Magazine

A tired dad holding a paint swatch next to a crib with baby blue bedding

Why the Baby Blue Color Is More Than Just a 90s Nursery Cliche

I was standing in the middle of our empty guest roomβ€”soon to be the nurseryβ€”holding a paint swatch that looked like a depressed smurf. It was 2 AM, I was aggressively caffeinated, and my wife, Sarah, was staring at me...

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Tired mom holding a sleeping baby in a bamboo wrap doing a crossword puzzle

Dear Exhausted Jess: The Baby Beluga Magic You Need Right Now

Dear Jess from six months ago. You're sobbing into a sour-smelling burp cloth right now. It's 3:14 AM. The baby is doing that rigid-plank scream that makes your own spine ache, the toddler is asleep in the hallway for some...

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The Nanit baby monitor set up over a wooden crib in a rural Texas nursery

The Brutally Honest Truth About the Nanit Baby Monitor System

When I was pregnant with my first, I got three entirely different pieces of advice about watching your kid sleep in the span of one afternoon. My mom, bless her heart, told me to just leave the bedroom door cracked...

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Tired mom sitting in a nursery glider rocking a baby to sleep in the dark

How to Actually Use Lullabies Without Losing Your Mind

It was 3:14 AM with my oldest, Carter, and the nursery glider was making this rhythmic, high-pitched squeak that felt like it was drilling directly into my skull. My throat was completely raw from singing "You Are My Sunshine" for...

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Tired mom holding a newborn baby in a dark nursery illuminated by a soft red nightlight.

What Baby Justin Bieber Taught Me About 3 AM Survival

It was 3:17 AM, and I was wearing my husband Dave’s oversized college hoodie that smelled faintly of sour milk and complete desperation. Leo, who was exactly four weeks and two days old at the time, was doing that arching-back,...

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Tired British dad looking at a baby monitor while holding a cold coffee

Baby Got Back: Surviving Sleep Paranoia and Toddler Defiance

My mother-in-law cornered me in the kitchen on day three of fatherhood to firmly insist that babies must sleep on their fronts, otherwise they'll choke on their own spit-up and perish before dawn. The NHS health visitor, who arrived three...

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Exhausted dad staring at a pile of different tog rated infant sleeping pouches

The Great Baby Sleep Sack Delusion (And What Actually Works)

Before the twins arrived, my wife and I spent an embarrassing amount of time folding beautifully crocheted, pastel-coloured blankets over the edge of their cots. I had this distinct, cinematic vision of fatherhood where I'd gently tuck a cellular quilt...

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A baby sleeping safely in a crib wearing a comfortable sleep sack without any loose blankets

The Truth About The Kyte Baby Sleep Sack Drama

It was two in the morning in late November. The wind coming off Lake Michigan was rattling our bedroom windows like it wanted to pick a fight, and I was standing in the dark bathroom aiming a hairdryer at a...

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Tired dad looking at a baby monitor screen in a dark Portland nursery

Debugging the erratic hardware of your newborn's respiratory system

My mother-in-law confidently told me that if the nursery is completely quiet, the baby is sleeping perfectly and I should go make a sandwich. My lead developer at work, however, told me that I needed to purchase a hospital-grade under-mattress...

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