Magazine

Exhausted dad figuring out the correct medication dosage for his sick baby at night.

Tylenol for Babies: What I Wish I Knew Before the 3 AM Fever Spike

Dear Marcus from six months ago. You're currently standing barefoot on the cold hardwood floor of the nursery at 3:17 AM. You're holding a sticky plastic syringe filled with an unnervingly bright purple liquid. Your wife is gently rocking a...

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Exhausted dad in a dark nursery holding a crying baby

The 3 AM Baby Handoff Protocol: Surviving The Night Shift As A Dad

It was 3:14 AM on a Tuesday, and I was holding my son like he was a live grenade with a faulty pin. He had been screaming for forty-five straight minutes. I had run through the standard troubleshooting checklist: diaper...

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Jess messy living room with kids playing independently on a bamboo blanket

How I Finally Learned To Say Don't Worry Baby To My Own Brain

I was hunched over the bassinet at 3:14 AM with my phone flashlight covered by two of my fingers, desperately counting the seconds between my oldest son's breaths. I had convinced myself that because he paused his breathing for seven...

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A confused dad looking at a bottle of plant-based baby oil next to a baby bath

Troubleshooting Dry Skin: What Is Baby Oil Actually Used For

It was exactly 68 degrees in the postpartum recovery room. I know this because the wall thermostat was the only illuminated object I had stared at for the previous four hours while my wife finally slept. I was holding a...

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A tired dad in a Portland coffee shop reading a stack of colorful baby books next to a sleeping infant.

My Search for the Best Baby Books (A Warning to Past Marcus)

Dear Marcus from exactly 182 days ago: I'm looking directly at the memory of you slicing open an Amazon box on the kitchen island at 2:14 AM. It contains six different hardcovers claiming to hold the ultimate algorithm for newborn...

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Exhausted mom holding a crying newborn in a dark nursery

Dear Past Me: Just Buy the Damn Baby Shusher and Go to Sleep

Dear Sarah from exactly six months ago, It's 2:14 AM in your sister’s guest bedroom. You're wearing Dave's oversized Villanova hoodie that has a suspicious hardened crust on the left sleeve, and you're literally lightheaded from blowing air out of...

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A messy living room showing the reality of a newborn baby invasion with scattered burp cloths and sleep sacks.

Surviving the Real Baby Invasion Without Completely Losing Your Mind

It was day four. The milk had just come in. My living room was littered with breast pump parts, half-empty water bottles, and those terrible mesh hospital underwear. My husband was sitting on the edge of the sofa, bathed in...

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An exhausted mom sitting on the nursery floor holding a crying newborn baby in the middle of the night.

Baby I'm Yours: The Real Cost of Bringing Your First Home

I vividly remember sitting in the driver's seat of my beat-up Ford Escape in a sweltering South Texas Target parking lot, nine months pregnant with my oldest. The air conditioner was fighting for its life, and I was blasting my...

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A tiny plush elf doll sitting next to an 11-month-old infant who looks completely bewildered.

Debugging the Holiday Magic: Our First Baby Elf Setup

"Put it on the mantle so he knows Santa is watching," my mother told me on Thanksgiving, handing me a felt doll with suspicious eyes and unnaturally long limbs. "Don't bring that surveillance state psychological warfare into your home," my...

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