Posted by
mayafox
19 yrs ago
Bubs is just coming up to four months and has really taken to the Gina Ford schedule so far. He is exclusively breastfed and eating well (usually 25 mins on one breast and then 15 mins on the second); He is also sleeping well (goes down at 7pm, waking at 10:30pm for a dreamfeed then not a peep until 7am). I'm really happy with how his routine is going and have become quite a Gina groupie.
The only problem is that Gina begins to introduce solids as early as the 4th month and I am not sure that we need to start solids just yet. My reasons are: 1) Bubs is still gaining weight beautifully; and 2) He does not seem to be asking for solids from a developmental point of view.
For the moms out there who work with the Gina Ford Schedule -- did you introduce solids at 4 months? If so, what are the pros and cons of beginning so early? And if not, did the schedule still work if you continue to breastfeed exclusively?
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crj
19 yrs ago
The current medical thinking is to wait until 6 months unless your midwife or doctor advises otherwise (because baby is not thriving and not gaining enough weight)
Gina Ford is good, but you need to be flexible to make it work for you - not every baby/parent is the same.
Go with YOUR instint, not what the book says.
Good luck.
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@@
19 yrs ago
When I had my son you started solids at 4 months then just 3 years later when I had my daughter it was 6 months. I wonder if Gina just hasn't updated he schedule to fit the new guideline??
Your baby sounds just perfect! For me, if he started waking during the night and showing signs of needing more I would consider introducing solids - hopefully that will be closer to 6 months.
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i have her weaning book, and i think she states the recommendation now is to start at 6 months. so while she does provide guidelines on what to introduce if you wean before 6 months, the decision to wean your baby before 6 months really depends on your babys health and discussion with your babys doctor - if your baby is gaining weight, sleeping well and growing well, you can wait 6 months. we did it at 5 months but only because of low milk intake.
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have her old book - the original contented baby - but didn't start solids until 6 months on the nose. Loved her schedules - and followed the weaning schedules she outlined (although I also combined it in conjunction with Super Baby Foods) There is no need to start solids (it's written somewhere there in the fine print that IF you want to start solids, you can start as early as 4 months.)
you can wait. Both of my kids kept on Gina Ford's sleeping schedules without starting solids until 6 months old.
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you asked about exclusively bfeed babies.
mine were both exclusively bfed, no solids until 6 months and fine on her routine. you are doing just fine.
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Thanks so much everyone-- as always, all your replies are so helpful. Feel loads better about holding off the solids for a the time being now.
Our aim this month will be to ease off on the 10:30pm feed gradually and see if we can get him to sleep through from 7 to 7 by 5 months... Wish me luck!
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Good luck Mayafox. Mine is 5 months, and he gets bloated with breastmilk at every feed, but it doesnt last him more than 3 hours (and he was waking twice or thrice a night), so two weeks ago I started solids in the hope that he'd stop waking in the night. Now he's back to his once a night waking, I give him solids twice a day along with the same (I hope) amount of breastmilk. But no miraculous non-awakening at night still, unfortunately...
FTM
(AKA Sleepless in South China...)
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Hi stb,I was confused about that too -- partly why I asked whether the GF schedule still works if solids are not introduced.
The reason I think that my little one may be ready to drop the 10:30pm feed is that I always have to wake him up for it, and when I do, he only takes very little (around 50-60mls) yet still sleeps through til 7am. I checked with the Well Baby Clinic at the Matilda and was advised that if he continues to gain between 113-142 grams then he can drop the dream feed.
I'm still in two minds whether to go ahead and drop the feed, since I do want to make sure that bubs is always getting enough to eat and the 10:30 feed is so easy to do. Would love to hear other moms' experiences of dropping this feed!
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@@
18 yrs ago
To me it sounds like your little one could easily drop the late feed. He is gaining weight well and obviously getting enough during the day - why don't you give it a try?
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I didn't drop 10:30 feed until after six months with my first. That was, until after she was taking 3 solid meals a day.
With my second, after a trip to the US, when she was only about 5.5 months old, I ended up dropping it because it seemed to be disrupting her sleep more than not. So I dropped it - and it was fine. She ended up feeding REALLY well on her AM feed, which was good. I did worry initially as she is small (barely 70%ile when my first daughter was off the charts up until she was a year) but my ped told me that she was growing at a good rate and she was healthy.
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i wanted to drop the 10.30pm feed only when mine was well established on 3 solid meals per day.
but more than a month ago, we stayed at a resort for a few nights after an exhausting house move....the very first night hubby and i were so tired we fell asleep and missed the alarm for the dream feed! i woke up at about 4am and thought oh no, i missed his feed, he's going to wake up! but he didn't....hehehe....so since then we haven't done it. he is now 8 months old and just like what HKCC says, mine starting drinking alot more milk for the 1st feed....not a surprise since they haven't had a drink in 12 hours!
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Wow! How do you guys do it?! Get bubs to sleep all through the night. Mine still wakes up 3 -4 times. What and when do you feed him the last solid meal? I have been giving him cereal with fruit at around 6:30. He has a feed at 7:30pm and again at 10pm just before bed. But he still wakes up at night and, get this, screams! What's with the screaming? He never did that before.
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cygnet -
how old is your baby? Bed time is at 10:00? Screaming could be from being overtired. I do feel, and most sleep experts agree that an earlier bedtime, and ensuring the most babies under one get a solid 12 hours of sleep is essential for good health and good brain development.
