Janet Okafor-Reid
paediatric nurse
Calm; has seen everything twice
Night Feeds
Every relative, app and leaflet disagrees. The first year is a run of exhausting small decisions, and Ellie and Ade learn to tell evidence from opinion while their relationship bends under sleep loss and well-meaning interference.
Planned · not started yet
Relationships, parenting & family Family duty Competing advice Living with uncertainty Family home Warm Lightly witty
The premise
Every relative, app and leaflet disagrees. The first year is a run of exhausting small decisions, and Ellie and Ade learn to tell evidence from opinion while their relationship bends under sleep loss and well-meaning interference.
The protagonist
Ellie Brightwater — First-time mother with her partner Ade and a newborn daughter
The council
Every council member is an original fictional character. None represents, quotes or is endorsed by a real person.
Rhiannon Teague
infant-feeding specialist
Supportive; never shames a feeding choice
Dr Tomas Delacroix
developmental psychologist
Reassuring about variation
Pearl Adisa
retired midwife and grandmother
Experienced, warm and sometimes outdated
How the story moves
Month by month through the first year; the parents’ partnership is tested by sleep loss and family pressure, then rebuilt on their own terms.
What readers take away
- Safe-sleep guidance and why it exists
- Breast, formula and combination feeding
- Growth charts and weight worries
- Common illnesses and when to seek help
- Developmental milestones as ranges
- The vaccination schedule
- Parental mental health, including postnatal depression
- Introducing solid food
- Recognise signs of dehydration and jaundice in newborns
- Use a red-book or health-record correctly
- Recognise signs of postnatal depression in either parent
- Plan safe car-seat use
The books
- 1The first weeks Planned
- 2Feeding Planned
- 3Sleep Planned
- 4Illness Planned
- 5Solids Planned
Book titles are working titles and may change before publication. No book is on sale until the complete series is finished, checked and released.