Magazine

Tired mom staring at a wall of infant probiotic drops in a pharmacy aisle

The Huge Lie About Infant Gut Health And What We Actually Did

It was 3:14 AM on a Tuesday, and I was wearing Dave's old college sweatshirt that smelled faintly of spit-up and big despair. I was holding our four-month-old, Maya, who was doing that terrifying rigid-board back-arch thing while screaming at...

Read more

A blurry infrared night vision view of a baby sleeping peacefully in a crib

Why Dumb Tech Is Actually Better for Your Baby's Sleep

It was 2:14 AM and my phone was glowing an angry, pulsating red. The oxygen alarm was going off. I basically vaulted over my sleeping wife, kicked a laundry basket into the hallway wall, and burst into the nursery expecting...

Read more

A tired mom looking at her phone next to a glowing green Owlet base station

The Truth About the Owlet Baby Monitor for Anxious Parents

It was 2:18 AM on a random Tuesday in November, and I was sitting on the very edge of our mattress in a milk-stained maternity bra and my husband's gray sweatpants, just openly staring at a softly glowing green ring...

Read more

Tired mother holding a baby with a spit-up cloth over her shoulder

The ugly truth about reflux in babies and the endless laundry

A mom came into the pediatric ER at two in the morning a few years ago carrying a bassinet mattress that looked like it had been constructed into a crude ski ramp. She was exhausted, practically vibrating with anxiety, and...

Read more

Mom rocking her baby to sleep in a dimly lit nursery chair

Rockabye Baby: The Unfiltered Truth About 3 AM Infant Sleep

I was sitting in the dark at 3:14 AM with my oldest, Jackson, smelling vaguely of sour milk and utter desperation, rhythmically swaying in a hand-me-down wooden glider that shrieked on every single backswing. I was humming the only tune...

Read more

Marcus holding his screaming infant in a dark nursery next to a glowing white noise machine.

Checking For Shaken Baby Syndrome Symptoms At 3 AM Is Terrifying

It was 3:14 AM on a Tuesday, and the decibel meter app on my Apple Watch was aggressively tapping my wrist to warn me about prolonged exposure to loud environments. My son was hitting 92 decibels. I was doing this...

Read more

A tired mom holding her newborn waiting for a real smile

The waiting game of motherhood: exactly when do babies smile

I was hanging over the bassinet at three in the morning making a sound I can only describe as a dying seal. Day forty-two of my maternity leave. I smelled like sour milk and desperation. I had spent the last...

Read more

Pregnant mother holding a tiny organic bodysuit looking anxiously at her belly

The Midnight Panic: When Your Kid Finally Starts Kicking In There

It was exactly 2:14 AM. I know this because I was staring obsessively at the red digital clock on our microwave while sitting cross-legged on the kitchen floor. I was wearing my husband’s oversized, threadbare college t-shirt, crying softly into...

Read more

Exhausted mother holding a screaming infant in a dark nursery

When your sweet newborn suddenly turns into an actual baby demon

It was exactly 6:43 PM on a Tuesday in November. The radiators in our Chicago apartment were clanking the way they always do when the wind picks up. My sweet three-month-old daughter, who had spent the entire morning peacefully cooing...

Read more