Keeping your real newborn alive during the plastic toy craze
My mother-in-law told me to rub mustard oil in the baby's ears to prevent winter infections. My old charge nurse swore I had to wake him every two hours on the dot or his blood sugar would tank. The barista...
The Kentucky Cheerleader Case: Hidden Pregnancy and Safe Sleep
The biggest myth parents believe is that concealed pregnancies only happen in made-for-tv movies or to families who never speak to each other. We sit around in our comfortable living rooms and tell ourselves we'd instantly know if our own...
Navigating the Overwhelming Baby Industry Without Losing Your Mind
I'm currently staring at a mountain of mismatched Paw Patrol socks on my living room floor, trying to fold laundry before my toddler wakes up, and my phone just buzzed with a notification from a parenting app I forgot I...
A Pediatric Nurse's Honest Guide to a Safe Bassinet for Baby
My C-section incision felt like a literal line of fire. It was 3 a.m. on night four of being a mother, and my son was wailing from the depths of a wicker nightmare. My mother-in-law had brought over her family...
The 3 AM Baby Vicks Rub Panic and How I Finally Got My Kid to Sleep
It was exactly 3:14 AM on a Tuesday in mid-November, and I was standing in the middle of the nursery wearing yesterday’s yoga pants with an unidentifiable crusty stain on the knee, holding a half-empty mug of room-temperature coffee that...
The Best Sleeping Position For Baby With Stuffy Nose Resolved
It was 3:14 AM, the cool-mist humidifier was blasting enough vapor to make the nursery look like a 90s music video, and my eleven-month-old sounded exactly like a broken espresso machine. Every inhale was a wet, whistling rattle. Every exhale...
Baby The Stars Shine Bright: Nursery Decor And Sleep Realities
Listen, it was three in the morning in my Chicago apartment and the walls were pulsing with neon green and blue nebulas. I was holding a screaming seven-month-old while a plastic dome on the dresser whirred loudly, projecting a highly...
Dear Exhausted Jess: What I Wish I Knew About Bamboo Baby Sleepers
You're sitting on the edge of the glider at 2:14 AM, staring at the baby monitor like it's a crystal ball that might magically reveal why the baby just woke up for the fourth time since midnight. Your coffee from...
The Messy, Exhausting Truth About Getting Your Baby to Sleep
It was 3:14 AM on a Tuesday, and I was sitting frozen on the floor of the nursery, holding my breath because my knee had just popped. I knew if my oldest son, Leo, heard that tiny joint crack and...