Magazine

Baby getting temperature checked by mom with a digital thermometer

The Unfiltered Guide to Decoding Your Baby's Temperature Reality

Three days after bringing my son home, I was standing in the middle of my living room holding three different thermometers, staring at a baby who looked perfectly fine but felt like a baked potato. My mother-in-law was hovering over...

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A simple nursery setup with a wooden crib and neutral bedding

The Only Survival Gear You Actually Need for a Newborn

I was standing in the middle of aisle four with that stupid plastic scanning gun in my hand, watching my husband happily zap a $400 wipe warmer. I had to physically pry the scanner out of his grip. My brain...

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Exhausted mom looking at a mountain of scattered infant gear in her living room

The Brutal Truth About Baby Products From A Tired Nurse

It was 3:14 AM on a Tuesday. I was sitting on my Chicago apartment floor surrounded by thirty-two cardboard boxes of varying sizes, smelling vaguely of spit-up and fenugreek. My son was three weeks old and screaming in that specific...

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A tired mom holding three different types of baby pacifiers in her hand.

The Brutal Truth About Pacifiers When Everyone Has an Opinion

I was sitting in the hospital bed on day two with my oldest, icing parts of my body I didn't know could swell, when the advice assault began. The hospital lactation consultant pointed a stern finger at my overnight bag...

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A confused mom looking at tiny baby mittens while holding a cold coffee

Dear Past Me: The Ugly, Honest Truth About Useless Baby Mittens

Dear Sarah from exactly six months ago, You're standing in your sister's nursery, surrounded by a mountain of crumpled tissue paper and tiny, impossibly small socks. You're holding a little mesh bag of baby mβ€”wait, what are these even called?...

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A folded stack of soft earth-toned organic baby bodysuits and blankets

The Honest Truth About Switching to Neutral Baby Clothing Basics

I'm standing in my laundry room right now, staring at a hot pink, tulle-skirted monstrosity that says "Daddy's Little Princess" in scratchy sequins. My oldest daughter wore it exactly once. She screamed for forty-five minutes straight until her face was...

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Exhausted mom holding a crying newborn baby in a swaddle while standing in a messy living room

The Happiest Baby Guide for Exhausted, Sleep-Deprived Parents

It was 3:17 AM in the dead of a humid Texas summer, and I was standing in my living room wearing a nursing tank that smelled strongly of sour milk, doing frantic deep knee bends while aggressively hissing into my...

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A tired mom checking her phone to find out how old is lil baby at 3 am

Figuring out exactly how old is lil baby and surviving year one

It's 3:17 AM in Chicago. The radiator is hissing. I'm sitting in a glider that smells faintly of sour milk, staring at my phone. I'm so violently sleep-deprived that I've somehow fallen down a Wikipedia rabbit hole trying to figure...

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A tired mother sitting on bathroom floor organizing infant skincare products

Mustela Baby Skincare: A Letter To My Exhausted Past Self

You're sitting on the cold hexagon tiles of our Chicago bathroom right now. It's three in the morning. The baby is screaming in the tub. His skin looks like an angry, red topographic map of the Rockies, and you're staring...

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