Baby Ecology book is here! Learn more
Baby Ecology book is here!
Research on baby's first year crystallized into the nurturing environment — the range of good options — to help you choose what works best for your baby and your family.
Are you finding a lot of baby care advice conflicting, too prescriptive, black-and-white, and confusing?
Does it feel like you have to stick to a specific parenting philosophy or a set of techniques yet none of them feel quite right? Did you hope to rely on your instincts but discover that you don't 'naturally' know what to do?
You are not alone.
And you're right in questioning what feels like too-specific, one-size-fits-all, "only one right way" advice.
When I was a new mom 12 years ago, I found myself in a sea of opinions. Many came with a sense of pressure: "Do this exact thing or else your baby will not thrive".
This was overwhelming and not helpful, so I did something different.
My name is Anya Dunham. I am a researcher with a PhD in Biology who studies ecology: the ways living things relate to one another and interact with their environment. More specifically, I work on habitats: spaces and environments that support life.
When I became a parent, I began to think about caring for babies from an ecological perspective. Despite technological progress, baby ecology — what our babies truly need from the physical spaces they live in, the care they receive, and their interactions with people in their life — has remained largely constant and universal.
Here and in my award-winning book, Baby Ecology, I use my research training to analyze scientific studies on baby sleep, feeding, care, and play through the lens of ecology and answer the following questions:
And then I use my parent perspective to help you create these spaces and experiences in your home in ways that work best for your baby.
I write about everything that forms baby’s day-to-day experiences: sleep, feeding, playing, and being cared for.
I began working on this space in 2022 after I wrote Baby Ecology - the book I wish I had when I was a new parent. See what Baby Ecology is about, browse through reader reviews, or check out multiple awards Baby Ecology received.
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