then dh is home by 6.45 to occupy dd whilst I put ds to bed. On the nights he can't be, dd reads with me bf on the sofa in ds's room, and I say "shhh" a lot.

But it is do-able - more do-able I'd say than demandfeeding.