Magazine

Mother comforting her crying cmpa baby with severe eczema on a changing table

Surviving A CMPA Baby: A Reality Check For My Past Exhausted Self

Dear Priya from six months ago. You're currently standing in the downstairs bathroom at two in the morning, holding a diaper under the harsh vanity light. You're staring at a streak of mucus and tiny flecks of blood, holding your...

Read more

A tired dad holding his newborn baby near a window

My kid turned into a highlighter (and other early release bugs)

It was day three of parenthood, and I was holding my naked son up to a rain-streaked Portland window like Rafiki presenting Simba, convinced that forty-five seconds of overcast Pacific Northwest UV radiation would magically fix his liver. My wife,...

Read more

Stressed mom holding a baby in a hospital waiting room drinking coffee

Surviving Your First Baby Xray Without Completely Losing Your Mind

It was a Tuesday at 9 AM, and I was sitting in a freezing radiology waiting room wearing yesterday’s leggings and a nursing bra that smelled faintly of sour milk. I was staring blankly at a poster of a cartoon...

Read more

Exhausted mom holding a silicone baby toothbrush while her toddler giggles and runs away.

Surviving the Nightly Baby Toothbrush Wrestling Match in Sweatpants

It's 7:42 PM on a Tuesday. I'm wearing a pair of gray fleece sweatpants that haven't seen the inside of a washing machine since the Obama administration. My left knee is firmly but gently pinning an eight-month-old Maya to the...

Read more

Exhausted mom staring anxiously at a baby rocker in a messy kitchen

Why I Stopped Trusting the Box My Baby Rocking Chair Came In

It was 3:14 AM on a Tuesday in 2017, and I was standing in my dark kitchen wearing a nursing bra that smelled aggressively like sour milk and Dave’s oversized college sweatpants, staring at this beige, gently vibrating infant seat...

Read more

A stressed dad looking at a clock while holding a fussy baby who hasn't pooped in three days.

How To Relieve Constipation In Babies Quickly (Without Panicking)

Dear Tom of eighteen months ago. You're currently standing in the kitchen at 3:17 AM, illuminated only by the aggressive LED glow of the microwave clock, holding a completely rigid infant. Maya’s face is the exact shade of a Royal...

Read more

Mother reclined doing laid back breastfeeding with her infant

The Reality Of Having A Tongue Tied Baby And What Actually Works

There's a rumor running through modern parenting groups that clipping a tiny piece of tissue under your newborn's tongue will magically cure colic, fix sleep regressions, and make them stop crying when you put them down. I used to sit...

Read more

Baby covered in mashed sweet potato staring confused at a broccoli floret

What I Wish I Knew Before Feeding My Baby Real Food

Dear Marcus from six months ago: Right now, you're staring at a piece of steamed broccoli, sweating through your gray t-shirt, completely convinced that handing this tiny green tree to your six-month-old daughter is a catastrophic user error. You've spent...

Read more

A slightly calcified cool mist humidifier sitting on a wooden dresser next to a stack of baby blankets

A Letter To Myself About The Baby Humidifier Situation

Dear Jess of last November. You're currently standing in the baby aisle of Target at two in the morning, staring bleary-eyed at a wall of plastic water-blowing machines while your four-month-old sounds like a tiny, asthmatic pug in the shopping...

Read more