Hi, this is Janet Landsbury. Welcome to Unruffled. Today I'm joined by Anya Dunham. Anya is a parent of three, a PhD in biology who works as a scientist studying ecology, and she has done extensive research into the concepts recommended by Magda Gerber and me, respectful parenting.

We'll be describing these concepts in detail, and speaking to some of the evidence-based theories on what babies need most from their environment and from us to thrive.

Anya shares her findings in her book, Baby Ecology, using science and intuition to create the best feeding, sleep, and play environment for your unique baby.

And I'm really looking forward to hearing more about Anya's research and experience.

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Hi, Anya. Thank you so much for being here.

Hi, Janet. I'm so glad to be here today. Thank you.

So you've been doing extensive research on different aspects of parenting, particularly, or at least quite considerably, the type of parenting that I teach, which is Magda Gerber's Rai approach, or I call it respectful parenting.

And I thought it would be great to hear a little about what made you want to do all this research and write a book about it.

And of course, then I would love to hear more about your findings and how they've helped you and can help others with the parenting decisions that we're all making, which is way too many.

In the beginning, it feels like a constant flow of decisions, right?

So can you tell us a little about how you got into this and what you found?

Yes, of course. So I found your work when I was pregnant with my first baby, so just over 12 years ago.

And then through your work, I discovered and learned about the work of Magda Gerber and Amy Pickler.

And the thing is that even though I always turn to research, I think of myself as a science-minded person, I actually embraced what I feel is at the very core of Rai without needing to see any science behind it.

I felt that respect for children and delight in who they are, believing in that and accepting that as one of my core parenting believes came very naturally to me.

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