Magazine

Mom sitting on the floor with baby surrounded by scattered colorful baby blocks

The Big Myth About Childrens Stacking Blocks

I'm currently sitting on the floor of my living room, nursing a bruised heel because I just stepped on a rogue wooden square while carrying a laundry basket the size of a small car. My youngest, who's nine months old,...

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A minimalist wooden baby play gym set up on a soft living room rug.

Why I Finally Ditched the Neon Plastic Baby Play Gym

It was a Tuesday, roughly 2:15 PM in late October 2017. Maya was exactly fourteen weeks old, and I was wearing a pair of dark grey maternity leggings that I had absolutely no intention of retiring anytime soon. They had...

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Baby chewing on a wooden rattle while lying on a playmat

Finding the right Rassel fΓΌr Babys without losing your mind

When Maya was about twelve weeks old, my mother-in-law marched into my kitchen and handed me a literal sterling silver rattle that weighed as much as a kettlebell. "It's an heirloom," she whispered reverently, tracing the engraved initials of some...

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A muddy toddler wearing yellow rain boots standing in a puddle next to a wooden toy.

Why Most Plastic Backyard Toys Are Trash (And What Actually Lasts)

It was three o'clock on a Tuesday in late July, it was roughly a hundred and two degrees in the shade, and I was standing in my backyard holding a piece of jagged neon green plastic that used to be...

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Two toddlers playing with wooden shape sorters on a living room rug

Why Wooden Toys for a 1-Year-Old Might Actually Save Your Sanity

It's 5:42 am on a Tuesday, and I'm currently staring at a plastic farm animal that has been singing the same off-key rendition of 'Old MacDonald' for fourteen consecutive minutes. Maya has her tiny foot firmly planted on the cow...

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A wooden and crochet rattle sitting on a minimalist nursery rug.

Why Your Plastic Baby Rattle Might Be A Terrible Idea

My mother-in-law brought over a solid silver shaker straight from a jeweler in Delhi. A woman in my mom group swore by a terrifying plastic monstrosity that flashed strobe lights and played generic techno beats. My doctor looked at both...

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A tired dad holding a wooden baby rattle while twin infants sit on a neutral playmat.

The newborn rattle timeline from potato stage to blunt force trauma

I was standing in the kitchen at 4am, holding a plastic object that resembled a neon torture device, trying to work out why my three-week-old daughters were actively ignoring it. It was a Tuesday. Or possibly a Thursday. Time becomes...

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A simple wooden baby rattle resting on a crumpled organic cotton blanket.

What I wish I knew about the holz babyrassel as a first toy

I was sitting on my living room floor at three in the morning, staring at a battery-operated plastic cow that was playing a distorted, low-battery version of a nursery rhyme on a terrifying loop. My son Dev was screaming. The...

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A baby chewing on a silicone panda teether while sitting on a playmat.

The Brutal Truth About Buying Safe Non Toxic Teethers Today

Your mother-in-law is convinced the baby's 102-degree fever and explosive blowout are just teething signs. I've seen a thousand of these exact cases roll through the pediatric triage desk, usually accompanied by a panicked parent holding a drool-soaked infant at...

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