Gina Ford - to read or not?

[Boompi]

Gina Ford - what are opinions? Personally I think it sounds awful and sure to make me neurotic. I'm asking because a work colllegue has offered to lend me CLB - the book - which she swears by. Wonder if there are good bits you can use even if not into whole routine thing. DH doesnt even want the book in the house as worried I will read it and take it all to heart! Should I borrow it or just look at The Baby Whisperer?
I am 32 weeks and feel need to read something in next 8 weeks!

Dons hard hat and dives for cover....

Boompi, there are lots of polarised opinions on mumsnet about Gina Ford.

no read 'the best friends guide to pregnancy' instead

No Baby Whisperer is good

Dont want to start a scuffle - really just want to know if its 'all or nothing' really. Know that its all about routines and not that good on them myself...

I found that a lot of what she says makes sense, but putting it into practice is another matter. It's also mainly aimed at breast feeding mothers which didn't apply to me. One thing I have done is start the day at 7:00, as she does. It helps all the feeds and naps fall into place more quickly. I think people make her out to be far worse than she is and it's now become highly 'unfashionable' to even admit to agreeing with anything she says!

found it v scary pre-birth and a god-send afterwards (didn't think i was a routine person either but it was the only way i found to stay sane, enjoy ds and have good breaks in the day, as well of course as sleep!
as others have said though, some people hate it, so why not read several different approaches then you can choose what suits you best after yr babe is born?

Apologies for hijacking your thread Boompi, but does anyone know if its worth the £40 to subscribe to the Gina Ford website? Sounds like a rip off, but at the same time I am desperate for advice on how to get my 8 week old dd to nap during the day!

Boompi - I'm currently following the Baby Whisperer's EASY. It provides a good structure so that you know what you're supposed to be doing and when, without being really anally prescriptive. I've also read GF, and found that it sounded too regimented and didn't allow for the variances and flexibility that you need from one baby to another. Having said that though I haven't actually followed it.

The only problem with EASY is that my dd is so hyper alert that she's incredibly hard to get to sleep when she's supposed to be having a nap. It's obvious that she's overtired but the BW tips on getting her to sleep haven't worked for me yet. On the feeding aspect though, it's been great.

Read lots of reviews. My answer is GOD NO ! Take a bodyswerve !

I've read GF's CLBB. It wasn't for us but I thought some bits made sense.

A good read is "When your baby cries" by Deborah Jackson (free with this month's Practical Parenting mag) and "Letting go as children grow" by the same author. Nice and relaxed and very easy reads.

hiya. i have a dd who is now 10 weeks and i found i am struggling to get her in a g. f routine. so i have just ordered baby whisperer and other baby care books, personally my advice would be beg, borrow or steal as many books as you can and read them in the last few weeks when your too big to wnat to do anything else, Then once you have your baby and it has settled into some sort of natural routine as they all seem to do you can pick and chooses hwta you want from them all. i think there are some good things in all the books and some things that you wouldnt dream of doing or wouldnt work, good luck with forthcoming arrival. x

My boss' wife sent me the Gina Ford book as she swears by it and said she couldn't have coped without it. However, when I read it, I found it far too rigid.

I find that my dd is not tired when Gina says to put them down for a nap and she won't sleep. I start the day at 7am as Gina says but by 8am she's tired again and is asleep by 8.30. Then she'll sleep for 1 and a half to 2 hours whereas Gina says to put her down for a sleep at 9am and wake her up after 45 minutes. I find this difficult because she's still tired and needs constant attention. Then she gets really irritable.

I agree that it can only work for some babies. I'm thinking of getting the Baby Whisperer.

I'm so not a GF person, we don't have two 7 o'clocks in this house! If you're going to be loaned it then why not, you don't have to take any notice of it if you don't think it's going to suit you. From what I've gathered from mn some people find it fantastic and follow it to the letter, some dip in and out of bits of it, and others would set fire to it. Horses for courses!

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i've read both b.w and g.f. i mix both and follow ds more. like others though i start day at 7am.

