Magazine

A baby gnawing on a large spare rib bone while sitting on a patterned bamboo blanket

The Great BBQ Debate: Ribs and Baby-Led Weaning

Summer in Chicago means the lake breeze is sticky and someone is always firing up a smoker in a park. We were at a family cookout near Montrose Beach last July when my husband's uncle handed my eight-month-old a massive,...

Read more

Mashed ripe pear on a silicone plate next to a baby spoon

Demolishing the First Food Myth: Why You Need A Pear Baby

I was standing in the baby food aisle staring at a nine-dollar pouch of organic Peruvian maca root and wild blueberry puree when I realized we had collectively lost our minds. My six-month-old was sitting in the shopping cart, happily...

Read more

A mom holding a baby while looking confused at a jar of fruit spread and a bag of gummy candies

Sorting Out the Mess: Are Jelly Babies Safe for Your Toddler?

So there I was at our big family barbecue last Sunday, balancing my six-month-old on my hip while trying to wrangle my toddler away from the sprinkler, when the contradictory advice started rolling in. My mom, bless her heart, told...

Read more

Marcus holding a heavily scratched plastic plate next to safe non toxic baby plates.

Debugging Mealtime: The Hunt for Non Toxic Baby Plates

I was standing in our kitchen at 6:15 AM on a Tuesday, holding a steaming "eco-friendly" bamboo baby plate that suddenly smelled exactly like the motherboard I accidentally fried during a college hackathon. My 11-month-old son, Leo, was banging his...

Read more

A baby wearing a dark terry cloth bib while eating pureed sweet potato

LΓ€tzchen Frottee: A letter to my past self about solid foods

Dear Priya from six months ago. You're currently sitting on the kitchen floor wiping sweet potato puree off the baseboards with a dried-out baby wipe while your son cries because he rubbed it into his left eyebrow. You think this...

Read more

Priya holding a stainless steel toddler plate with leftover mac and cheese on a messy kitchen counter

The soapy nightmare that led us to stainless steel toddler plates

Tuesday night, 6:43 PM. Kabir had just aggressively rejected a batch of organic mac and cheese that I spent twenty minutes hiding pureed cauliflower inside. I was standing over the kitchen sink, eating the lukewarm leftovers directly off his favorite...

Read more

A wooden toddler plate with a silicone suction base covered in messy spaghetti.

The Truth About Bamboo Kids Plates (And What Actually Works)

I was standing barefoot in my kitchen at 7:00 AM, staring at a splatter of oatmeal slowly dripping down my newly painted cabinets, while my oldest son looked incredibly proud of his throwing arm. Jackson was two at the time,...

Read more

A messy toddler eating off a divided bamboo plate with a silicone suction base.

Dear Priya: The ugly truth about those bamboo childrens plates

Dear Priya from six months ago. You're currently scraping dried avocado out of the grooves of our dining room floor with a butter knife. Your son is screaming because his water is too wet. You're exhausted. I know you think...

Read more

Baby trying to pry a silicone suction bowl off a wooden highchair tray

Why suction bowls are actually about motor skills, not clean floors

I'm currently scraping dried avocado off the baseboard with a plastic pediatric tongue depressor I stole from my old hospital ward. People think the whole point of a suction bowl is to prevent this exact scenario. They assume it's just...

Read more