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A messy pile of folded organic cotton and bamboo receiving blankets on a nursery chair

Stop Trying to Swaddle With a Receiving Blanket

It was 3 AM in late January. The wind off Lake Michigan was rattling our bedroom windows, and my daughter was doing the newborn startle reflex thing. She looked like she was trying to conduct a tiny, frantic orchestra in...

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A dad looking confused holding a personalized baby swaddle in a nursery

The Real Reason Babies Never Actually Sleep With Custom Blankets

There's a massive disconnect between the baby gear you think you need before the kid arrives and the reality of keeping a tiny human alive. Before our son Leo was born, my mental image of fatherhood involved a lot of...

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A highly skeptical baby staring at a brightly coloured hand-crafted blanket

The Truth About Crocheted Baby Blankets (And Keeping Toes Attached)

It was 2am, roughly six weeks before the twins were due, and I was sweating profusely over a plastic hook and a spool of aggressively yellow yarn. I had somehow convinced myself that real fatherhood began with mastering basic patterns...

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Jess folding a gender neutral baby blanket in a woodland themed nursery.

The 2024 Chinese Gender Calendar: My Costly First Trimester Mistake

When I was six weeks pregnant with my oldest, I was standing in my kitchen eating a dry piece of toast, trying to hold down my breakfast, when the unsolicited advice started rolling in. My mom walked in, took one...

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A messy pile of organic cotton yarn next to a half-finished crochet baby project.

Dear Past Jess: The Brutal Truth About Crochet Baby Blankets

You're currently sitting on the floor of the nursery surrounded by fifty dollars worth of mustard yellow yarn, crying because you dropped a stitch four rows back. I know this because I was you exactly six months ago, hugely pregnant...

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A dad looking confused while holding knitting needles and tangled merino wool.

Why I Attempted Babydecke Stricken (And Almost Lost My Mind)

My mother-in-law slapped a skein of neon acrylic on our kitchen island and told me it was indestructible. Three hours later, the guy at the local Portland yarn shop looked at me like I'd asked to poison the water supply...

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A pile of square baby blankets next to a folded sleep sack on a crib mattress

My honest guide to receiving blankets versus swaddles at 2 AM

I was aggressively stuffing those white and pink-striped hospital blankets into my duffel bag while my husband stood by the door acting as a lookout. I was a pediatric nurse for five years before having my son. I knew exactly...

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A half-finished chunky knit baby blanket on a messy living room floor next to a coffee cup

What I Wish I Knew Before Knitting With Bernat Baby Blanket Yarn

Dear Sarah from six months ago, You're currently standing in aisle four of the craft store. It’s raining outside, you’re wearing those black leggings with the mystery yogurt stain on the left thigh, and you're staring blindly at a mountain...

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A folded organic cotton blanket with a baby name embroidered on it resting on a wooden chair.

The reality of personalized blankets with names for your baby

I was standing over a donation bin at three in the afternoon, aggressively stuffing a neon pink minky fleece throw into a plastic bag. It was a gift from a distant relative, given to me three months before my daughter...

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