Gina Ford: 4 months sleep regression or growth spurt?

roses

I'm in Cyprus for my maternity leave until Christmas where my husband is currently working hence the need for household chores . You're right, it is extremely hot and I am not looking forward to the summer given it average 40'C every day last week!

I know all about foremilk and hindmilk which is the main reason why I don't feed on demand. I tried it a few times and he ends up snacking for 5-10 minutes each time whereas when I feed on schedule every 3-4 hours, he feeds for a good 30-45 min on one boob and I can hear him swalling slowly throughout.

Oh, and I only use Gina Ford for the daytime feeding schedule. I've always fed on demand at night and none of this leaving him to cry, no eye contact or no cuddles rubbish.

sassyblue

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

I'm not a mother and never shall be but this: "revert to Gina's method of leaving him to cry until 4am then feed him?" really distresses me. Why would anyone think that leaving a tiny four month old baby to cry alone in the middle of the night could be a good thing? That sounds like a torture-method rather than parenting to me. It would probably take a heart of stone to try and ignore the crying anyway.

That woman sounds mad.

That was the sentence that made my jaw drop open, l also won't say what l think about Gina Ford either. :mad:

OP, l followed Tracey Hoggs the baby whisperers advice, her routine is EASY.

E is for Eat, baby feeds
A is for Action, be it cuddles and/playtime
S is for Sleep, baby yawns twice and gets put in his cot, learns to put himself to sleep
Y is You time, for you!

Babies do have growth spurts and following the EASY routine isn't going to hinder that or starve him!

He's 4 months, are you doing baby led weaning, what do you think about adding some solids in his diet?

fluffnutter

roses wrote: »

Hi,

I have a 4 month old son. Between 2-3.5 months he used to wake up 4-6am, have some milk, go straight back to sleep then wake up for the morning around 8/9am.

For the past week (1 week before hitting 4 months) he has started to wake up every 2-3 hours. I've tried settling him with a dummy or sterilised water but the only thing that settles him is me feeding him. I give him his last feed at 11pm then he wakes up at 2-3am, 4-6am then 8am when he won't go back to sleep.

I use the Gina Ford routine for feeding, it doesn't work with naps as when he's tired, he's tired so I don't follow the daytime naps although he does sleep for 3-4 hours during the day.

I breastfeed so can't quantify exactly how much milk he takes but over the past 2 weeks, it's definitely more. I used to feed him 1 boob & that would satisfy him until the next feed but now he feeds from both.

I'm wondering if I should feed him on demand at night if this is a growth spurt in which case he should settle back to sleeping through soon or revert to Gina's method of leaving him to cry until 4am then feed him? Gina Ford says even during growth spurts, he should have enough milk in the day to still sleep through which is why I am confused.

The 4 hours/night of broken sleep is really starting to make me tired since during the day he is so active, I don't get a chance to nap as when he naps I use that time to eat, do laundry etc.

Gina Ford hasn't got a clue, sweetheart. Chuck the book in the bin and do whatever you think is right for your baby.

Errata

revert to Gina's method of leaving him to cry until 4am then feed him

Ignore a baby that's crying with hunger until the clock strikes bong? The woman's mad, and anyone who follows her advice on that needs to have a word with themselves.

BitterAndTwisted

sassyblue wrote: »

That was the sentence that made my jaw drop open, l also won't say what l think about Gina Ford either. :mad:

Sassyblue: for clarity when I said "the woman sounds mad" the woman I was referring to was Gina Ford, not the OP!

Actually, the OP sounds quite sensible and rational for what is probably a sleep-deprived mother of a four month old.

sassyblue

BitterAndTwisted wrote: »

Sassyblue: for clarity when I said "the woman sounds mad" the woman I was referring to was Gina Ford, not the OP!

Actually, the OP sounds quite sensible and rational for what is probably a sleep-deprived mother of a four month old.

I know, l got it! l agree the OP sounds like she understands her baby which is the most important thing, that book can be thrown away now

Whoever asked about weaning, my son is nearly 7 and we were told 6 months is the 'right' time. But l did baby led weaning and started around 4 months when DS just couldn't be settled with milk.

dizziblonde

The odds are it's probably some wonderful combination of hunger, growth spurt AND sleep regression and you just have to ride it out with whatever keeps you sanest till normal service is resumed. I didn't have much bother with sleep regressions with my eldest till we hit the combination of the 12 month one, trying to think about pulling up and cruising, teething and the growth spurt from hell all in one go - plus the addition of a younger sibling into the mix as well... that one was HELL and her sleep's still not fully recovered - she's sleeping much more lightly since and I've resorted to crawling across the landing to go to the loo on occasion so I'm not spotted by this mini Eye of Sauron peeking out of the tiny gap in her bedroom door where the door doesn't fully stay shut (she can be out for the count but if you think about moving anywhere upstairs - one eye opens instantly)

As for routines - I find them handy in terms of having a rough idea when I'm likely to have a baby thinking about food (especially with my second who goes from happily asleep to incredibly angry and starving in under 4 seconds) and a general pattern of the day - but if you try to set them in stone and make a baby fit one the baby doesn't want to fit - you'll drive yourself slowly bonkers.

Trick with all baby-related advice a) the kids ain't read the books to know what they're meant to be doing b) different things work for different babies (and even the same baby at different times) c) there's a wonderful parental-insecurity industry going very very rich off this stuff and d) pick the bits of everything that work for you - you do not NEED one of these ridiculous parenting labels to distinguish which "mummy tribe" you belong to that seem to have become a must-have these days.

notanewuser

pennypusher wrote: »

What age do parents start solid food for their babies now? I can't remember but i think at that age I was probably feeding my babies with baby rice. Perhaps your baby is ready for solids? Perhaps you could discuss this with your doctor/health visitor?

Noooooooo!!! Not baby rice!!!!

http://www.analyticalarmadillo.co.uk/2011/12/nine-good-reasons-not-to-use-baby-rice.html?m=1

unschooler

Seems to me that the most harmful thing mothers and their babies experience is other people telling them what not to do.

mummybear3

roses wrote: »

Well the problem is that he takes himself off the breast and cries ie he doesn't continue sucking so obviously this doesn't stimulate my milk supply. This usually happens during the day between 2pm-8pm, never at night and not every day.

Since he started waking at night, I have fed him. He feeds well around 2/3am, not so much around 4/6am then another good feed at 8am.


QUOTE]

Hi,

he doesn't have colic does he? That might be why he's crying and coming off during a feed, my children diid not suffer from it luckily but I think that tends to happen in the evening, so maybe he's not taking enough during these feeds then needing to fill up later.

Good luck, hope he settles soon poor baby (and mummy)

m