Best for Baby | Expert Baby Advice & Support for Overwhelmed Mums

E12: The Continuum Concept: Emotional Development in Infancy

Promoting Confidence, Calm and Independence in Children, without the "Mum Guilt".

In this thought-provoking episode, Lisa dives into the Continuum Concept, the influential 1975 book by Jean Liedloff, and explores how its ideas compare to modern parenting.

Lisa unpacks what the book gets right, what doesn’t apply to today’s families, and how parents can take gentle, grounding lessons from it without guilt or pressure.

Drawing from her own honest reflections (including the mistakes she believes she made as a new mum), Lisa explains how historical parenting practices still influence us today and how we can tune back into our instincts, respond to our children’s needs, and nurture emotional security from infancy through early childhood.

This is a powerful, reassuring episode for any parent who has ever felt torn between instinct and outdated advice.

💛 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

  • What the Continuum Concept actually is and what Jean Liedloff observed in rural Venezuela
  • How historical Western parenting (1950s–1970s) shaped our current beliefs about crying, feeding, routines, and independence
  • Why parents today still feel guilt, confusion and pressure from outdated parenting culture
  • The importance of physical closeness, co-regulation and responding to your baby’s cues
  • How to support emotional security in babies and older children
  • Why independence develops naturally (and why you don’t have to force it)
  • What parts of the Continuum Concept don’t hold up — and how to adapt the useful pieces for modern life

🧡 Key Takeaways

  • Babies are born expecting closeness, responsiveness and connection.
  • Some mainstream parenting advice from the past still influences our instincts today.
  • Mistakes are normal — what matters is how we show love, presence and connection going forward.
  • You can nurture your child’s sense of worthiness and emotional rightness at ANY age.
  • Parenting isn’t about perfection — it’s about presence.

Connect with Lisa here!

For help on:

Baby Flat Head Syndrome (Plagiocephaly and Torticollis), click here!

Positional Talipes (Correctable Club Foot), click here!