Many babies mix up their days and nights until about 3 to 4 months, sleeping long stretches during the day only to perk up once the sun goes down. Helping your baby learn to tell day from night is a key first step to getting into a workable routine. Learn to read your baby's cues BabyCenter's editorial team is committed to providing the most helpful and trustworthy pregnancy and parenting information in the world. When creating and updating content, we rely on credible sources: respected health organizations, professional groups of doctors and other experts, and published studies in peer-reviewed journals. We believe you should always know the source of the information you're seeing. Learn more about our editorial and medical review policies. I agree, Gina Ford only tells you to let a baby cry when they are overtired and wont settle to sleep which is why I think you should try it just once. It's a last resort (which it seems as though you have tried everything else) and the baby shouldn't be left for longer than 10 minutes. Only do this if you are sure that your baby isn't hungry, thirsty, cold, hot, in need of a nappy change etc. The idea is that your baby should be able to sleep through the night by eight to 10 weeks. Plus, this method allows you to plan your day around your baby’s feeds and naps, giving you time to do whatever you need to or catch up on sleep. It's worth noting however that the NHS recommends starting a routine after three months. It seems that the benefits brought about by these books could be somewhat akin to a placebo - if reading this book gives you confidence or reassures you then it can't do any harm. I think that this approach probably isn't for me - if I had a better memory and could internalize the "golden rules" then perhaps I think there may be some sense in there. As it is, I expect the book would cause more stress in trying to remember things than any possible benefit. I'll probably read the excruciatingly titled "Baby Whisperer" next.

Anyway, i wholeheartedly agree with Lauz125 about the crying thing. I actually did do controlled crying for both my boys. (so shoot me!) Both were exactly the same. 10 minutes crying and 10 minutes making some kind of softer noise for the 1st night, 10 minutes crying the 2nd night, 5 minutes the 3rd and not at all from that night onwards. They are 7 and 3 now and not "harmed" in any way! Just happy boys and fantastic sleepers who get into bed at 7pm, go straight to sleep with no fuss and get up at 7am. If you read it properly at no time does she advocate leaving babies to cry or ignoring them as some seem to think! Keep in mind that the routines are strict. You’ll also need your partner on board with the idea – it’s a lot for one person to manage and you will need a break from time to time. Why is Gina Ford controversial? Just be persistant, even if it means letting baby cry it out a while....they'll soon cry themselves to sleep...that's something i was quite strict about for my own sanity lol but you should deffo invest in a distraction in the cot. We have a sheep toy that attaches to the side of the cot has 3 diff settings, but sleep mode goes on for 15mins and glows and has soothing sea noises etc....really works!!!People may think it's cruel, but it will help you and your baby to get some well deserved sleep and he will be happier once he wakes up. After all, he is probably just as exhausted as you if he can't sleep for loinger than 45 minutes. Have you tried the baby whisperer? Still routine, but far more flexible, and with some sensible suggestions about getting a baby to sleep other than Gina's fantastically optimistic, 'swaddle baby in the dark and close the door' (or words to that effect). Lovely, but what if he screams?

I'm glad that we do follow a routine; helped with my sanity and my daughters. Ford believes you should follow the controlled crying method, I wasn't really into that too much. I use to let my But by the time our second child, Olivia, arrived, we were seasoned parents; we didn't need the instruction manual. We were cooler than that. Olivia turned out to be the world's first entirely nocturnal baby. In 2004, the BBC commissioned a series from Outline Productions called Gina Ford's Baby School, using Big Brother-style methods to oversee the progress of newborn babies. In January 2005, Ford had a meeting with BBC and Outline Productions, and refused to agree to certain reality-style aspects of the format. With only a few weeks before filming, Ford pulled out and was replaced by Dr Tanya Byron. [6] Once you establish a pattern for your baby's sleeping, awake, and feeding times, changing things for an afternoon isn't likely to undo their habits. But it's best to keep your baby's schedule as consistent as possible while they're getting used to it. Expect changes during growth spurts and milestones

Retailers:

i couldn't get either of my 2 to follow gina or baby whisperer routines cause one never slept longer than 30mins during the day on his own and both breastfed on demand, and the whole thing totally stressed me out! they both kind of got into their own routine after a few weeks and i was much more relaxed feeding on demand and letting them sleep as and when they wanted but i know the feeling of desperately wanting a routine and i have tried a few times but it's not for me. anyway...

