Mum Needs Help: Trying to establish a routine following Gina Ford’s ‘the contented littled baby’ book – baby 25 day old and it’s 2nd day on routine – every morning & afternoon nap time (only 1hr) he will cry 30min+, what shall I do? Be strict, leave him in the dark to cry to exhaustion and sleep? worry about him taking air and becomes colicky
Sherynn Ooi: Every baby is different. Don’t think u shld stick to the rules. U hv to make adjustment n create yr own routine rather than jz follow the book
Satwant Kaur Khaira: try baby whisperer book by tracy hogg. used this has a guideline to help create a routinr for my little one. you can also check out www.babywhisperer.com/babywhisperer.html Every baby is different so you will need to try different methods to see which fits.
LynLin Beh: I know this Gina ford book. Wanted to follow but how to let newborn drink strictly every 4 hrs?! If baby WANTS to drink means he/she wants to. So sometimes follow book is not so easy, depends on individual bb. And mayb u shd give a pacifier? Since ur bb keep crying n can’t slp ?
Sia Yifen: Hi, I am a die hard fan of Gina ford so I can understand how you feel exactly. Don’t just read the routine, you must understand the rational behind what and why she did it. Different babies are different, but all babies’ needs boils down to just getting enough sleep and feeding enough and they will be contented babies. My 2 kids are on her routine from the very beginning and I swear by it that it really works wonders and miracles. And for new borns, she did not state to feed strictly on a 4 hours routine if you read clearly. She is actually very against 4 hourly feeding. Her feeds and sleep time are spaced out very well if you read thoroughly. All the best to you!
Donnie Tian Shek Lee: I don’t know about Gina Ford but from what have been mentioned here, it reminds of me the Babywise method. You might want to read up more here www.ezzo.info/
Pearline Foo: Wow, I am against putting babies so young on a routine. I haven’t read the Gina Ford book so I cannot comment on that, but am totally against any form of routine or controlled crying. Babies have small stomachs and different babies have different sized stomachs and different growth spurts. Imagine we are told we can eat only at specific times, and too bad if we’re hungry even though before that we have done a lot of menial work. Every person is different and have different metabolic rates so we can’t expect everyone to eat at equal intervals. It would have been very miserable for us, isn’t it? Besides, putting baby on a schedule or routine can be dangerous. It reminds me of the BabyWise method. Some babies being put on such dangerous routines have suffered irreparable damage including death. See www.facebook.com/pages/Parents-Against-Babywise/129786900371936?ref=ts
If you are really unsure, please do trust yourself and your instincts.
Faeza Abdurazak Khambaty: Why do you do that to your baby?? You need a heart of stone to do that!! Just breastfeed him to sleep!!
Pearline Foo: I read this article right after leaving a comment, but think it is a wonderful article to share. Now I am not a Christian at all, but think that this makes complete sense. To the Mommy out there who asked the question, if you have a couple of minutes please trust me and give this a read. www.drmomma.org/2009/12/train-up-child-in-way-he-should-go.html
Pamela Gordon: ditto tracy hoggs. Find that it’s more realistic and manageable as compared to gina ford. Anyway, your baby is too young to be on a routine.
Lk Fft: I luv Gina Ford’s routine but only started to follow her book when my son turned 3 mths old. It really worked for me! I think the baby is too young to follow 100% of her routine and moreover it is only the 2nd day. So the parents need to give some time for the baby to adjust to the routine. If it can’t work, then stop for a while and start again when baby turns 2 months old. But make sure the feeding routine is strictly followed before the sleeping routine.
Di Bustamante: Try Dunstan Baby Language and meet your baby’s needs instead.
Frida Jonatan: every baby is different, please don’t do that to your baby … if he’s hungry then fed him, if he’s sleepy then put him to bed … what you have to do is follow your baby cue, not some routines .. read ‘BABY BOOK’ by dr. sears .. its really a good one. www.askdrsears.com/
Sherynn Ooi: I can’t even bear to let mine cry for 3mins!
Rachel Goh: I think each baby will find their own routine after a while. No point trying to force a routine on them. I learnt it the hard way when my hubby insisted on the babywise parent led routine when our baby was born. It is frustrating for BOTH me and my son.
Shirin Beve Pillai: 25 days??? That’s way too young in my opinion. Anyway, I am definitely not a supporter of Gina Ford. Routine is good, but pls wait till baby is ready. There are so many books out there & so many methods, find one that u believe in. If this one does not feel right to u, then listen to your heart.
Donnie Tian Shek Lee: Btw, not too sure if you know that Gina Ford does not have a child of her own.
Sia Yifen: Hi parents, I think after reading so many negative comments about routines and gina ford, I feel that i need to say somethings to justify for them… Bear with me a while… =)Babies like us adults, need a routine… all human beings basically live by a routine each day… Infants are at a lost when they are born… they dont know what is day and night, they dont know when to sleep, eat or play… They need us to guide them so that they wont be lost and we wont go insane… This is especially the case for mummies who want to go do full breast feeding… it can be easier for formula fed babies, cos you can usually get away with a bottle of milk.. but for breast fed babies, if they dont latch properly, they will usually be stuck to your breast for 24 hours and then eventually the mummy will give up breast feeding cos the baby will keep crying and the natural reaction to respond to babies’ cries is to assume that they are hungry… and you can be wrong… maybe the baby is over tired, maybe the baby is really hungry, you wont know, because you wont understand your baby when you dont put him or her in a certain routine… many ppl will say, dont need to train the baby lah, eventually the baby will know what he wants… hungry he will cry, when he wants to sleep, he will rub his eyes then you will know… but you may be wrong… only through reading then you will know that babies may not rub their eyes when they want to sleep… only when they are over tired then they will rub their eyes, but by that time, it is too late… your baby may be over tired and become impossible to soothe… Sorry for the long post, so to cut the thing short… if you read gina ford well, you will know that she is not cruel as you think she is… she guides you to read the signs that your baby is really hungry or not and if the baby is really hungry, not to wait for the next feed but to give a spilt feed so that they baby understands when is the right time for feeding… she also does not recommend parents to let your baby cry it out for 30 minutes or 1 hr as it will affect them emotionally and psychologically… she gives a clear guideline to guide you to teach your baby to self-soothe to sleep… Gina ford helped me to fully breast feed my 2 kids for 2 years and allowed me to look at bringing my kids up a different way from the traditional way taught by our parents… Dont mean to offend anyone here but just wanted to share my own experience and hope that ppl out there can benefit from my experience… =)
For more replies or if you have a burning question you’d like to ask, become a fan on our Facebook fan page and post up your question here!
Become a Registered Member. It’s Free
You can get more helpful information when you’re a registered member of theAsianparent! In addition to our awesome Singapore parenting related articles, you will also receive our weekly newsletters delivered to your in-box. Be the first to hear about new free offers and member-only specials!