By Jacob Fehr
DRAWING on her knowledge and experience as a doctor and mother, Dr. Kailey Buller of Port Dover has organized classes and written a book, Surviving Tiny Humans: The Messy Truth About Parenting and Your Guide to Baby’s First Year, to help guide new parents. The Maple Leaf talked to Dr. Buller to learn how her book and classes came to be.
Dr. Buller explained she was inspired to create these resources from her time raising her first child.
“Surviving Tiny Humans was the result of my being completely lost after the birth of my first baby, despite years of medical training and experience in prenatal, postpartum and newborn care. I remember thinking: ‘If I feel this overwhelmed, and I’m supposed to be the one with all the answers, how does anyone else survive this?’” she said.
Around then, she envisioned starting four-week classes packed with practical advice for recent and expecting parents, “something like a ‘Prenatal 2.0’ class.”
“It wasn’t until after the birth of my second, however, that I finally decided I needed to stop thinking and start doing.
“So, in January 2024, I sat down to outline the topics. I divided them into four sessions and began writing the content. I wrote as if I were speaking directly to parents—practical, conversational, and full of the real-life details you just don’t get in a textbook or even a doctor’s appointment. And then… I just kept writing. Within a month, I had a full draft of what would eventually become Surviving Tiny Humans.”
But writing a draft of a book was just the beginning of publishing one. Dr. Buller shared what it was like to complete the rest of the work needed to bring her project to life, which included “creating graphics and illustrations, sourcing licensed medical stock images, and exploring traditional publishing.”
“I quickly learned that in today’s industry, most agents and publishers won’t take on a project without a sizable social media following. So, I began building an online presence while also researching self-publishing,” she said.
Eventually, she found a business that would help with “editing, proofing, and metadata optimization” for her book. “After another eight months working with them, I officially had a published book,” she said.
“In the end, the actual writing was only about 5 per cent of the total timeline… and I have to admit, the other 95 per cent was pretty tedious.”
Asked if she found any tension between her personal and professional perspectives when writing the book, she said, “It’s safe to say that I learned far more about how to counsel my patients by being a mom than by being a doctor. But I think 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 is both trustworthy and practical.”
“One of the biggest realizations I had was that medicine, and all the recommendations we give, aren’t always realistic. One example: as a physician, I know the research on infant sleep safety inside and out. As a mom, I know that sleep deprivation can push people toward unsafe practices out of desperation. So, I give the gold-standard recommendations, but I also address what to do if reality doesn’t line up with the ideal—how to troubleshoot and stay safe without shame.”
To help deliver her advice directly to those in the community who need it, Dr. Buller has also organized classes for new and expecting parents, fulfilling her original vision. She will host three sets of four-week classes at Norfolk County Public Library’s Simcoe branch in September, October, and November, “covering feeding, recovery, sleep, baby safety, and common newborn challenges,” and offer an online course with similar content.
“In-person sessions allow for demonstrations and community building, while online classes are designed for flexibility so parents can revisit the material at their own pace. Offering multiple formats means no one is excluded because of geography, schedule, or mobility,” she said.
“In an absolutely ideal world, the content of these classes would be picked up by Public Health and offered for free, just like prenatal classes. I would love to see parenting, recovery, and managing common concerns… be as universally accessible as prenatal classes are.”
Surviving Tiny Humans launches digitally on Tuesday, September 2, and Dr. Buller’s first set of classes starts the same day. She said she’s “surprisingly nervous” ahead of the big day.
“I originally wanted to create something small. Something for my patients—because there’s so much I want to tell them, but simply not enough time before they leave the hospital. But now I’ve created something much bigger, and invested so much of myself in this project, that I worry it has the potential to be a spectacularly public and embarrassing failure.”
Nonetheless, she’s also optimistic about the positive impact her resources may have.
“That said, I do truly believe that the work I’m doing has enormous potential to change lives for the better. Surviving Tiny Humans is completely comprehensive: covering not only newborn care, medical concerns, and all the newborn baby topics like sleep and feeding, but also postpartum recovery, returning to exercise and sex, and navigating adult relationships after bringing a baby home. And it’s actually useful. Practical tips, information worth knowing: the things I wish I knew when my baby was born.”
To register for Dr. Buller’s classes, order a copy of her book, or learn more about them, visit www.vitalswithdrbuller.com/.
—
Originally published August 20, 2025
