Magazine

Mother checking diaper for yellow watery diarrhea in babies

Yellow Watery Diarrhea in Babies: What I Learned at 3 AM

2:14 AM. Chicago winter. The sound from the bassinet wasn't a cry, it was a wet, unmistakable explosion. I turned on the dim nursery lamp and found my previously pristine infant lying in what looked like a puddle of melted...

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Mom looking at phone confused by baby doll lingerie search results

The 3 AM baby doll lingerie search trap and safe sleep reality

My thumb hovered over the phone screen while my two-month-old used my left shoulder as a mattress. It was three in the morning. I was trying to remember if I gave him his baby d drops, while simultaneously trying to...

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Baby lifting chest on a wooden play gym mat during tummy time

The Truth About Baby Cobra: Tummy Time Pushes and Insurance Panic

I was sitting at the kitchen table, staring at a stack of medical bills and listening to hold music from my insurance provider, while my four-month-old was face-planted on the rug trying to lift his unnervingly heavy head. The biggest...

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Stressed dad holding a calm 4-month-old baby girl after getting her ears pierced.

How We Survived Baby Ear Piercing: A Clueless Dad's Field Guide

I was sweating completely through my gray flannel shirt while sitting on that crinkly white paper they put over pediatric exam tables, gripping a color-coded spreadsheet I'd made about titanium purity levels. My wife, Sarah, was sitting next to me...

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Exhausted mom holding a wide awake baby in a dark nursery at 3 AM.

Baby I'm Preying On You Tonight: Surviving Sleep Regressions

It was 3:14 AM on a Tuesday, and I was pinned to the squeaky gray glider in our nursery wearing a nursing tank that smelled strongly of sour milk and desperation. My son Leo was exactly four months old, and...

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First time dad holding his baby who is wearing a cranial therapy helmet

The Panic Over Getting a Baby Helmet for Flat Head Syndrome

Dr. Lin pulled out a pair of large plastic calipers, and my stomach immediately dropped. We were at the four-month checkup, and I had fully expected a standard firmware update—weigh him, check his reflexes, use the scheduled vaccines, and send...

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Maya watching a baby manatee video on my phone while holding her silicone panda teether

When A Therapy App And A Literal Baby Manatee Saved My Sanity

It was 7:14 AM on a Tuesday, and I was standing in my kitchen wearing my husband's ancient Boston College hoodie. The one that has a crusty, mysterious stain on the left cuff that could be hummus, could be dried...

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Toddler looking at a baby ostrich through a car window at a drive-through safari

Surviving a Baby Ostrich Encounter With Your Sanity Intact

Before we packed up the minivan to visit the drive-through wildlife ranch out by the highway last weekend, I managed to get three entirely contradictory pieces of advice about the ostriches. My mom, bless her heart, told me on the...

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A tired mom holding her five month old baby who is chewing on a wooden teething ring.

Surviving the 5 Month Old Baby Chaos Without Losing Your Mind

It was 2:14 AM on a Tuesday, and I was standing in the dark staring at the video monitor like it was a horror movie. My middle child, who up until that week had been a perfectly stationary potato, was...

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