Surviving Tiny Humans: The Messy Truth About Parenting and Your Guide to Baby’s First Year

By Kailey Buller

Exhausted, overwhelmed, and wondering if everyone else has the secret handbook for surviving baby's first year? "Surviving Tiny Humans" is here to share the messy, hilarious truth that other books won't tell you!
Dr. Kailey Buller – a double board-certified family and emergency physician who learned firsthand that even medical school doesn't prepare you for 3 A.M. diaper disasters – delivers a reassuring blend of expert advice and mom-to-mom real talk filled with warmth, wit, and hard-earned wisdom. Guiding readers through postpartum recovery, newborn care, and the wild ride of baby's first 12 months, Dr. Buller dishes out honest answers to questions you didn't even know to ask, from "Is it normal that my baby hasn't pooped in a week?" to "Are soothers good or bad?!?". All along, she tells it like it is (with a healthy dose of humor), so you can stop feeling alone in your worries and start feeling empowered as a new parent.
Inside this candid baby survival guide, you'll discover:
- Practical tips from a doctor-mom: Get evidence-based answers on breastfeeding vs. formula, soothing colic, managing fevers, and more – minus the judgment.
- Sleep strategies that work: Learn the truth about baby sleep regressions and sleep training without the sugar-coating.
- Postpartum sanity savers: Find out how to cope with "baby blues," body changes, and sheer exhaustion, all while keeping your sense of humor intact.
- Baby milestones & mom hacks: Chapters packed with time-saving hacks, doctor-approved checklists, and encouragement to celebrate small wins.
- A judgment-free, relatable voice: This isn't a by-the-book, Pinterest-perfect parenting manual; it's a conversation with a friend who gets it.
By the end of this book, you'll feel comforted, confident, and ready to handle whatever parenthood throws at you (yes, even projectile spit-up).
If you've read the traditional baby manuals and still feel unprepared – or if you just need a good laugh and a pat on the back – this book is the refreshing lifesaver you've been looking for! Embrace the chaos, trust your instincts, and let Dr. Buller be your guide through the hardest, most beautiful year of your life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Sep 2, 2025
• ISBN: 9798317808648

Kailey Buller

Dr. Kailey Buller is a double board-certified physician in emergency and family medicine who's delivered hundreds of babies — and raised two of her own. Her goal? To help new parents cut through the noise, ditch the guilt, and survive the first year with their sanity (mostly) intact. In her book, "Surviving Tiny Humans", she brings the calm, practical advice of a doctor with the unfiltered honesty of a parent who's been there — through sleepless nights, mystery rashes, and 3 a.m. Googling of "is this normal?" When she's not soothing the emotional toll of a broken banana or stitching up ER patients, Dr. Buller teaches postpartum classes, busts parenting myths online, and fiercely believes that telling parents the truth — with compassion and a bit of humour — is the most helpful thing of all.

Book preview

Cover of Surviving Tiny Humans by Kailey Buller

Copyright © 2025 Kailey Buller

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information

storage and retrieval system now known or invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast.

Print ISBN: 979-8-35099-959-4

ebook ISBN: 979-8-31780-864-8

Printed in the United States of America

To my children, who turned my world upside down

and made me better for it; my husband, who always helped

put the world right-side up again; my friends,

who trudged fearlessly through motherhood alongside me;

and my patients, who shared the best and worst days of their lives with me—this book was inspired by all of you.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Coming Home

Chapter 1: Breastfeeding

Latch

How Much, How Often?

Troubleshooting

Supply

Breastfeeding and Weight Loss

Breastfeeding Bottom Line

Paced Feeding

Bottles and Supplies

Formula Basics

What Formula Is Best?

