Any Gina Ford breastfeeding mums?

[lastboxoftampons]

If so, when did you introduce the bottle feed? is it from one week? Did you have any nipple confusion problems?

we are losely gina ford i adapt the routine slighty to fit around my other children.
we started the botttle at one week but had trouble with refusing the breast at the next feed so have dropped it until 6ish weeks

What's a Gina Ford breastfeeding mum?

Also following Gina Ford - but adapted to fit in with the family.
Introduced an expressed bottle at about one week and no nipple confusion at all - for both my children.

I have absolutely no desire what so ever to BF Gina Ford

I'm confused. Baby hungry you feed it, baby needs comfort you offer it breast - what have I missed?

at nork

my friend gave it at about a fortnight from what I remember.
She does joke about GF though as she understands my dislike. The fact that gf is bringing out a new book that allows for siblings made us laugh.

Why do you add a bottle? Surely much easier to just feed and then you haven't got to faff with expressing and storing milk?

We first gave DD a bottle at 4 weeks. No problem taking it and no problem with nipple confusion etc. It was a lovely opportunity for DH to feed DD and for me to get a little rest. TBH we never bothered with the whole expressing and bottle routine every day, but I'm glad we did it as I got comfortable with using the pump (and my body knew how to respond to it) and knew that I could leave DD with DH for a few hours and she would be fed and happy.

It was also very reassuring to know there was a few feeds in the freezer.

Don't worry about introducing bottle too early, but if you are keen to do it, some say you should try before 8 or 12 weeks otherwise some babies aren't keen. No idea how much truth there is in that but worth considering.

Hope this helps. Sadly with any mention of Gina Ford you may get a few odd responses on here, just ignore it.

DO people still really do gina ford??

Not surprised at some of the answers here - thanks to all of you who answered the question.

For those who are confused:

GF suggests making one feed a day a bottle feed - either of formula or of EBM - so that the mum can get some rest and the dad or an alternative caregiver can feed.

Whatever your feelings about GF, I was asking about what worked for those who have tried it, so thank you to TheNatty, FruitLoaf and Crazycatlady!

I have heard it said she knows very little about breastfeeding so I wouldn't be rushing to take bf advice from her.

Surely it takes more time to sterilise, express, clean, get baby to take bottle etc than it does just to put it to the breast?

Hercules it sounds like the OP is doing Gina Ford, and purely anecdotally, out of the 15 or so friends of mine that have had babies in the last year, I know of 5 who are doing GF to greater or lesser degrees so I guess some people do yes.

I know Gina Ford is predominantly disliked on mumsnet, but when a mum posts asking for advice and happens to mention Gina Ford it always seems to generate odd and sometimes rude responses which I just don't understand.

OK "GF suggests making one feed a day a bottle feed - either of formula or of EBM - so that the mum can get some rest and the dad or an alternative caregiver can feed."

Sounds quite sensible to me, not that you need rest once it but if you're intimating this should start at a week I'd be a bit concerned.

If its of any interest my mother says the same thing and I think she's probably older than Gina Ford.

Thanks again, Catlady. My baby isn't actually here yet, but I'm exploring options. I've read quite a lot from a lot of different sources and I'm still gathering information - I will make my decisions about how I want to care for MY baby based on ALL that I've gathered - and I suspect it won't be all entirely made up of one method/philosophy. and in all likelihood, whatever I choose to do will probably change and adapt as I get to know my baby and what works for us.

What gets me is that people are so critical about something they haven't tried and/or haven't even read about. You'd think in this day and age, people would recognise that there's more than one way to care for a baby. I know people it's worked for and people for whom it hasn't - I also know someone who has ebf and now has to go back to work and can't get her baby to take a bottle - so everyone has a different experience. I'm just looking for some advice based on other's experiences.

Lastboxoftampons - it is good that you are preparing for the birth of your baby, just keep an open mind.

why Gina will never be popular on Mumsnet

lastbox thank you for explaining.

My concern would be that by regularly giving a feed (either EBM or formla) that early, you will be in some danger of compromising your supply. GF advocates 4-hourly feeds IIRC, so you talking about having an 8-hour feeding gap (as far as your body is concerned) from week 1. She really doesn't know much about BFing if she seriously recommends that.

If you are really keen on the idea of BFing, then try looking on the Kellymom.com site. There is a wealth of great information on there about the mchanics of it all, how supply is established and maintained etc.

What makes you think those criticisng don't know all about her methods? Really, her knowledge on breastfeeding is known for being very poor.

"I'm exploring options. I've read quite a lot from a lot of different sources and I'm still gathering information - I will make my decisions about how I want to care for MY baby based on ALL that I've gathered - and I suspect it won't be all entirely made up of one method/philosophy. and in all likelihood, whatever I choose to do will probably change and adapt as I get to know my baby and what works for us."

Well you sound as though you'll be an excellent mother.

Good for you!

(I thought some so-called gurus were more prescriptive than this common-sense approach though - and I thought that Gina Ford was the Queen of these in terms of laying down routines that MUST be followed for sanity)

I'm being very careful how I word my posts so as not to be sued.