How to "cry it out" once your child is developmentally ready. Definitely read the book instead of just googling how to do it. Interesting to read the psychology of what to do and why. Neither of us would dream of criticising those who use Gina's methods and find they work. Far from it. Well done them and we hope they enjoy their uninterrupted sleep and can work within their routines. Five Life commissioned a programme called Gina Ford: Who Are You To Tell Us?, which aired on 4 March 2007. [7] Mumsnet libel [ edit ] Your child accomplishes so much in the first year. They'll nearly triple their weight and achieve some major feats like sitting up, crawling, and perhaps even walking. Gina Ford's bestselling The Contented Little Baby Book established Gina as one of the UK's most influential voices in baby and childcare issues. Her groundbreaking routines have been the salvation of hundreds of thousands of parents and her sound advice on weaning and sleep has guaranteed contented little babies in households around the world.

Most popular articles to read next

Wondering how other parents set up their baby's schedule, and what pediatricians recommend? See sample schedules and expert advice for babies of all ages: But, as the critics cry, having had no babies of her own, how can she really know what it is like to have a baby cry it out? I was determined to do it right, and I remember feeling so frustrated when Barnaby didn’t quite fit into her daily plan. Contented Little Baby is now a lifestyle choice for millions of people around the world. But part of this success is down to the fact that Gina still makes a point of talking directly to many mothers every week.

Well, I think that The Contented Little Baby Book is really like a best practice manual, written by someone who has done the job of caring for many, many babies – and she is telling you what generally works. Having noted that I was reading the book, my respected friends-with-kids were unanimous in their hatred of the "Queen of routine". I didn't get such a strong reaction myself, but I expect I'm more likely to once the kid arrives - though I will say Ford has an unfortunate tendency towards smugness which is not going to help in winning over her critics. Our Baby is nearly 4 months. I brought one of the Gina Ford books, worst tenner I spent lol. No i dont really mean that, her stuff on development is good. Our little one has a Eat Play Sleep routine, but with no times it in. When he is tiered I put him to bed and when he is hungry I feed him. He sleeps from 8pm till 6 or 7 and has done for a month now.

How to manage it

When people ask me how I have had six boys and not be crippled by the sheer exhaustion of it all, I say I’m not tired, because they sleep. I knew when to leave them, when to go to them and when to know that today, it wasn’t going to go according to plan. Gina Ford (born c. 1960) is a British author of childcare books in the United Kingdom and a former maternity nurse who has cared for over 300 babies during her career. [1] Ford's 1999 book The Contented Little Baby Book advocates a daily routine for both the baby and the parents, with the day divided up into very precise slots. In my opinion, it sounds to me as though your baby is overtired, which probably makes it difficult for him to settle (he fights sleep all the time) and is very grumpy when he wakes. It sounds horrible and is a very last resort, but if you know your baby isn't hungry, has wind, needs a nappy change, needs water due to thirst etc, then you have got to let him cry for 5 minutes, 10 at the very most. It's horrible to listen to and I felt so guilty but it was the only way he would wear himself out and fall to sleep immediately after, making him happier once he has woken because he's had a full sleep. Even the dummy didn't work at this point. After I did this, he soon got into a routine of sleeping more. Once you have ruled out genuine hunger as a cause, and are ensuring that your baby is well fed, I would advise that you try a solution that I call the ‘assisting to sleep method’. The aim of this method is to get your baby used to sleeping at regular times during naps and in the evening, which will help him to sleep through the night as soon as he is physically able. After genuine hunger and the wrong sleep associations, I find that too much daytime sleep is the most common reason why a baby does not settle in the evening, or wakes frequently during the night. When this happens a vicious circle soon emerges where the baby needs to sleep more during the day because they are not sleeping well at night.