Magazine

A confused dad tangled in a long piece of soft fabric trying to figure out a baby carrier.

Solly Baby Wrap Setup: A Dad's Guide to Not Dropping the Kid

It was raining, because it's always raining in Portland, and I was standing next to my Subaru holding a screaming eight-pound potato while seventeen feet of buttery soft fabric aggressively soaked up a puddle of dirty rainwater. My wife watched...

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Overwhelmed mother trying to quiet a crying baby at a formal event

The Real Shiva Baby Dilemma: Taking Infants to Solemn Events

"Leave 'em at the house," my grandma told me over the phone, her voice crackling through the spotty rural Texas cell service. "Take them, babies represent the circle of life!" my mother-in-law insisted the very next day while aggressively shoving...

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A sleeping newborn baby wrapped in a soft blanket

What no one tells you about bringing a jaundice baby home

My mother-in-law told me to put him in the living room window like a houseplant. The hospital lactation consultant told me to feed him until my nipples literally fell off. My deeply sleep-deprived husband downloaded three different tracking apps, poking...

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Stressed mother sitting on a couch checking a video baby monitor in the dark

Why the movie Gone Baby Gone triggered my newborn panic mode

The monitor was finally silent. Kabir had been fighting sleep for three hours, doing that rigid back-arching exorcist move every time I tried to lower him into the crib. My husband and I slumped onto the couch in the dark,...

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A tired father holding a smartphone while two toddlers play in the background

The Erika Kirk Third Baby Rumour And My Doomscrolling Panic

Whatever you do, absolutely don't lie in bed at 4:13 in the morning with one eye clamped shut to preserve your night vision while violently trying to extract a heavily chewed dummy from beneath a sleeping toddler, only to open...

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Exhausted dad staring at his smartphone while holding a sleeping baby

Troubleshooting Da Baby: A Clueless Dad's System Log

I was standing over the bassinet at 3:14 AM holding a digital meat thermometer near my son's forehead, completely convinced his baseline operating temperature was running too hot. He was wearing a heavy fleece onesie in late August because I...

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Exhausted dad holding a baby while looking at a smartphone in a dark nursery

How a 3AM "CD Baby" Mix-Up Accidentally Fixed Our Sleep

The nursery thermostat read exactly 69.5 degrees, the humidifier was pumping at a steady 40 percent output, and my 11-week-old daughter was emitting a continuous, high-pitched frequency that felt like it was physically vibrating my teeth. It was 3:14 AM...

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A disassembled plastic doll sitting next to a damp cloth and forceps

The surgical reality of buying a baby alive doll for your kid

It's eleven at night. The lighting in my guest bathroom is deeply unflattering. I'm holding a pair of stainless steel tweezers in my right hand and my phone flashlight in my left. Pinned firmly beneath my elbow is a rigid...

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Baby doing a mini push-up on a living room rug trying to roll over

The 2 AM Panic: When Your Little One Finally Flips Over

It was exactly 2:13 AM on a Tuesday when the illusion of control in my parenting life officially shattered. My oldest, Leo—who's now five and still my primary cautionary tale for most things in life—was three and a half months...

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