Gina Ford Routines
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Topic: Gina Ford Routines
Posted By: FionaO
Subject: Gina Ford Routines
Date Posted: 19 October 2008 at 12:57pm
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Hi, I have had these routines recommended to me and got the book. Just interested to hear if anyone else has tried it and does it work for you. The only part that confuses me is it seems to work on a 3 hourly routine between 7 am and 7pm but then in the night you let them sleep as long as they can???? Any input on this would be great!! ------------- 
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Replies:
Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 19 October 2008 at 1:05pm
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I didn't follow the Gina Ford routine as strictly as in the book, but I did do the 3-hourly day feeds and then left them as long as they wanted to at night,the theory is that if you top them up regularly during the day and get them into a good, settled routine it will be enough to sustain them thru the night.
Worked brilliantly with Maya and Chiara, not at all with the gremlins who woke 2-3 hourly for the first 4 months no matter what I did. -------------  Maya Grace (28/02/03)
 (02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: Bizzy
Date Posted: 19 October 2008 at 1:10pm
i did this too with toby and eden... cause otherwise they would have slept all day and been up all night. ------------- http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker"> 
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Maya wrote:Posted By: pikelets
Date Posted: 19 October 2008 at 1:21pm
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I have not heard of the Gina Ford routine however it looks like that is what we did.
My MW advised to feed 3 hrly from 2 weeks as DS had his days and nights mixed up. We fed 3 hrly day and night until he eventually lengthened his asleep periods thru the night himself. He has slept through the night ie 11 hrs from 8 weeks old and continues to do so. ( The last couple of weeks he has woken up once a night but he is teething.) Routines have worked well for us. ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
3 Angels - Dec10 / Mar11 / Dec11
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Posted By: catisla
Date Posted: 19 October 2008 at 1:24pm
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i got this book out of the library yesterday and am going to attempt to begin it tomorrow . . .
I am going to put the whole thing back by an hour though as this will fit in much better with giving DH some time with baby (so we get her up at 8am and not 7 am) will let you know how i get on Fi but my hopes aren't high! She slept badly last night and this morning we saw she had an eye-lash in her eye which probably caused that - she is now over tired and still not sleeping  ------------- |
Posted By: FionaO
Date Posted: 19 October 2008 at 2:26pm
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thanks ladies, the book does seem super strict and i don't want to become obsessed by the clock. Do you count the 3 hours from start of feed to start of feed? Sue very interested to see how you get on - we can discuss over some tea later in the week perhaps? Finley seems to be waking every 3 hours for food anyway which is good and this is day and night, so i think i should be grateful. -------------
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Posted By: catisla
Date Posted: 19 October 2008 at 2:40pm
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Ha! I don't think Gina Ford lets you go out for tea in the first two months! (but i won't tell her if you don't . . .) ------------- |
Posted By: FionaO
Date Posted: 19 October 2008 at 2:43pm
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ha ha, no probably not!! It'll be our secret -------------
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Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 19 October 2008 at 2:49pm
Yep three hours from start of feed til start of feed  ------------- Maya Grace (28/02/03)
(02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: KiwiL
Date Posted: 19 October 2008 at 2:52pm
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Fiona, Jackson has been on this "routine" since he was a week old, and it is working really well.
It's a little more complex than just a three hour timetable, as there are some shorter and longer times in there, which is designed to wear baby out so they sleep better. We have just taken the basics and run with those. And we are flexible - last night we wanted to go out to a friends and knew the routine may be effected, so we just started fresh today. A lot of the strictness is purely up to the parent. So, we are pretty relaxed, but it also allows us to plan things as we know things will be pretty stable. It's working well so far - particularly at night. We bath Jackson each night, at about 6pm and he is always asleep in bed (his own bed too) by 7pm. He then self wakes at 10pm ish (earliest has been about 9:30pm), has a feed and then goes back down by 11:00pm (11:30pm latest). His night feed varies, but he only wakes up once in the night for a quiet feed, lasting about 40 minutes, and then is back up again about 6:30am - 7:00am. We've had very few nights where this hasn't worked so I am quite pleased with how it is working out. The three hours is supposed to be from start of feed to start of feed, but as I said there are some longer gaps. One example is the 7pm sleep, and then he also goes to sleep at 11:30am after a small top up feed and gets back up at 2pm. If you can be pretty relaxed and not get caught up in the days it's not going to work out, then this works really well. I am a strong advocate of the book. Am happy to discuss when we see each other next. Congratulations by the way - can't wait to meet Finley!! |
Posted By: KiwiL
Date Posted: 19 October 2008 at 2:54pm
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PM me your email address and I will email you the "summary" of the routine we did. Makes it easier than referring to the book all the time.
