Magazine

Tired mom holding a congested baby with a runny nose in a rocking chair

The Messy Truth About Surviving Your Baby's First Rhinovirus

I was sitting in the dark in my rocking chair at three in the morning, holding a six-month-old who sounded exactly like a broken coffee percolator. Snot was literally bubbling out of his left nostril with every breath. My oldest...

Read more

A mother holding a small bottle of infant saline drops next to a congested baby.

Saline Drops for Babies: Surviving the Midnight Snot Triage

The baby monitor is a liar. It amplifies every rustle of a sleep sack until it sounds like a break-in. But at two in the morning, the sound that actually pulls you from your REM cycle is the death rattle....

Read more

A canvas duffel bag quarantined on a hardwood floor next to a washing machine

My Baby Daddy Is A Bed Bug: A Custody Exchange Survival Guide

Dear Priya from last October. You're currently staring at a navy blue canvas duffel bag in the entryway of your Chicago apartment, wondering if you can legally set it on fire. Your baby daddy just pulled away in his Honda....

Read more

Sleep-deprived mom watching an action movie on the couch under an organic cotton blanket.

Watching Movies Like Baby Driver When You Have Actual Babies

It's exactly 10:43 PM on a Tuesday. I'm wearing a faded nursing tank that lost all structural integrity sometime in 2021, and I'm sitting on the exact cushion of our IKEA sectional that smells faintly of old Cheerios and maternal...

Read more

Exhausted mom holding a crying baby in a dimly lit nursery

What Is The Matter Baby? Surviving The 3 AM Newborn Panic Mode

It’s 3:17 AM, and I'm standing in the middle of a nursery that smells vaguely of sour milk and desperation, bouncing my oldest son so hard I’m giving myself shin splints. He is wailing like a banshee. My husband walks...

Read more

A tired dad holding a drooling baby chewing on a silicone panda teether.

Why We Threw Out Our Teething Tablets (And What Actually Works)

It was 3:14 AM on a Tuesday. The crib sheet was basically a swamp of drool, and I was frantically swiping through my phone with my left thumb while bouncing a screaming 6-month-old on my right hip. My brain was...

Read more

A messy bedroom floor with a spilled cup of coffee next to a wooden teething rattle and a smartphone.

Real Talk: The "That's My Baby She's Iconic" Trend Is Exhausting

Dear Sarah from six months ago, You're currently sitting on the edge of the master bathtub at 2:14 AM wearing those gray sweatpants with the bleach stain on the thigh, and you're literally crying into a mug of coffee that...

Read more

Tired mom holding a baby medicine syringe and a bottle of infant acetaminophen.

The 2 AM Fever Breakdown: Honest Advice on Dosage and Spit-Ups

The biggest lie the parenting industry sells us is that the second your kid feels warm to the touch, you need to panic, strip them down, and immediately pump them full of fever reducers. I'm standing here in my laundry...

Read more

Dad holding a congested baby next to a humidifier at night.

The 3 AM Googling Incident: My Real Throat Baby Troubleshooting

It was 3:14 AM when the bassinet started emitting a noise I can only describe as a percolating aquarium filter. Our 11-month-old son was asleep, but he was rattling with every exhale. I grabbed my phone, turned the brightness all...

Read more