Keep your family safe from germs and bacteria
Gina Ford - bossyboots or best friend?
Tollysmum: I bought a pristine copy of Gina Ford in the Oxfam shop – someone didn't like it! I followed the instructions about putting the baby down to sleep at set times. This really seemed to work, and it reassured me about the amount of sleep a baby needs in the daytime.
I soon went back to my old-fashioned habit of putting the baby to sleep in a pram in the garden – where it is bright and the birds sing. I think she is wrong to say babies need to sleep in quiet dark rooms, but right that they should be put down properly and not just allowed to doze slumped in a car seat or bouncy chair.
Her breastfeeding advice is not so good, but there were one or two good tips – like the number of feeds a baby needs day and night. I dropped waking the baby at bedtime for a feed at six months on her advice, and he slept through after that. The weaning ideas were fine, and I followed a few of those. I also believe in having the baby to sleep in your room for the first year at least – which Gina Ford disapproves of – this is advice from the SIDS charity as well.
My advice is, 'Don't let Gina Ford take over – but there is nothing wrong with a routine for sleeps and, as the baby gets older, for feeds and meals.'
Tracylou2001: I found the book useful as long as you don't take it too seriously. If you followed it rigidly you would have no flexibility in your day to go out or go away with your baby.
However I did find the sections relating to getting in a routine to go to sleep and have regular naps did help us get Elliot to sleep in his cot instead of falling asleep on me all the time. The weaning section was also useful to get an idea before you actually start the weaning process.
On the next page: 'I was aghast at some of the routines that Ford was advocating.'
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