The Discontented Little Baby Book
2014
Overview:
Australian GP and breastfeeding specialist Dr. Pamela Douglas offers a refreshing, evidence-based alternative to mainstream baby advice. This book supports parents through the early months with strategies that respect infant cues, support breastfeeding, and avoid rigid routines. It blends neuroscience, evolutionary biology, and clinical experience to help parents understand and respond to unsettled behaviour without sleep training.
Why It’s Included:
This book aligns strongly with responsive parenting and breastfeeding support. It directly challenges the dominant sleep training paradigm, offers gentle ways to manage crying and sleep without coercion, and respects the baby-parent relationship as central. Its foundation in science and compassion makes it a standout resource.
Who It’s For:
Highly recommended for parents of babies 0–6 months, especially those feeling overwhelmed by conflicting advice. Also valuable for health professionals seeking to support families using evidence-informed, respectful approaches to sleep and settling.
“Among other remarkable factors, this book features one of the best descriptions of helping a baby attach at the breast I have ever read! However, it is the perspective that many crying babies are not tired or hungry - let alone overstimulated. They are bored and overwhelmed by understimulation. In the wake of the sleep training obsession with strict routines, block-out blinds and white noise machines, Douglas argues we have forgotten that human babies have always been cared for amongst the everyday activities of their community and only recently have these strict sleep conditions been deemed necessary. ”
Further Reading:
Why Your Baby’s Sleep Matters – Sarah Ockwell-Smith
Safe Infant Sleep – James McKenna
How Babies Sleep – Helen Ball
Our article: “Soothing, Not Training: A Gentler Approach to Unsettled Babies”