Oh, and my MW said that NZ babies seem to sleep a little better than UK counterparts (she gave several reasons), so don't be concerned if they sleep a bit more than the book suggests. Just put them down when they are tired and get them up as next planned. We have also stayed on the 1 - 2 week routine for the first month, as Jackson is still sleeping quite a lot. |
Posted By: kakapo
Date Posted: 19 October 2008 at 3:44pm
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Wish I'd started implementing a routine sooner (didn't try until DS was 3 months old) |
Posted By: LittleBug
Date Posted: 19 October 2008 at 4:47pm
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We did the routines, but not so strict. For one thing, Chloe needed WAY more sleep than was suggested in the book. But we did the 7am to 7pm thing, and three hourly feeds during the day, and just letting her wake when she wants at night. ------------- Chloe (4 years) and Oliver (3 years). |
Posted By: FionaO
Date Posted: 19 October 2008 at 7:00pm
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thanks for all the comments ladies, in my emotional state i got all teary at the support and help this website has given me since i joined, its such a great place. well he has just gone down again now after feeding at 3 hour periods throughout the day, he woke at 3 hour periods for a couple and i woke him at one so kept it going.
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Posted By: catisla
Date Posted: 19 October 2008 at 7:19pm
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Laurie - please can you e-mail me that summary too? i have PM'd you my e-mail addy
glad it is working for you - our girl is sleeping now and has been for about an hour but i dont want to wake her for a bath just yet as it is the first sleep she's had all day really 
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Posted By: katie1
Date Posted: 19 October 2008 at 8:25pm
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I did it and think they are great as long as you don't let yourself get stressed if things aren't working (I think sometimes I did!) It is great as a guide and I think it helped with getting O to sleep through the night. Like some of the others he needed a bit more sleep during the day than she says to do.
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Posted By: jaycee
Date Posted: 19 October 2008 at 9:05pm
Both my girls are routine babies and love it (so do I  ) A really important thing to remember is that it doesn't always go to plan!! If the day goes to custard by 9am DON'T PANIC! Just keep going as best you can and then start fresh again tomorrow morning! Also tweek the routine to suit yourself and your wee boy.
As some of the others have said - Kiwi kids seem to sleep a bit more than GF suggests. Sophie is still on 3 naps a day although she is slowly starting to drop her 4.30 to 5pm nap - it is quite a tricky transiton .
Good luck - if it suits your personality type then it should be good. I really needed some guidance and structure but that is me  .-------------   
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Posted By: M.i.s.s.y
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 9:59am
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we started using Ginas routine from day 1 & it has been gr8. Jade is already sleeping through the nite. & is such a contented baby.
we have changed some of the times to suit both us & Jade but genrally its well laid out. -------------    
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Posted By: emmakate
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 1:26pm
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both my girls followed the gina ford routine book...like a lot of the other ladies above i adjusted it to fit our lifestyle. both girls slept through the night from 9 weeks ( 7pm-6-7am) not too sure if it was just the way they are or if the routine helped though! i have both of them down at 12-30pm every day for a nap ....it helps my sanity!
it doesn't always work out, and they still wake in the night the odd time and am finding it hard to stick to it as my 12 week old falls asleep the minute we are in the car to take my 19 month old to kindy... but you still have to live!! ------------- http://lilypie.com">  
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Posted By: emz
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 1:42pm
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I follow it but not strictly, I think you can get way too caught up in sticking to the routine. A friend of mine follows it religiously and won't feed her baby unless its at a 'Gina' time, I feed Jack if he's hungry. Also it says that the first block in the morning should be 7-9am awake, there's not many babies that can do that.
I also highly recommend not doing anything that is going to be annoying if you're out. Like if your baby begins to rely on being bathed to go to sleep etc and then one night you're out, you may be completely screwed. Do what feels right but take guidance. Nothing is meant to take over from a mother's intuition, but like I said one of my friends basically consults the book for everything and doesn't think about the child. Good luck, I really enjoy Jack being in a routine, works well for both of us! |
Posted By: catisla
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 8:38pm
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well the day went really well, but there is no way Catriona is going to sleep in her bed at 7pm (despite only having the 4 1/2 hours nap time recommended in the day). She is too used to being up with us in the evening and comfort feeding most of the night (she has a dummy in bed but keeps spitting it out). She fully emptied my breasts at the 6-7pm feed so i don't think she can be hungry??
