Why we panic over California Baby and 3 AM skin rashes
Three in the morning on a Tuesday in January. The radiator in my Chicago apartment is clanking like an asthmatic tractor. My toddler is doing the dreaded scratch-dance against the crib rails, sounding like someone dragging sandpaper across a chalkboard....
Why the best baby lotion isn't whatever smells like a powdery dream
I'm holding a violently slippery, screaming seven-month-old who looks like he just lost a street fight with a patch of poison ivy. It's a Tuesday night four years ago, and my oldest sonβwho has served as the trial-by-fire for basically...
My 3 AM Diaper Rash Disaster: The Truth About Water Wipes Baby Care
It's 3:17 AM. My oldest son, Jacksonβwho's basically my walking, talking cautionary tale at this pointβis screaming so loud I'm pretty sure the cows in the pasture next door are waking up. I've got him pinned down on the changing...
Troubleshooting the Sudden Red Bumps on Your Baby's Face
I was shining my iPhone flashlight at my sonβs left cheek at 2:14 AM when my wife gently, but firmly, confiscated my phone. I had been hovering over his crib like a forensic investigator for ten minutes, trying to determine...
Why I Swear By Unscented Aveeno For My Kids Eczema Nightmares
I was halfway down on my left knee, skidding across the wet bathroom linoleum while my oldest screamed bloody murder and thrashed around in what was supposed to be a soothing bedtime soak. It was 2019, my husband was working...
The Brutal Truth About Baby Washcloths And Infant Bath Time
I'm currently staring at a grayish ring of curdled formula trapped in the third chin fold of my toddler. It smells vaguely like a frat house basement. My mother-in-law would probably tell me to fetch the soap and a heavy...
The Ugly Truth About Baby Wash and That Famous Newborn Smell
I was standing in the middle of Target, heavily pregnant with my second, actively sniffing a plastic bottle of yellow shampoo while my oldest kid scratched his eczema patches until they bled. I remember looking at the ingredients list, which...
The Absolute Chaos of Finding a Toddler Boy Sweater That Works
It was 7:42 AM on a Tuesday in late November, and I was standing in the mudroom holding a half-drunk iced Americanoβbecause Iβm an idiot who drinks iced coffee in 38-degree weatherβwrestling Leo into a miniature fishermanβs knit. He was...
My Chicago Winter Blowout and the Perfect Onesies Baby
It was two in the morning inside the Northwestern Memorial Hospital parking garage in late January. The wind off Lake Michigan was doing that thing where it physically hurts your face. My daughter, then six weeks old, had just weaponized...