Gina Ford routine- expressing milk

[h2407 10]

Hey,

i am reading Gina Ford's Contented Little Baby Book and i am planning on following her routine. However, i am a bit confused about the expressed milk bit.

In the book it says in the routine for breastfeeding for the 1st week that you express 60-90ml at 6.45am and then 60ml at 10.45am. But i am unsure when to give the baby the milk i express?

The only mention of giving the baby a bottle of expressed milk is at the 10.30pm feed (page 57) So do i give the milk from both expressing sessions at the 10.30pm feed? If so, do i express into two different bottles and give the baby both bottles at this feed?

However it then also says on page 57 to express milk at 9.30-10pm to ensure milk supply is maintained and that you have enough for the feed in the night.

I am really confused, because on page 114 where it outlines the routine for week 1, it says to just express at 6.45am and 10.45am and does not mention expressing at 9.30-10pm.

This is our first child so we are learning lots- so sorry if this is a really silly question!

Any help on this would be amazing

[Strix 11]

I know a paediatrician who started on Gina ford and chucked it

 

Babies are people with needs. Learn to read what your baby is telling you and you'll be fine

 

Does Gina Ford tell you what to do with a sick baby btw?

[bluecanary 13]

Having your first child is an experience that changes your life in ways that you cannot comprehend. Do not put yourself under pressure by trying to conform to some rigid routine!

 

If you want to try something a little less regimented, but still have some structure to your day try Tracy Hogg The Baby Whisperer. However, bear in mind that babies do not read the manuals, so you're probably better off just going with whatever your baby wants to do for the first few weeks, then trying to introduce a bit of structure later!

 

A lot of breast feeding mums don't bother expressing at all - they just feed the baby directly and cut out the hassle of the middle man, so to speak. However, after a couple of weeks I did find it really useful for my husband to be able to give a bottle late evening/early hours so I could get a reasonable block on uninterupted sleep. I tried to express in the morning (when milk supplies are highest) and didn't have any problems.

[h2407 10]

Hey,

 

thank you for the responses- really appreciate them

 

However, i do defintiley want to try the Gina Ford routine from day one. I know some peope dont agree with her ideas but having read the book it makes sense to me.

 

Forgetting about whether you agree with the routine or not, does any have the answers to my questions... i am probabely reading the book wrong but just cant make sense of it!

[Strix 11]

You may want to try Gina Ford, but your baby may have other ideas

 

There has never been a bottle in this house. I didn't see the point. We had a bedside cot and practiced co-sleeping, so I could feed and doze when necessary

 

Everybody compliments me on how contented and confident H is

 

your body produces as much milk as your baby needs, so don't get too hung up on it. Your baby will tell you when he/she is hungry, and this will vary according to growth spurts (another reason why I can't figure out how you're supposed to timetable a baby)

[bluecanary 13]

 

There has never been a bottle in this house. I didn't see the point. We had a bedside cot and practiced co-sleeping, so I could feed and doze when necessary

 

 

I don't think it's helpful to demonise the bottle like this, and co-sleeping works for some, but isn't for everyone. The OP is proposing to breastfeed for God's sake - she wants to do what's best for her baby. My son was fed breastmilk exclusively for 5-6 months - and it was the fact that it sometimes came from a bottle given by someone else that saved my sanity during that time. My daughter was mixed fed for the first few weeks for medical reasons, and I really had to question why I felt like a failure whenever I put a bottle of formula in her mouth - and part of it was this idea that if you don't exclusively breastfeed, you're not a perfect mother.

 

To the OP - please do what is right for you - only if you are happy will you feel able to cope with the demands of looking after a small baby. However, I do agree with Strix in that you might find that Gina Ford isn't the answer to all your problems - in which case, be prepared to be flexible!

[gina2007 10]

You may want to try Gina Ford, but your baby may have other ideas

 

There has never been a bottle in this house. I didn't see the point. We had a bedside cot and practiced co-sleeping, so I could feed and doze when necessary

 

Everybody compliments me on how contented and confident H is

 

your body produces as much milk as your baby needs, so don't get too hung up on it. Your baby will tell you when he/she is hungry, and this will vary according to growth spurts (another reason why I can't figure out how you're supposed to timetable a baby)

 

I have to agree with you on this one strix!

