Gina Ford... Does anyone use her routines / sleep approach anymore?

[SpringTime2023]

Interested to get people's views as I know from colleagues (+10 years older) that they LOVED it.

Just interested to see if any further research has come out as to whether it's damaging (the controlled crying aspect?) and if there are more modern approaches out there now.

Not sure about the controlled crying aspect - is that even in the book?

We never needed to do sleep training as she slept through by 8 weeks once we got a good routine going so it wasn't necessary.

She always was and always will be I suspect.

Tracy Hogg (the baby whisperer) was my go to when my son was a v tricky baby, but she sadly died c 20 years ago. GF was quite a scandal at the time.

I worked as a breastfeeding counsellor 20 years ago. I agree with posters who says there were plenty of books and the Internet existed. Hello to any old Babyworld people if you read this..

I used to recommend if people had read GF they also read 3 in a bed mlby Deborah Jackson.
Not because I believed in either method but because they are about as opposing parenting methods as you can get. Both books have good stuff in it. The majority of parents parent somewhere in the middle. So by reading the 2 books many parents found out what type of parent they wanted to be.

What I will say is GF strict routing is not conductive with a good breastfeeding dias. I also notice many here said they only used parts. If routine works for you then you will prefer the GF end of patenting. If you are more nonroutine at all then DJ end will work better for you.

I didn't do GF with either of mine as I'm not a particularly organised or routine driven person, however I was put off it massively by DSis. She did it with both of hers and she was so routine driven that it took over everything. We'd go on family holidays and trips out and she'd make a huge deal about having to leave and go back to where we were staying at 3:30 in the afternoon because if they weren't fed and asleep by 6pm then the whole world would come crashing down. She was quite shocked when a few of us spoke up and said we didn't want to base our entire holiday on her GF routine

I used her loosely but was quite firm on night time routine. Never let my babies cry though. They slept well after getting used to it (couple months) and I could put them down while awake and leave. Those of my circle who didn't follow much of a routine had a much harder time.
Was certainly not as strict about the day time stuff.

I had exactly this problem. I re-read and re-read the book thinking there must be a section about babies who won't sleep when they are told to (for want of a better phrase), mine can't be the only baby who won't stick to this GF's has had loads of experience there will be something in there about what to do surely - but I couldn't find anything no matter how many times I looked. I'd spend 40 minutes trying to get baby to nap, she'd sleep for 10 minutes (probably only fell asleep from sheer exhaustion from fighting me/being angry at being MADE to sleep). I gave up after 3 months. DC2 I didn't bother. It was such hell with DC1 I couldn't face it again. With DC1 we were just both miserable and exhausted, once I abandoned it we were both much calmer and happier. 6 years on DC1 sleeps just fine. SIL swore by it though (she recommended it to me) so it obviously works for some. I had no idea there was any controversy!

I used a more light version of the baby whisperer. The best thing I think was teaching babies the difference between night and day from birth. It meant I had to be really disciplined and stick to the bedtime routine and do everything in the bedroom at night. My children were pretty good sleepers and slept through in their own rooms at 6 months consistently. I think it’s fine not to have a routine but most of my friends who didn’t were still reluctantly co sleeping with their children until they were toddlers or lying with them until they fell asleep.

I read the book but didn't find it realistic for me at all. Her insistence on babies sleeping at home in darkened rooms seemed to give me a very limited window of opportunity to get out and run errands or attend baby groups and build a support network. I know people it worked well for but it wasn't for me.

My first baby had reflux so just cried all the time and barely slept. Gina Ford was popular at the time but was useless for me. There was a case study in the book of a baby that wouldn't settle on "the routine", though, that turned out to have reflux like mine, which at least made me feel less alone and I took an immense amount of satisfaction from the fact that she was completely defeated by said baby!

The NHS was all about demand feeding, which doesn't work when a baby starts crying with reflux as soon as they finish feeding and continues for hours at a time. In the end I turned in desperation to my mum's old battered copy of Dr Spock which at least gave me a bit of a guideline - crying 1 or 2 hours after feeding probably not hungry, crying after 3 hrs try giving a feed. Most of it was very out of date (how to make emergency formula with a tin of condensed milk anyone?!) but was still more useful for a non-standard baby than the modern alternatives I looked at. There really isn't a "right way" is there? All babies and families are different.

This is my general feeling, I read it and felt it wasn't for me at all but implemented a nightly routine with DDof baby massage, stories and milk, she slept through on and off since 6 months and then consistently from 1. Always been a kid who loves routine though and hates surprises lol

I used it, sleeping through by about 8 weeks I think. Great sleepers now and no ill affects, teens etc
I think sleep is a skill you learn. i have massive trouble with sleeping didn't want to pass it on as lack of sleep has so many negative effects on your health, both physical and mental - not to mention on your looks.