Boompi -do look at the archives to see the very heated debates we have got into in the past over this.
IMHO (as a 2 times Gf'er whose babies were both excellent sleepers) the best way to approach CLBB is as a tool to help you and your baby, rather than as a test for you and your baby to pass. Some people can get more stressed by their use of the book, because they feel they have failed if their child does not comply, but as long as you don't take it too literally, there is some really excellent advice - and you might (like me) have the sort of child who just takes to the routimes perfectly and makes early babyhood a doddle (well, as much of a doddle as such an overwhelming experience can be)

Boompi - I read it and thought it sounded like an army lifestyle "baby must be up, nappy changed and feeding no later than 7am. At 8.05 eat banana and express 1oz of milk from left breast, at 8.09 express 1oz milk rightt breast" etc. etc.

BUT - I will admit than as my DS didn't get on with breastfeeding at all, the routine for a bottle fed baby from 3 months did begin to work for me. I was desperate for sleep and had no idea what time he should be napping or going to bed at night and I realised we had been keeping him up far too long (he's my first). We started at about 11 weeks, although it really does take perseverance and I nearly jacked it in on several occasions. After about a month however, it began to work. He now naps pretty well, and we start and end the day at 7 (or try to anyway!).

Fit things like bath and play in where it suits you, rather than the generic baby of Gina Ford world, and you may find it very helpful. Also, if he's clearly grumpy at 8.30am instead of 9am, I say put him down for his nap anyway - use the routine as an 'ideal' day, but be guided by your own baby.

I'm by no means an expert (I've been asking for help on feeding issues on another thread) but I am certain that GF's ideas helped him sleep through the night. As long as my baby is dreamfed at about 10 / 10.30pm he has been sleeping through the night pretty regularly for some weeks now (he's just over 4 months). Mind you, I don't know if this would be the case for a breastfed baby, and I can't begin to imagine having the strength to start a routine from the moment they're born!

On a slightly different note, Baby Bliss by Dr Harvey Karp is an interesting read as far as theories on colic go, and may well be worth a go if your newborn cries a lot. It's just got calming techniques including swaddling, swinging etc. He calls it the 'cuddle cure' which is a bit lame, but it's worth having in mind.

Best of luck with your new arrival - enjoy him or her!

Thought I would add my few thoughts!
As a 35 year women with zero experience with babies (career girl) loved the Baby Whisperer gave me structure without being to strict!

have just finished 'when your baby cries'. v good. my ds has been v upset for about 1 and half weeks and i had no idea what to do. this has really helped. imo it states what you knew in your heart before you read all the baby training books.

I think you should read it otherwise how will you know whether it's for you or not? Like many others I didn't follow the routine to the second but I found the basic principles really helpful. Some people like to let the baby dictate when things happen, others like to have some kind of a routine. I'm definately a flexible routine kind of girl! But I can't see why you should be scared to read it. And jambot's comment about it being aimed at bf mums made me smile as last week one of the most strident anti gf posters was complaining that it was aimed at bottle feeding mums only!!

I reckon read it, at least then you can make your own mind up. It works a treat for some people. I read all the books going and am a babywhisperer fan in the end. Found a very loose routing worked best for us.

Read it and take whatever information you like out of it - I agree it felt a bit like an army routine but her staggered feeding over bathtime really worked for my dd. We also dream fed which worked a dream. We liked the baby whisperer as a having never really been around babies it really spelt things out easily.
I agree with the others who have said read everything you can get your hands on. When the baby is born, try the methods you think most suit you, then if for some reason they don't work you have tons of knowlege already to try something else without having to sit down to try to read a book when/if you are tired, cranky or emotional.
Somebody once said to me that she wished she had read more books before she had her baby as they are so different obviously they all can't be 'all' right but that some things suit different mothers and different babies and you have an arsenal of methods at your disposal then to find what works for you.

Bear in mind that your opinions may change once you have the baby. I would never in a million years have considered being ruled by a routine - I thought I inclined much more towards attachment parenting. I read GF's CLBB when ds was 3-4m and found it very useful indeed. Like others have said, just take the bits that work for you. What some people call didactic and regimented, I consider to be a clear breakdown of jobs to be done - certainly helpful when you're sleep-deprived, hormonally-muddled and so utterly shell-shocked you can't think for your self at all. OTOH, GF didn't work out well with dd because she had to fit around ds's established needs, so I ended up doing more of the attachment parenting style. I got her into a routine eventually, because I had found from experience that routines work well for me with children, whatever I was like before children. I read Three In A Bed when dd was about 2yo, and I'm very glad that I didn't read it earlier, because, in that sleepless/hormonal/etc state it would have caused me terrible fear and guilt if I didn't do exactly what the writer suggests - unlike GF.