 

A baby isn't a textbook. And if you're bottle or breast feeding, your baby will tell you when it is hungry. I don't understand, during the days of implementing this routine - what do you do with your hungry - crying - baby when the book says you don't feed until a certain time? I couldn't listen to my screaming baby.

 

From, A mother of my own 2 children, pregnant with my third. And a step mum to 13.

[feargal 21]

I read the expressing bit as "try and express at these times, and then save them for when you want to give a bottle feed" (for example if your partner is doing a night feed, or you have to go out and can't/don't want to take the baby).

 

A lot of the book made sense to me too (if you don't try and stick to the actual times too rigidly!). I didn't follow it in the end anyway, because I had to bottle feed, and we found our own routine after a few weeks that worked for us. Good luck

 

Oh, and Strix - just because yours did, please remember that not everyone's body produces the milk their child needs! Mine certainly didn't, and I bottle fed. Neither my baby nor I got on well with sharing a room either, let alone co-sleep, so it was off to the nursery so we both could rest properly.

 

I also apparently have a very contented and confident child, so I think it benefits all new mums to remember that you have to pick what's right for your family, and not feel under pressure if you have to adapt or change your plans. The amount of conflicting information you are bombarded with during pregnancy and as a new mum is astonishing!

Edited January 16, 2013 by feargal

[Strix 11]

I don't think it's helpful to demonise the bottle like this, and co-sleeping works for some, but isn't for everyone. The OP is proposing to breastfeed for God's sake - she wants to do what's best for her baby. My son was fed breastmilk exclusively for 5-6 months - and it was the fact that it sometimes came from a bottle given by someone else that saved my sanity during that time. My daughter was mixed fed for the first few weeks for medical reasons, and I really had to question why I felt like a failure whenever I put a bottle of formula in her mouth - and part of it was this idea that if you don't exclusively breastfeed, you're not a perfect mother.

 

To the OP - please do what is right for you - only if you are happy will you feel able to cope with the demands of looking after a small baby. However, I do agree with Strix in that you might find that Gina Ford isn't the answer to all your problems - in which case, be prepared to be flexible!

 

I think your choice of wording (demonising) is explained later in your post. I certainly don't view you as a failure, I merely stated what worked for us, foe the benefit of somebody who has a text book telling them how things should be, when they don't have to be like that. I can assure you, I'm far from a 'perfect mother'. I'm not convinced such a thing exists

 

---------- Post added 16-01-2013 at 14:27 ----------

 

Offs. at no point did I say the op should do as I did, I merely used my own experience to illustrate that there is more than one way to meet your child's needs

 

How did this turn into a 'let's tear strips off Strix' thread

I thought you had more sense feargal

[bluecanary 13]

Hi Strix,

 

OK, maybe I overreacted - but believe me, expressing milk can sometimes be a very worthwhile to do. Not sure about the value of doing it to such a strict timetable though.

 

Re: Gina Ford - I know of one friend who has done it and swears it worked for her. I picked up the book for the first time when my second child was a few months old, laughed in amazement and put it down again!

[Strix 11]

I value the concept of expressing to fit in with a family routine or for mum to get some sleep, but I wouldn't want a new mum to think it's essential. It suited me not to have the extra faff and worry about sterilising bottles, and the co-sleeping aided that so it was necessary to mention it

 

I'm not a breastfeeding warrior. If it weren't for bottles and formula I don't know how my mum would have managed. As it was, my brothers were often fed by their teenage sisters once they'd passed 3 months

[feargal 21]

How did this turn into a 'let's tear strips off Strix' thread

I thought you had more sense feargal

 

Without hijacking the thread and turning it into an argument, I certainly wasn't tearing a strip. I thought your post came across as being a little hectoring, and dismissive of a method which someone wants to make work for her. If it wasn't meant that way, then fair enough, but that's how I (and, it seems, some others) read it.

 

Lets move on.