Dr Laura Conway, PhD.

Dr Laura helps tired families find their way.

Meet Laura

Dr Laura Conway is co-director of Infant Sleep Australia and Melbourne Infant Sleep. She consults with families, on the topic of sleep. Laura is passionate about supporting parents whose babies have sleep problems. As a mother of two children who both struggled with sleep difficulties as babies and toddlers, she truly understands the struggle that tired parents face each day. Laura combines her expertise in parenting and child development with compassion and empathy to ensure she fully understands and supports every family she meets. Laura enjoys helping parents to improve their child’s sleep and watching the positive changes that follow for the whole family. She helps tired parents build strong relationships with their babies while they work to improve sleep.

Laura can help children aged 0-5 who:

• have problems settling to sleep,

• wake frequently overnight,

• resist going to bed e.g., using stalling tactics, or

• wake up too early in the morning.

Training and expertise

Laura has a PhD from the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne, and a first class bachelor degree (honours) in psychology from Cardiff University in the UK. She is not a medical doctor, but rather, her career has been dedicated to understanding how babies’ and toddlers’ behaviour, including sleep, play and interactions with their carers, impacts their language and mental health development. Laura has worked with Dr Fallon Cook since 2017, working at the cutting edge of infant sleep research and practice.

Research and academia

Holding honorary positions at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute & Department of Paediatrics, Royal Children’s Hospital, Laura ensures the latest research evidence is embedded in the advice and support she provides to families.

Laura draws on more than 20 years’ research experience working in the UK for Cardiff University, the British Medical Association, and the National Centre of Social Research, and here in Melbourne for Mensline Australia and most recently for the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Laura carries out research to identify the most important things parents and carers can do to help babies and toddlers develop good language skills and strong mental health.  She recently provided expert reviews for the Raising Children Network.

Laura is a member of many professional organisations. These include the International Pediatric Sleep Association, The Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth, the International Association of the Study of Child Language, and Speech & Language Development Australia.

Media

Laura has appeared in the media to discuss her ground-breaking research findings. Collectively reaching over 250 million people, she has appeared in The Age and other newspapers including The Herald Sun and The Courier Mail and has appeared on TV news (Channel 9) and ABC Melbourne Breakfast radio show. Recently, Laura’s research into how family violence impacts child development received worldwide coverage and is influencing policy and practice decisions.

Publications, awards and recognition

Laura has published in major scientific journals including Pediatrics, Infancy and the Journal of Child Language. A regular speaker at international conferences, Laura has received prestigious awards in recognition of her contribution to child health research. These include the 2018 Most Distinguished Paper award, presented at the International Domestic Violence and Health Conference. She has recently completed a LifeCourse Postdoctoral Fellowship awarded by the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation. You can view a list of publications and conference presentations here.

Need help?

Laura can see you for an appointment via video-call, or at our Hawthorn East clinic in Melbourne. You can also gain immediate access to sleep and settling advice and support via the Sombelle Online Sleep Clinic programs which were co-designed by Laura.