The big sleep issue

Structure and routine is a very good thing, according to Gina Ford, author and maternity nurse, who has really rocked the cradle with the publication of her ‘The Contented Little Baby Book’ (Vermilion £7.99). ‘All children love routine,’ she claims, advocating an exacting schedule for babies as young as two weeks, which includes six feeds, three naps and bed by seven. Those who champion demand feeding are not pleased; thus the battle of opinions most publicly aired in a fierce Radio Four debate between Gina Ford and Dr Miriam Stoppard on the ‘Today’ programme.

Gina is not at all in favour of baby in the bed, and believes that it’s fine for a healthy, well-fed, winded and clean baby to cry itself to sleep for short periods. ‘I used the ‘crying down’ method, which you start in the first few weeks,’ she explains. ‘You leave your baby in his cot for five to ten minutes and teach him to settle himself.’

The new wave of sleep philosophy

Gina’s book has been the focus of the controversy, particularly because she suggests starting a routine at such a young age, but what she is advocating is in fact not original, and the basis of her approach is the one adopted by the new wave of experts in sleep clinics across the country.

Most of these use the ‘controlled crying’ technique advocated by the Director of the Center for Paediatric Sleep Disorders in Boston, Dr Richard Ferber. Research into sleep has shown that adults and babies alike have three different phases of sleep: arousal sleep, dream sleep and deep sleep. Approximately every 90 minutes, we wake up. We’re not aware that we do because we usually feel so safe and relaxed we immediately nod off again. But if your baby has been allowed to fall asleep in your arms and then transferred to a cot, when they wake they are startled by their new surroundings and cry in panic. The solution? Put your baby into the cot while he or she is still awake so that they recognise where they are when they have these wakeful moments. This means establishing a number of sleep ‘cues’ so that the baby is able to settle itself to sleep.