keeping social life on gina ford routine

[dollyblue84]

After 7 months of my DS waking up every 2 hours decided to put him into a routine this week with naps at 9:00-9:45 then 2 hours at lunchtime. After just 2 days has been going to bed at 7:00 and only waking once in middle of night. What happens though if we want to go to baby massage which is on at 13:00 or we want to go out for lunch? will it not work? does anyone else have any experience with this or do i just not leave the house at this time?

It's up to you what you do.
This is the problem with rigid routines, tbh.
Some people won't leave the house as they feel tied to it. If you think that will make you depressed or antsy, you can go with the flow a bit more.

I did the Gina Ford routine, like a slave, with ds1. I think it was because I had no idea what to do with a baby and needed the guidance but I was a bit obsessed with it, I consulted the book for everything!

It was a godsend for me though as I was suffering depression which I wasn't really aware of, so it did keep me focussed on ds1.

I got a bit more relaxed about the nap times as he got older, and more focussed on reading the signs from him, I knew that I needed to get him down after about 3 yawns or he'd be over tired, that sort of thing. You can plan things around the naps most of the time and then if you don't do the routine for one day, it's easy to get back into it.

I was much more relaxed with ds2, it's very difficult to do her routines with 2 children, but I kept the basic routine of the naps, they may not have been at the same time every day but near enough.

The thing her routines don't take into account is what your baby is like, I had no idea at the time, but ds1 is 9 now and he can be bad tempered in morning and still needs his 11 hours sleep or we all suffer.

Thanks for your replys. Never wanted to put baby in strict routine, BF on demand and co slept most nights until this week but was getting so down with 2 hour wakings.
Good to know i can miss a day if need be and get back into it-think its more important to me to get some sleep at the moment though. I will keep in mind DS hasnt read the book and it may not always work

I have roughly been following Gina's routine since my DS was 4 months old, he is now 10.5 months. I still participate in activities and meet-ups and just make sure that DS gets his sleep (usually lunchtime) in the pram. I think Gina says that you should make sure that your baby gets at least one sleep in the cot, so you can always do the morning one in the cot and the lunchtime one in the pram on days you want to go out. Not sure about that baby massage course at 1pm though but I guess if it's only once a week it may not be that bad..

I have used Gina Ford to some degree since my DS was about 8 weeks old. We have a consistent routine of nap at 9am (or 2h after he woke if it was earlier than 7am), nap 12.15-2, and bed by 7. It helps me to anticipate what the day is going to be like for the days that are more unusual.

If I was going to baby massage at 1pm, I'd probably let him sleep for 30 minutes in the morning, then put him down about 11.30 until we had to leave. In the afternoon, we would probably go for a walk about 4, knowing that he would probably have a catnap to make it through dinner and bathtime.

Routines do seem to be against MN groupthink, but it comes down to what works for you. I think having a good set routine in place means that you can adapt when you need to.

I find a black out blind "Snoozeshade" for the pram helps

I have just started giving DD (8mo) a loose routine, this can be tweaked.

As follows (roughly):

• 0600-0700 ish...wake up
• 0800 breakfast
• 0900 nap
• 1000 wake up (I tend to have to sit with/near her at the moment)
• 1200 lunch
• 1300 nap
• 1400 wake up
• 1600 short catnap, 45 mins or so
• 1800 dinner, bath
• 1900 feed to sleep

I try to make sure that the first nap is at home, but will tweak the times according to what has to happen. The first and second nap aim to be about an hour.

We are very laid back though, so it doesn't necessarily work for everyone, I'm quite led by her really. If she looks really tired then I take her for a nap, or sling her.