Magazine

Exhausted dad staring at a thermometer while holding a baby

Truths About the RSV Vaccine for Babies (And Surviving Winter)

There's a spectacularly dangerous lie told to first-time parents by well-meaning older relatives, usually delivered over a lukewarm cup of tea. They lean in conspiratorially and tell you that a mild winter cold is actually brilliant for building up a...

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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...

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Twin girls wearing flexible toddler walking shoes in the park

The Great Arch Support Myth and Stride Rite Baby Shoes

The lady in the shoe shop was looking at me with a mixture of pity and mild alarm. I was kneeling on the carpet, wrestling with Twin A's left foot, trying to compress what looked like a perfectly round, dimpled...

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Mom sitting on living room floor surrounded by baby feeding gear and wooden toys.

The Truth Behind the Sugar Baby Movie Hype for Modern Parents

Dear Past Jess, It's two in the morning, and I'm currently sitting on the floor of our living room here in rural Texas, staring at a laundry basket that looks like it's actively reproducing. I'm peeling a mysterious, crusty substance...

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Exhausted mom holding a baby in a dark room watching a micro-drama on her phone

Midnight Feeds & Why Surprise Baby Daddy is the CEO Saved Me

It was 3:14 AM. I know this because I had checked the clock on the microwave four times in the last hour. I was wearing my husband Dave's gray sweatpants—the ones with the mysterious bleach stain on the left knee—and...

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Confused mom looking at baby products on the Target app while drinking coffee

How to Actually Do a Target Baby Registry Search Without Tears

When I was about seven months pregnant with Maya, three different people gave me three completely contradictory pieces of advice about how getting people to buy us newborn gear actually worked. My mother-in-law insisted that guests just walk up to...

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A tired mom holding a newborn baby while surrounded by a pile of unsorted laundry

Surviving The Baby Phase When Everyone Has Different Advice

I was thirty-eight weeks pregnant with my oldest, waddling through the aisles of our local grocery store just trying to buy some Tums, when a woman I had never met in my life stopped me to say I needed to...

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Tom Selleck holding an infant next to modern safe sleep cot guidelines

Watching Three Men And A Baby At 3AM Will Not Calm Your Nerves

Dear Tom of six months ago. You're currently sitting on the sofa in the pitch dark. It's 3:14 AM. You have one twin asleep on your left shoulder, drooling a thick, milky substance onto your only clean t-shirt, and the...

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A bewildered twin dad looking up the three wise men and a baby cast

The Three Wise Men and a Baby Cast: Hollywood Myths and Plaster

It's 3:14 in the morning, and I'm watching three perfectly groomed Canadian actors attempt to figure out how a nappy works while my left shoulder slowly absorbs a terrifying volume of pureed carrot. I'm rewatching the Hallmark holiday juggernaut Three...

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