Chapter 2: Bleeding

When Bleeding is Too Much

When to See Your Doctor

How To Make Your Life Easier

Bowels & Bladder

Your Pelvic Floor

Exercise

Sex

Chapter 3: Bonding with Baby

Your Relationships

Post Partum Depression

Keeping Sane

Settling In

Chapter 4: Safety

Sleep Safety

Environment

Food Safety

Bath Time

Chapter 5: Sleep

Birth to Eight Weeks

Weeks Eight to Twelve

Three to Four Months

Four Months and Beyond

Sleep Training

After Sleep Training

Chapter 6: Starting Solids

Conquering the Unknown

Chapter 7: Common Conditions

Fevers

Rashes

Other Baby Care

Injuries

Chapter 8: Constipation

Chapter 9: Colic

Embracing the Wonder

Chapter 10: Brain Development

Two Months

Four Months

Six Months

Nine Months

Twelve Months

Chapter 11: Baby Gear

Baby Gear You Need

Car Seats

High Chairs

Baby Kitchenware

Baby First Aid Kit

Baby Gear You Might Want

Outdoor Gear

Baby Jumpers

Baby Gear You Just Don’t Need

Loose Parts

Chapter 12: Birth Control

Epilogue

Image Acknowledgment & Disclaimer

About the Author

Prologue

Welcome to parenthood. The place where nothing makes sense, everyone has conflicting advice, and nothing you do will ever be right.

. . .

Seriously.

When it comes to babies, there are a few things that we (the collective medical community) have learned that are universally true. For example, car seats are good. Car hammocks, not so much. But even within the medical community, there are many different right ways to do things. And this is especially true for everything that they don’t cover in medical school.

I’m a family physician by training, which means I have acquired the knowledge and ability to provide care for patients from their first to their last day of life. In reality, however, I predominantly practice as an emergency physician. So, my training was extended to include managing emergencies and providing critical care to patients from their first to their last day of life. But I also work in low-risk obstetrics (my happy place), where I see women during their pregnancy, deliver babies, and care for these beautiful newborns during their first few days of life. So, as a result of all my years in school and practice, I am now a highly trained medical professional in pregnancy, deliveries, routine care in infancy and childhood, and newborn and childhood emergencies.

You would think I would then be pretty qualified and prepared to be a mom, right?

Wrong.

You wouldn’t believe the amount of time I spent searching the Internet for answers about my first baby. What car seat do I need? Is this amount of crying normal? Is it still considered cluster feeding if he literally doesn’t get off the boob for five hours straight? Should I be able to put my baby down without him crying, or do I legitimately have to hold him twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week? Are soothers good or bad? What the hell is baby-led weaning, and is that better than baby cereal and purées? What kind of stroller should I buy? And so on and so on . . .

As it turns out, I’m not the only doctor mom who was overwhelmed by parenthood. I belong to a Facebook group (that has, on more than one occasion, been my saving grace) made up of more than 9,700 brilliant physician moms across Canada who ask these very same questions all the time. It’s safe to say that no one has all the answers.

So, I thought that someone should be telling new moms all of this. Someone needs to warn parents about all the little things they don’t know they need to know. Someone needs to help them find the answers to all the questions they most definitely will have—no matter how prepared they might think they are. Even parents who already have a child might find that the next one doesn’t follow the same rules as the first.

Anyway, it’s safe to say that I learned way more about how to counsel my patients by being a mom than by being a doctor. But I think that being both gives me a unique perspective on where motherhood and medicine intersect, and my hope is that I can be a source of advice that you can trust.

But, remember that anything I tell you (or that anyone else tells you, for that matter) is advice. It’s just advice. What you do with that information is entirely up to you.

Now, I would be remiss not to at least mention that this book is directed mostly to women who have journeyed through pregnancy and in to motherhood. However, it is extremely important to acknowledge that there are many ways to make a family, and going through childbirth certainly isn’t a prerequisite for parenthood. The information contained here may still be quite valuable for parents who didn’t physically grow a tiny human themselves.

Because, let’s face it, parenthood is hard. And we could all use a little help.

So. Good luck to you all . . .

