Gina Ford routine - does it work?

[veronika17Oct]

Has anyone tried Gina Ford routines (Contented Little Baby Book) on a very small baby and did it work? Mine is almost 4 weeks, am I starting too early?

Some babies are rhythmic and absolutely thrive on a GF-style schedule. Other babies are not and anything but the loosest routine just makes everybody miserable.

Thank you all for your advice. I tried the routine just for one day and it worked really well, but found it a bit too regimented.

We never had any problems with sleep at night, but he would not settle for sleep during the day, so by 7pm we had a screeming and overtired baby until the last feed of the day (around 23.30). I was hoping that trying some kind of routine would resolve the daytime nap problem.

Am currently reading a very interesting book by Margot Sunderland - "What every parent needs to know - the remarkable effects of love, nurture and play on your child's development". (Bought on Amazon).
It explains what happens from a chemical point of view when you leave a child to cry continually. The stress hormone cortisol is released by the adrenal glands. If the child is soothed, the level of cortisol goes down but if not it remains high. If this is the case it is potentially dangerous as cortisol can reach toxic levels that can be damaging to a developing brain (!!!)
It also discusses why children behave the way they do (i.e tantrums, screaming etc) - very insightful...
Not making any judgements about any methods of parenting, just thought that this book offers an interesting, more technical view that I wanted to throw into the mix

attachment parenting is better for the child. There are plenty of books on that if you were interested.

If its too early, your LO will let you know! But its probably a good time to start reading it, and taking the things that are good for you and your family from it and ignoring the rest. It is good for day time sleep, and as some one else said, its useful to know they have to go to bed every two hours, and how that changes as they get older. I use it about each month, just to find out how much day sleep dd2 needs etc.

I don't want to start a fight but "atachment parenting is better for the child." Not for mine. A bit of a sweeping statement IMHO.

We used it with both of ours and it worked well for us.

Only used it as a guideline though and never got hung up on it. You, your life and your baby cannot be prescribed to in quite the way or detial the book gives. It's a blunt instrument, but one you can take what you need from and adapt to suit yourself and your baby. IMO.

The waking or dreamfeed thing never worked for us either and we quickly gave up on that.

Generally I think it was a big help for me.

Didn't mean to start any fights . I think using her timings for sleeps and feeds are good but maybe not her methods for getting to sleep. We used a dummy to help dd get in a routine from a v young age which worked great for us and then got rid of her dummy when she was 16 wks when it started disturbing her sleep.

If you don't take it too seriously or beat yourself up if baby is not asleep or feeding at the exact times, then it is good if you like routines.

i don't understand what on everyone has against gina ford. Her routines have worked for thousands of babies SUCCESSFULLY. that's why her books are best sellers. If her routines didn't work she wouldn't be famous and you wouldn't be discussing her. just because it doesn't work for your baby doesn't mean it wont work for anyone else. Her books are for people who like routines. If you dont like her routines don't follow them, simple. She's not holding a gun to your heads and insisting on following her routines.

Some people buy her books but find it doesn't work - I think it does depend on your personality as well as your baby's. I learnt early on that I didn't do well measuring/comparing myself against an 'ideal' model: I was much happier to bumble along and find our own routine. Her timings are pretty good, I just found my own way there iyswim. Some people love routine, I think for them it works.

I got miserable after trying, I know others who love it. Find what works for you and your baby, ignore everyone else.

erm, this thread was over a year old.

Didn't try it in full but I took tips that worked for me - different for each baby btw. I think just like talking to 'well-meaning' relatives, and friends, reading books should only give you ideas that would work fo ryou. There is no gospel on how you should do it - but it is certainly useful to have a starting point to tweak.

f4h why have you revived an old old thread please?

Gah I didn't notice it was old! Just read the word 'November' and got busy typing.

i would just like to say if you don't like Ginas routines you don't need to follow them. it's just a book not a word of the law. And there's no need to attack gina or blame her if your little one is not fitting in her routines. All babies are different and Ginas routines have worked for so many parents. you wouldn't even know her name if they didn't. Oh and guess what her books are best sellers and guess why, because her routines have worked for so many parents and just because it's not working for you, you can't expect her to write you an apology letter.
Even if she's just managed to only turn one baby from a irritable, fretful baby into a happy contended one then she should be very proud of herself because it's not an easy job but she has helped thousands of parents watch their babies turn from being very difficult, unsettled into being happy and contended. So sorry if you don't like her but for some parents she is the best thing that has ever happened to them because what could be more greater for a parent than having a happy contended baby. And if you have actually read her books you would know how she has helped so many parents and what the results were of her routines.

What does troll mean?

I rue the day I read that book.

6 years later I still think back on the fortnight I tried to use the routines, and shudder.

Oh gosh this is really old, isn't it? Someone has taken a lot of trouble to dig it out.

mmm, I wonder if R4H works for GF's publisher. You would really have had to do some hunting to find this thread.

I hope she doesn't work for a publisher.
Her punctuation is awful.

teofalls - I doubt that r4h works for Gina Ford's publisher, or is even a fan of GF. True followers of Gina Ford would not beat the drums the way she has on Mumsnet. As already posted earlier she is no doubt a troll (or anti GF) out to cause trouble.

I personally have read both GF and TH (The baby whisperer) and neither have worked in terms of sleep for me. The routine parts were good but my DD doesn't sleep and nothing I seems to work. I've read another four books to do with sleep and none have made the difference either.

Veronika your baby is a small human being. At this age you should be simply holding and feeding and not looking at the clock or worrying about sleep training. If you follow your baby's cues you will find you fall into a "routine" that fits both of you. Try to remember that feeding isn't just about calories, babies nurse for comfort (and that's natural and ok, nothing wrong with it at all) and for a drink, or because they are tired.

So don't restrict, time or question your baby's requests to feed. And if you remember that nursing cues are arm waving, face pulling/mouthing/tongue poking out, and offer the breast whenever you see these things and don't wait until your baby is crying (crying is the very last feeding cue) then you will have a truly contented baby, one that has it's needs met, not one that is doing what it "should" when someone else dictates they should.

Bin that book. Seriously, throw it away, it's written by a woman who has never had a baby. Would you take medical advice from someone who'd never been to medical school? No, thought not.