How are all the Gina babies doing?

[agaazaa]

I just want to know how all the Gina routines are going. DD is 8 wks and the routine is going well, the only thing is she has not dropped the night feed, she wakes anywhere between 2 and 4.30. One night I tried to give her water at 2, she woke an hour later I gave her some more water, then she woke at 5 and I gave her a couple of ounces of milk. I find trying to cut out the night feed with water exhausting as you get woken so much in the night when the alternative is to give her some milk and know she would then sleep until 7.

However I don't mind giving her a couple of ounces as it is such a quick feed (1/2 hr including winding time) and then back to bed.

I have no idea how I ended up with a Gina Ford baby but DD definitely fits the bill. 7am - 7pm on the dot, morning and afternoon naps ditto with absolutely no encouragement from me (and in fact quite the reverse). DS though is a "free spirit" - we can adjust his bedtimes at will and he will sleep anywhere. Up until he was about 1 or so he didn't really have a discernible routine at all.

Rhubarb - my baby is a non-GF baby and yes I am having problems with her sleep so perhaps I fit in your cateogory of not being happy but.. there is so much more to having a baby than sleep patterns. I am overwhelmingly happy to have dd, she is such a joy to be with. Having not got stressed over timings of naps, bedtime, feeds, black out blinds, expressing and having my toast by a certain time I have been able to enjoy every moment I have with her. We have been all over, met loads of people, gone to parties etc. Now she is a bit older she isn't so flexible and I feel I need to work more on getting her to sleep through the night. However, she is perfectly happy and content with the way things are. And I would not change a thing with the way I am bringing her up. I agree with GeorginaA that a confident and content child comes from being a relaxed and confident parent and to blow my own trumpet that is what I am.

uuh ooh I think this thread may be going the same way as other non gf +pro gf threads,I'm gonna steer well clear.

I don't want to hijack this thread into a debate about GF. But I did take offence that I might not be happy because I wasn't following GF routines. Each to their own

My non-GF babies will sleep anywhere, any time, are happy, confident and flexible and I've not had to follow some Hitlerish regime to get them there. I'm also slimmer than pre-pregnancy (although baby snot is not very elegant). Personally I'm over the moon.

So phthrrrrup to Rhubarb!

Do any non GF followers have a sense of humour at all? Stop being so bloody defensive will you? I had a little poke at you - soooooo sorry! But I didn't go into your thread and have a direct go at you did I? It was tongue-in-cheek. However obviously we are all sensitive and cannot take a joke! Now go off into your own thread and slag me off to your hearts content!

Geez!

Yeah well, maybe if you'd put a smiley in it it may have come across as a joke...

Exactly Soupdragon!

Poor Rhubarb

Why are they all being so prickly? because they FAILED as Gina moms I guess?!!

Heeee heeee heee

And the GF mums are defensive because they FAILED at being natural mums.

And you know I don't mean it, I'm very much of the "whatever works" school of mothering.

You took the words out of my mouth SoupDragon. Tee hee!.

Failing as a Gina mom is not meaning mothers fail. I really was poking fun. No mother ever fails no matter what method she chooses.

But us Gina moms have the upper hand, at least we know when to get our toast!

OK - timeout! you lot are worse than my dd...

Actually, rhubarb, just whipped back through the non-gina thread and I can't see that anyone is unhappy. Some babies are expressing frustration at developmental stages, are you telling us gina babies never do that?

btw pupuce - another windy b/f baby here too.

Aha, but I know when to get my toast too - its when the Coco Pops have run out, right?

I went to get my toast this morning but there was mouse poo on it. I wonder what Gina would make of that!!

i once incinerated a mouse in my toaster (not deliberately, it was attracted there by the enormous volume of crumbs, happily munching away, until nemesis, in the form of my breakfast, arrived...).

student days - what more can i say???

I microwaved one yesterday.

Was it tasty?

Ok I'm with bells here. DS1 loved routine, was happy to settle by himself etc etc. DS2 is a nightmare- was born by section, spent first 12 hours in an incubator and since he came out hasn't wanted to be away from Mummy (he's 10 months now- mind you having said that he's pretty good at sleeping). He also had an infection for the first 6 weeks. I know that what worked for ds1 would never work for him. Some baby's are going to do well on gf routines, some aren't. I suspect that those that do will set the routine with or without GF. GF wasn't even around when I had DS1 and he set his own little routine with a small amount of encouragement. Problem comes when the routines become so rigid that life takes a back seat. My cousin has missed a few "occasions" becuase they would have interfered with ds routine. I have a suspicion they're following GF. The baby's 6 months old now- seems ridiculous to me (and quite upsetting for a few people). God knows what they'll do when they have a stroppy toddler refusing to do what he's meant to.

Enough GF discussions for me - I just hate it when my remarks are misconstrued. I did put the sniggers in there to imply I was joking, but obviously I didn't do enough to appease all the non-GF mums! At the end of the day she's just some woman who wrote a parenting book, I can't see what the big deal is. Some people follow it with success, others find they don't like it so don't follow it. It's all about choice isn't it? But you know what would help? GF mums posting in GF threads and non-GF mums posting in their threads, leaving each other alone. After all, as I've found out, it only takes a spark to ignite WW3!

So now, how many smiley faces shall I do on this?

Noooo, you need more than that.

Look here, I'll set the Clangers on you if you start!

Pa! The Clangers are on my side. I'll set Barney on you, that'll sort you out.

Actually, no one deserves Barney...

(I'll go away now and this thread can go back to GF mums)

lou, the snake ate it and didn't complain.

Next time I'll get it out of the freezer earlier though.

Hiya am pregnant with number 2 and had a complete mare sleepwise with ds so on Saturday I ventured to Waterstones and brought The Contented Little Baby book. Am finding it quite confusing and wonder if in my hormonal/sleep deprived state when this little one arrives that I will get to grips with so much. Did all of GF mums stick to the routine exactly including the expressing bit -and do you ever get a chance to leave the house. I am determined to do something different with this one and lots of the advice does make sense.