Any advice on how to get her to sleep in the early evening, or is it just a matter of perseverance? ------------- |
Posted By: kakapo
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 8:55pm
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Hi Susiec It takes quite a long time to get a baby used to a new routine and you may just have to adjust things slowly over time. Like put her down 10 minutes earlier each night, until she's going to sleep at the time you want her to. The evening is commonly an unsettled time for young babies - they may be a bit overtired from the day's activities and your milk not might be as satisfying for her at that time of day either (cause you're probably tired too!). Some babies need more sleep during the day in order to sleep well at night - our son often had a total of 18 hours sleep during a 24 hour period when he was her age. Whereas others need much less. Did she seem grumpy during her awake time today? Don't be afraid to experiment with the routine a bit - if you do have to keep waking her up to stick to the routine and she always seems grumpy I'd probably just leave her to sleep for longer. But no more than 3 hours at a time during a day, as that's when their days and nights start to get mixed up. Good luck! |
Posted By: tropics
Date Posted: 20 October 2008 at 9:09pm
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I have the book but have never followed it then today I wrote down what bubs was doing as hes been all over the show lately and it was pretty much what the 3-4month routine was- not the exact times but length of naps and up times - weird! ------------- http://lilypie.com">    [/url]
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Posted By: katie1
Date Posted: 21 October 2008 at 10:13am
| Susie that seven o'clock sleep was always the hardest for me as it was his unsettled time. To be honest that time never worked properly for us until he was about 13 or 14 weeks. I used to just get him up and feed him again as I think my milk supply wasn't as good at that time. That often helped. |
Posted By: blondy
Date Posted: 21 October 2008 at 10:27am
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re: the early evening sleeping - it has only been in the last couple of weeks that Natalie has started going to bed at 7-8pm - before that we couldn't get her to sleep until 10/11pm. I think when they are so young, they just need to comfort feed/tank-up for the night. -------------  
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Posted By: catisla
Date Posted: 21 October 2008 at 2:24pm
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thanks for the advice and support!
Well i ended up having a stressy and teary moment at 9.30 last night so DH made me go to bed and i slept till one am when i woke up and found DH and Catriona asleep on the sofa so I made them come to bed and she didn't wake up till 4.30 am and then went straight back down. This morning all three of us slept in till 10.30am
i have decided to not do the routine just yet but go with the flow as i was getting myself and her worked up and i was far happier before i started reading all the "help" books! ps. Fiona - sorry for hijacking your thread! ------------- |
Posted By: blondy
Date Posted: 21 October 2008 at 2:48pm
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one piece of advice I was offered: sleep begets sleep! i.e. the more they sleep the more they want to sleep. I don't know much about the gina ford routine, but 4 x 30min naps during the day would just result in a grumpy overtired baby in our house!
I have also banned myself from reading baby books! I think take some guidance from them, but go with your instincts....sorry for the thread-jacking also! -------------
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Posted By: FionaO
Date Posted: 21 October 2008 at 6:13pm
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hijack away!! Susie sorry to hear it all went a bit nuts, but sounds like you got some sleep afterwards and yay for dh. DS has been good today following the 3 hour thing, but i cannot get him to have a nap early evening which means he does not go to bed at 7 either, however i can seem to get him down around 8ish, which is fine by me so won't stress (too much) -------------
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Posted By: Maya
Date Posted: 21 October 2008 at 7:19pm
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Fifi my Maya was like that, she would not sleep at all between 4pm and 7pm no matter what I tried, she'd occasionally have a quick catnap on me or in the bouncinette but other than that she demanded to be awake even tho by 7pm she was shattered. By about 6 weeks tho she was better able to cope with being awake that long and it was a lot easier. In the meantime I just coped by lugging her round the house with me in the front pack. ------------- Maya Grace (28/02/03)
(02/01/06)
The Gremlins:Sienna Marie & Mercedes Kailah (14/10/06)
Lil miss:Chiara Louise Chloe (09/07/08)
Her ladyship:Rosalia Sophie Anais (18/06/12)
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Posted By: mummytobesep08
Date Posted: 21 October 2008 at 8:30pm
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seems like a lot of babies want to sleep more than the routine said, but what if the baby seems to need LESS? Charli-Rose never wants to sleep during the day and only will if we go on a (long) car ride...which was fine for the first 3 weeks but now DH is back at work and theres no car! Im so guttered cuz I really needed that afternoon nap myself lol ------------- http://lilypie.com"> 
http://lilypie.com"> 
Angel babes '07 & '10- <3 <3 |