I turned to it in desperation when my first was incredibly unsettled and crying constantly. She was 8 weeks old and I just felt like I didn't have a clue. By 12 weeks she was sleeping 12 hours in her cot at night, structured naps and was feeding well. Seemed much happier too. Was a life saver!

Did it straight away with my son and he was sleeping through 12 hours from 8 weeks.

They're 19 and 14 now and still good sleepers. Didn't do controlled crying either as at the time the advice was not to do it before 6 months and they were both sorted by then. They were both formula fed which makes a difference I think

Agree it suited me as I loved the routine and structure, my friend did it and also loved it. Another friend wasn't keen as she wanted more flexibility. Gf also did a twins book which my sister in law used and said it saved her sanity

I had solid routines with all my children it worked for me. It was positively encouraged with my first now 35 in so far as midwives enforced when babies were fed, bathed and put down to sleep and they were taken to the nursery overnight. Midwife warned against it with youngest now 20 but she was in a routine before the midwife stopped calling regardless. I fed around school and nursery runs for the younger ones so liked to know that they wouldn't be crying and asleep so that I could focus on the others.

I don't think I heard of Gina Ford until DDs were a bit older.

My books were: The Best Friend's Guide to Surviving the First Year of Motherhood and Your Baby Week by Week - the latter was brilliant on introducing solids.

I honestly think it just depends on the personality and genetics of the kids. So yours would probably be ok sleepers whatever you did, and hers would have been no different with GF.
I did the same with both mine and the second has been a good sleeper since 7 months, the eldest is 6 and sleeps through but still takes hours to get to sleep.

I was lent it by a colleague.
I read it while expecting DC1 and felt the same as you - I anticipated getting up dressed and having breakfast by 8 a challenge with a newborn. I tried to establish a routine with DD but she generally only slept in motion or being held despite many attempts to settle.
But I know for others it worked really well.
I think it depends on both parent and baby temperament - there really isn't a one size fits all approach

I used a mix of Gina Ford and The Baby Whisperer with my DS's now aged 13 and 17.

It was helpful getting us all into a routine, although of course you cant stick to it come what may. Its useful as a rough guideline.

I used it loosely. Kids are 2 and 6. I know lots if people still doing Gina’s potty training. I found it really helpful for getting the balance right so they go bed full and tired but not overtired! They probably don’t work if you have a clingy velcro baby but mine were always fine with going down in the cot. So I just needed some help with getting the timings right. No routine will change your baby’s personality though!

The trouble is with parenting guide books is that babies don't read them.

It would have been far too restrictive for me. I was too hippyish for that sort of thing. And anyway, I like babies.

I found the what seems obvious now stuff like having some toast and getting dressed/leaving the house helpful as it emphasised to me that it was OK to put your needs for food etc up there and take care of yourself. I was surrounded by people taking the martyrish approach and never putting the baby down/finding time for a shower.

I had severe PND and getting out of the house by 9.30am every day to get some exercise and see people at a toddler group was pretty vital for my mental health! Having a book that encouraged this really helped, unlike the awful "Womanly art" one which seemed to harp on about staying in bed with your baby!

It was a big thing when DD 16 was born, she.most defiantly hadn't read the book. I spent several weeks going round in circles and later discovered DrSears, which at lest didn't make.me feel like a failure as a mum. She had reflux for the first six months so that probably didn't help.
My own aniti natal group where surprised at hownhard she cried, there is no way I could have left her. There was no in-between with her just happy or full on tears crying.

DS had fallen into his own secedual by about 8 weeks. Which led me to believe it's totally down to the baby. I left him to it and he just established his own routine. Maybe some babies benefit from gentle promoting to get into a routine, but for some it'll never work.

She now at 16 does the normal sleeping in till midday if she can. I take revenge by waking her up when needed.

It definitely isn't for all babies and I agree that it depends on the personality of the parent too.

I went back to work when he was 3 months and ideally wanted him to be well established in a routine by then and hopefully sleeping through which is exactly what happened. He responded to it well after some time and adjustments and like I said, taking things from both Gina and Tracy.

I love routines so it was right up my street.

Several of my peers tried it. My experience is that if you were a parent who liked routine and planning pre children, then Gina Ford worked well for your family. If you're more last minute, loose timings kind of person, then Gina really isn't for you.

Exactly this. I did a loose version of GF which worked very well for my 3 DC who all seem pretty well adjusted now. Having someone tell me roughly what I should be doing and when was a godsend for me in the early days.