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baby sleepdevelopmentfourth trimesterlate nightmusicroutines
Exhausted mother holding baby in dim nursery while singing lullabies

The absolute truth about lullabies for babies and infant sleep

I'm standing in the middle of our Chicago apartment and the radiator is hissing that metallic, dry heat sound. It's 3:14 in the morning. My son is four months old, his face is the color of a bruised plum, and...

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A tired father holding two identical twin baby girls in his living room

The Oh Baby Illusion And The Messy Reality Of Your First Year

I was standing in the kitchen at half-past three in the morning, staring blankly at the leftover winnie the pooh baby shower invitations still pinned to our fridge. They were beautiful, really. Pristine cardstock, muted pastel colours, a delicate little...

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Tired mom staring at a wall of infant probiotic drops in a pharmacy aisle

The Huge Lie About Infant Gut Health And What We Actually Did

It was 3:14 AM on a Tuesday, and I was wearing Dave's old college sweatshirt that smelled faintly of spit-up and big despair. I was holding our four-month-old, Maya, who was doing that terrifying rigid-board back-arch thing while screaming at...

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A blurry infrared night vision view of a baby sleeping peacefully in a crib

Why Dumb Tech Is Actually Better for Your Baby's Sleep

It was 2:14 AM and my phone was glowing an angry, pulsating red. The oxygen alarm was going off. I basically vaulted over my sleeping wife, kicked a laundry basket into the hallway wall, and burst into the nursery expecting...

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A tired mom looking at her phone next to a glowing green Owlet base station

The Truth About the Owlet Baby Monitor for Anxious Parents

It was 2:18 AM on a random Tuesday in November, and I was sitting on the very edge of our mattress in a milk-stained maternity bra and my husband's gray sweatpants, just openly staring at a softly glowing green ring...

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Tired mother holding a baby with a spit-up cloth over her shoulder

The ugly truth about reflux in babies and the endless laundry

A mom came into the pediatric ER at two in the morning a few years ago carrying a bassinet mattress that looked like it had been constructed into a crude ski ramp. She was exhausted, practically vibrating with anxiety, and...

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Mom rocking her baby to sleep in a dimly lit nursery chair

Rockabye Baby: The Unfiltered Truth About 3 AM Infant Sleep

I was sitting in the dark at 3:14 AM with my oldest, Jackson, smelling vaguely of sour milk and utter desperation, rhythmically swaying in a hand-me-down wooden glider that shrieked on every single backswing. I was humming the only tune...

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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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A tired mom holding her newborn waiting for a real smile

The waiting game of motherhood: exactly when do babies smile

I was hanging over the bassinet at three in the morning making a sound I can only describe as a dying seal. Day forty-two of my maternity leave. I smelled like sour milk and desperation. I had spent the last...

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