Coming Home

Breastfeeding, Bleeding, and Bonding with Baby

Congratulations! Your life is now a bloody mess. Literally. And while you alternate between the euphoria of being with your new baby and the stupor of sleepless nights, you will be faced with innumerable challenges and questions that no one ever thought to warn you about . . .

Don’t worry. I’ve been there. And I will help you.

In this chapter, we are going to walk through some of the essentials for surviving those first few weeks with your new bundle of joy, without losing your sanity along the way.

Chapter 1:

Breastfeeding

Before we dive in, I want to impart this very important piece of advice right off the hop.

If you are unable to or would simply prefer not to breastfeed, that is 100 percent your decision and, therefore, 100 percent the right decision for you.

This is your baby. Your body. Your journey. And not all babies and not all breasts and not all moms are the same. It doesn’t matter why you can’t or why you don’t want to. It’s no one else’s business. Don’t let anyone make you feel guilty for doing what is best for you and your baby.

And keep in mind that bottle-feeding, either with expressed breast milk or formula, is a wonderful way to involve your partner in feedings, bonding with baby, and middle of the night wakeups, too!

Did I want to breastfeed? Absolutely. Was I able to? Nope. With my first, I had no issues with supply. And I mean accidentally spraying milk all over his face when he even came close to those milk rockets. But he wasn’t gaining weight. So, I chose to pump and bottle feed (with formula top ups), so we could monitor how much he was getting. With my second, I had no supply. My pregnancy had pushed my body into heart failure, and I had literally no reserves. So I had her latch and then I slid a feeding tube into her mouth so she would get formula while breastfeeding and simultaneously pumping on the other side. And then I would use the double electric pump again in between breastfeeding sessions. Oh, and then I would power pump in the evening. All in all, I spent six to seven hours each day breastfeeding or pumping. And it was absolutely insane. The day I stopped pumping (with both my kids) was one of the most liberating days of my life. I just had to shed the guilt.

So, are there benefits to breastfeeding? Absolutely. But that adage breast is best is only true if breastfeeding feels right for you. By all means, breast is great. But it’s essential to acknowledge that not every woman’s breastfeeding journey will be smooth sailing. And some women may simply prefer not to for any number of reasons. The most important thing is to ensure your baby is well fed and that your mental and physical health are prioritized.

So, you do you, girl.

For those of you who are breastfeeding, there are a few key things to remember.

Latch

If the latch hurts—even a little—pop that baby off and try again. A painful latch leads to sore, cracked, bleeding nipples, and that isn’t fun for anybody. Remember not to just pull baby off, though. Slide a finger in the side of their mouth first to release the suction!

If the latch always hurts, call your midwife, lactation consultant, or doctor to see if there is something to troubleshoot.

How Much, How Often?

No matter what anyone says, you will never really know if your baby is getting enough milk from you, except when they get weighed at check ups. There may be some other indicators, like having six or more wet diapers in a day, but please, do not spend your precious mental energy counting wet diapers. And this makes every breastfeeding mom anxious. This is normal. If you think your baby is hungry, please go ahead and feed them.

Newborn babies should generally eat eight to twelve times per twenty-four hour period, and typically spend ten to fifteen minutes per breast, or twenty to thirty minutes per breastfeeding session. If they are eating longer than that or more than that, it’s very possible they are using your breasts as milk-flavored pacifiers, and you might want to try using a soother—just as long as the soother isn’t replacing a meal.

Feed your baby on demand. But, for the first few weeks, wake your baby up to eat if it’s been four hours since their last feeding. Then, if they are gaining weight well, you can let them sleep one or two longer stretches of four to six hours overnight without waking them.

Troubleshooting

Make sure you are comfortable when breastfeeding. You’ll be spending a lot of time doing it, so there’s no sense in suffering through it. Try different positions for holding your baby, invest in a breastfeeding pillow, try different chairs or couches, and find a way to make it enjoyable for both of you.

If one or both of your breasts are painful, swollen, or develop a hard lump, you may be having trouble with engorgement, a clogged duct, or mastitis. It can be difficult to tell them apart. Use ice