This paper attempts to further develop the node-based smoothed finite element method (NS-FEM) to analysis of laminated composite plates using three-node triangular meshes based on the first-order shear deformation plate theory (FSDT). In the NS-FEM, a system stiffness matrix is performed by using the strain smoothing technique over the smoothing domains associated with the nodes of the elements. In order to eliminate shear locking, the NS-FEM is incorporated with the discrete shear gap (DSG) method to give a so-called node-based smoothed discrete shear gap method (NS-DSG). The numerical results derived from this method are compared with the solutions available in the literature to validate their reliability.