Magazine

A textured natural rubber teething ring resting on a knitted baby blanket

Natural Rubber Teethers: The Mistakes I Made Early On

Three in the morning is a bad time to evaluate your parenting choices. The radiator in our Chicago apartment was hissing, my toddler was trying to gnaw his own fist off, and I was frantically digging through the freezer. I...

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A half-chewed natural rubber teething ring sitting on a burp cloth

Why Freezing Your Natural Rubber Teether Is a Terrible Idea

I was standing in my kitchen at 2:14 AM wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt and nursing pads, violently chipping ice off a rubber ring with a butter knife. My oldest son, Leo, was in the background doing that high-pitched,...

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Tired dad holding an 11 month old baby who is happily chewing on his necklace

Dear Past Marcus: You Will Wear Silicone Teething Jewelry

It’s 2:14 PM on a Tuesday, and you’re standing in the kitchen watching Maya try to tape her favorite delicate gold chain back together while our five-month-old daughter looks on with zero remorse. You’re currently thinking, Wow, babies have an...

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A baby chewing on a soft plant-based teething toy in a nursery

The truth about tree sap teethers and your baby's weird fevers

I was staring at a thermometer flashing 102.4 in red, convinced my daughter's bottom lateral incisor was trying to kill her. My mother-in-law had already called twice to tell me it was just teething and I should rub a little...

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A wooden baby rattle next to a digital caliper and a cold cup of coffee

Dear Marcus: Stop Buying Loud Plastic Toys and Read This

Dear Marcus of exactly six months ago, It's 3:14 AM on a Tuesday. You're standing in the dark hallway of your Portland bungalow, clutching a lukewarm bottle of formula, staring at a flashing plastic boombox toy that's aggressively singing "I'M...

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Tired dad holding twin babies in different winter base layers

The Massive Infant Merino Lie That Cost Me Months of Sleep

It's precisely 3:14 am, and I'm standing in a dimly lit nursery holding what feels like a highly agitated, damp jacket potato. Maya, the twin who's currently screaming directly into my left ear canal, is wearing a polyester fleece sleep...

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Crumpled bamboo duvet in a toddler bed next to a stuffed animal

Toddler night sweats, triage, and the bettdecke bambus solution

There's a persistent lie circulating in affluent parenting circles that a natural goose down comforter is the ultimate luxury you can offer a sleeping child. We bought into it. It was early November, the Chicago wind was brutal, and I...

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Toddler wearing a merino wool base layer and sleeping comfortably

Why I Ditched Fleece for Baby Wolle in the Freezing Chicago Winter

It was two in the morning in mid-February. The kind of Chicago night where the wind off Lake Michigan sounds like a structural failure. I reached into the crib and unzipped my son's heavy fleece sleep sack. His chest was...

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Toddler wearing a chunky oversized sweater looking away from camera

The survival guide to the baby knit pullover

It was thirty degrees in Chicago last November, and my fourteen-month-old was doing the alligator death roll on the living room rug. I was attempting to line up three microscopic buttons on a very trendy, very stiff denim jacket his...

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