Feeding and sleeping routines

[bubblesincambridge]

Have been reading the Gina Ford book and will start the Baby Whisperer soon to get another view.

Has anyone found anything successful??

GF says a lot of sense at the beginning of her book, but the routines given later on are quite strict and confusing, and probably impossible for anyone to follow precisely.

What are the main points I should take away from it??

Anything else I should consider?

Am 29 weeks preggers with my first and aiming to have it sleeping through the night by 6-8 weeks (yeah, right - I should be so lucky!). How can I best achieve this? I really haven't a clue!

I find if I do the three hour thing (from the start of the feed of course) followed by some playing, he then has a nap and I still get time to go out and get other things done before he's hungry again. I just don't think I'd gain anything from putting him on my breast every time he cried - I often find he's just bored. The days when I've fed him on demand have been a bit of a nightmare because he doesn't go off to sleep or just naps for ten minutes. It's not really a routine, and if he can't be distracted then I feed him anyway, because he must be hungry...

I read Gina Ford when preg and the whole idea of a clear, organised routine really appealed to me...i was determined to be really 'firm' and stick to everything, even though my mum and others kept telling me to go with the baby...i was completely unprepared for how i would feel when he cried and the fact that he didn't want to go into his cot and be left alone. i ended up feeling like a failure and the first few weeks were a bit spoiled because i felt like i was battling to get him to fit into this...every day i felt like i had missed the 'target'! finally decided to give in and just go with whatever he wanted (constant feeding and holding), and immediately he became happier, i was more relaxed, and lo and behold he fell into his own pattern! i am not against Gina Ford and have a few friends who successfully used her methods BUT i think it depends on the baby, and wouldn't want you to feel as confused and useless as i did when i was trying to follow her schedule and failing! also don't be afraid of 'getting into bad habits'...if your baby likes to be held, wear them in a sling, if they like to suck, get them a dummy, whatever...i learned that you are alot happier when you find a unique way of doing things that works for both of you. sorry if that was a bit of a lecture!! X

I think the appeal of GF, unfortunately, is that it makes having a baby seem like something that can be 'controlled' if you just do it properly. She makes having a baby seem safer and less scary.

This may be comforting when you have your first baby, but as others have said, it can easily spoil those first precious few months, because the most amazing bit of having a baby is opening yourself completely to another little person's needs - to let go of control and just follow your instincts like, well, an animal. Having a baby is the most incredible thing you will ever do - why would you want to render that experience 'safe'?

Just enjoy your baby. If you want a main point to consider, it is that 10 minutes after you give birth, your child will be 15, will think you are completely unreasonable and the worst parent in the world and god, like, just so, you know, whatever...and where will Gina Ford be then, eh?

From talking to various friends who have tried GF, it seems that you either end up with a GF baby or you don't. Some friends have found it very easy and successful whilst others have said that it ruined the first few weeks/months of motherhood for them (which seems quite common from reading other posts). I never read GF (was a bit suspicious of the fact she'd never had dc) but I did read baby whisperer. It all seemed so straightforward, however when ds came along he: automatically fell deeply asleep after each feed, fed for long periods of time almost constantly, spent some days awake all day and others asleep all day...in other words, not compatible with the EASY routine!! When I just accepted this it became much easier.

Things that I found helped:
Waking to feed every couple of hours in the very early days when he was sleepy from being born,
Feeding at least every 2 hrs in the day as this enabled him to go longer at night,
Keeping night and day distinct i.e. lighting and noise levels,
Having a bath/bedtime routine from quite early on,
Going out and about in the day as this would tire him out as he got older and was more aware of things.

He quickly estalished his longest sleep at night and was only having 1 night feed from 6 weeks or so, with occasional longer sleeps, until say, 5/6am.

However at 15 weeks we are now back to 2 hourly feeding due to a huge growth spurt!!