Book Review: How Babies Sleep: A Factful Guide to the First 365 Days and Nights By Helen L. Ball
Review By: Abbie Tomson, NHS Continuity of Carer Midwife and All4Birth Digital Lead
Year of Publication: 2025
Publisher: Cornerstone Press
Number of Pages: 336
Price: £18.99
Hardback
ISBN: 978-1529918939
In How Babies Sleep: A Factful Guide to the First 365 Days and Nights, Helen Ball offers a comprehensive, evidence-based exploration of infant sleep during the critical first year of life. As a leading anthropologist and sleep researcher, Ball draws on decades of research to challenge common myths and misconceptions about how—and why—babies sleep the way they do.
The book is structured around answering real-life questions from parents, making the science accessible without diluting its complexity. It covers biological sleep regulation, cultural influences, safe sleep practices, and the impact of feeding and caregiving. The myth-busting approach is a particular strength, helping to demystify conflicting advice new parents often encounter. The text is grounded in peer-reviewed research, free from commercial bias, and promotes no single sleep-training method.
For midwives, this book is highly relevant. It provides a valuable foundation for antenatal education and postnatal discussions, especially around setting realistic expectations for infant sleep, supporting responsive care, and reinforcing safe sleep messages. It equips midwives with evidence to reassure families and counter harmful narratives about what babies “should” be doing.
While the focus is on biological and sociocultural explanations rather than prescriptive routines, this may leave some parents seeking structured sleep plans wanting more. Yet, this is arguably its greatest strength. Rather than offering rigid solutions, Ball promotes an anthropological understanding of infant sleep that reflects the diversity of real family experiences, easing parental anxieties about perceived “problems” with their babies and sleep.
Overall, this is a well-researched, thoughtful resource that challenges oversimplified narratives about infant sleep. It will be a valuable addition for midwives seeking to enhance evidence-informed care and support for families navigating the complexities of early parenting.
If you enjoyed this book review, you might also like listening to Sheena Byrom in conversation with Helen Ball. Listen here.