Magazine

Priya testing tub water temperature with a newborn in a grey mesh seat

Surviving The Slippery Newborn Phase With A Mesh Seat

My knees were cracking against the cold hexagonal tile of our vintage Chicago apartment bathroom while I gripped a screaming, six-pound human who felt exactly like a wet football covered in olive oil. The tap was running. Steam was fogging...

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Sarah holding a yellow bottle of baby shampoo while her toddler splashes water everywhere in a messy bathtub.

The Big Myth About Johnson Baby Shampoo (And What I Use Now)

I was sitting on the cold, unforgiving bathroom tile in my favorite pair of ancient, bleach-stained yoga pants. It was exactly 8:14 PM on a Tuesday. Maya, who was two at the time and going through a truly unhinged phase...

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A tired mother sitting on the bathroom floor next to an empty baby bathtub

Don't Throw the Baby Out With the Bathwater: Note to Past Priya

It's three in the morning on a Tuesday. You're currently standing over the kitchen garbage can, holding a sleep sack covered in what we clinically refer to as a code brown. You're debating whether to just burn the garment, the...

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Priya inspecting a baby bath tub in a tiled bathroom

The real story on the frida baby bath tub and the daily wash myth

I was standing in my cramped Chicago bathroom at eight in the evening with a slippery, shrieking newborn who looked exactly like a wet baby bat. My mother-in-law was on FaceTime, loudly explaining that he needed this nightly ritual to...

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A tired dad holding two wet towels next to a plastic baby tub

Why the relaxing baby tub routine is actually a massive lie

I'm currently staring at a puddle of lukewarm water slowly seeping into the grout of my bathroom floor, while somewhere in the distance, a rogue rubber duck is wedged firmly behind the loo. My knees are making a noise that...

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A bewildered dad awkwardly testing bath water temperature with his elbow.

Debugging Bath Time: My Quest for a Safe Baby Bathtub

I’m standing over our stainless steel kitchen sink, my heart rate clocking 130 BPM on my smartwatch, holding what can only be described as a furiously squirming, soap-covered water balloon. My wife Sarah is standing exactly two feet to my...

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A damp baby wrapped in a hooded towel looking annoyed on a changing table

Why your baby hates bath time and the truth about baby towels

My mother told me to just wrap him in one of our old faded bath sheets because they're the softest things in the house. The lactation consultant at the clinic said I should only use pure woven muslin imported from...

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Mom testing warm bath water on her wrist before washing her baby

The Nightly Bubble Bath Lie and Finding Safe Soap for Babies

I was standing in the middle of a Target aisle at eight o'clock at night with spit-up down my back, staring blankly at a giant wall of purple, lavender-scented bottles promising me the world. My firstborn was three months old,...

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Exhausted dad kneeling beside a bathtub holding a wet baby wrapped in a towel

Surviving Twin Bath Time And The Suction Cup Seat Illusion

Before I had even figured out how to turn on the taps in a way that wouldn’t instantly scold or freeze my daughters, I was already fielding contradictory instructions from everyone I knew about how to wash them. My mother-in-law...

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