I also avoid fruit in the evening - especially acidic ones, as I worry it may upset tummies. Try a mild veggie with the rice (carrots, winter squash, summer squash) instead.
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cygnet,
for a baby to sleep through, it takes alot of practice and patience...putting the baby down the same timing everyday, whether it works or not, just try and try. a bedtime routine works too - say you want baby asleep by 7.30pm, you should work towards winding down his day with a warm bath, baby massage, story, milk feed, lots of snuggle.
agree with hkcc on 10pm bedtime (especially if your baby doesn't sleep too well in the day either althouh you didn't say what his day sleep patterns are like) - might be overtired by 10pm to sleep well. i know it sounds crazy...put the baby down earlier to sleep longer but believe me, it works!
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Hi Hkcc and Wheelymate,
Baby is 7 months old. I know the bed time is late but by the time I get home from work it's 7:30 (I make sure I don't miss that coz he's got a 7:30 feed) After that he has a short nap then wants to play with us. So we play for a bit and then try and get him to sleep at 9pm. For a couple of weeks he was sleeping at 9ish without much trouble. He wakes up at 8am or later and as for naps he has a short nap after his morning meal at around 10am for around half an hour. And another longer nap in the afternoon for about an hour. It's just recently that we have had trouble with getting him to sleep. I don't think putting him to bed at 7:30 would work with our lifestyle - I'd never get to see him.
But I think avoiding fruit is a good suggestion. Last night I tried that. Instead of the usual cereal with fruit I gave him congee with a starchy veggie - potato. And it really worked. He did wake up but there wasn't any crying and it was at regular intervals of 3-4 hours. So Hkcc you are right in that the fruit was probably what was upsetting his tummy.
I think I will try experimenting with the kinds of food and the feeding times. He was having congee with veggies/meat at 10:30 followed by veggies only at 4:30 and cereal with fruit at 6:30. Now I've swapped the cereal to the morning feed either before or after his nap depending on how sleepy he is roughly between 9:30 and 10am. Should I move the 2nd meal up to lunch time instead of 4:30? If the 2nd meal is congee with veggie/meat (fish or chicken) can I feed him congee again (with only veggies) at 6:30? I read somewhere that you should not feed congee more than once a day!
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from a nutritional standpoint, if your haven't already, try introducing whole grains to him, over plain white rice - so barley, millet, brown rice. They are better for your baby and are more "filling" and harder to digest - so that you will find that he can go longe between meals.
At 7 months, GENERAL rule - babies should be getting between 13-15 hours of sleep = 11-12 of those hours at night - straight if possible.
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hi cygnet,
as you probably know, gina ford is the woman to refer to regards to routine but you can adapt her advice to suit your lifestyle.
i have a friend who works full-time too and because she wants to see the baby when she comes home, the baby goes to bed about 9/9.30pm. but even then, there is a routine. she ensures that her baby doesn't nap more than 3 hours in total per day (as per ford's advice) and when her baby goes to bed at 9.30pm, the baby sleeps until about 7.30am the next morning without any night feeds. so it is possible to avoid night wakings even if your bub has a later bedtime.
but do note, my friend's baby is now 8 months and she just told me recently that because the kid is so active crawling and all during the day, the baby gets quite cranky and tired by evening so my friend has had to put her to bed even earlier, think she is going to adjust the baby to a 8/8.30pm bedtime - baby gets enough playtime with mummy without being cranky and mummy gets some time to herself after 8pm.
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Hkcc,
Where can I buy the whole grains you mentioned? Is there any particular brand? I have been buying the Earth's best brand so far (rice and oatmeal) Can I feed these grains for the last meal if, as you say, they are harder to digest?
Wheelymate,
That's a good point. He's quite a bundle of energy through the day and even at night when we return from work he wants to play and climb and dance :) I'll try to move baby's bedtime up by an hour and see if that helps. That way I'll get atleast an hour of playtime with him.
Thanks for the advice.
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Earth's best also has whole grain rice, barley, and a multi grain one. I mix those in with different frozen veggie cubes for a nutritious meal. After 7 months, actually it is fine to give regular non commercial grains - homemade. I make a batch in my rice cooker, then put it on the stove with more water, and then cook it a bit longer, and blend it with a hand blender. i can usually make a 3 day supply - breakfast lunch and dinner, and vary which veggies or fruit purees i put in each one. Just a couple of big spoons of the rice gruel and then different things I add in.
It is hard as a working mom to try and give your baby as much sleep time as necessary as well as guaranteeing that you get to spend some time with him. I agree with Wheelymate - moving up the bedtime may be worth it for you in the long run. Some time with him, and then some time for yourself!
I think I remember you are co-sleeping as well - did you ever buy the Pantley book?
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No I didn't get down to buying the book yet. But I had a read through various articles on her website which were pretty informative. And some of the points she raised made me realize that while I did find the hourly wakings very disruptive I am not ready to let go of the night time feeds all togther. The few times when he did sleep through for a long stretch I would actually wait for him to wake up for a feed. I think what was worrying me was the fact that he was obviously distressed - groaning and screaming - and I couldn't quite figure out what was troubling him. But otherwise I always have people commenting on what a happy, friendly baby he is :)
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