Magazine

Tired dad staring at a massive stack of newborn baby diapers.

System Error: What I Wish I Knew About Newborn Diapers

Dear Marcus from eleven months ago. You're currently standing in the Target diaper aisle, holding your phone open to a highly formatted Google Sheet. You have calculated that based on an average output of 8.4 voids per day, you need...

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A dad looking nervously at his baby's head while holding a bottle

The terrified dad guide to touching that pulsing spot on their head

I was exactly three weeks into this whole fatherhood experiment when my wife, Sarah, handed me a wet washcloth during bath time and casually asked me to wash the top of his head. I froze, holding the damp fabric like...

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Close up of a confused dad holding a baby with a small red spot on their cheek.

Troubleshooting the Sudden Red Bumps on Your Baby's Face

I was shining my iPhone flashlight at my son’s left cheek at 2:14 AM when my wife gently, but firmly, confiscated my phone. I had been hovering over his crib like a forensic investigator for ten minutes, trying to determine...

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Mom holding a crying baby in a rocking chair at night while singing a lullaby

Why Nursery Rhymes For Babies Actually Work Better Than White Noise

It was 3:17 AM in the dead heat of a Texas July, the cicadas were screaming outside my window, and my oldest son Liam was screaming even louder right directly into my collarbone. I had sour milk on my shirt,...

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A tired mom applying baby oil gel to her squirmy infant after bath time.

The Honest Truth About Using Baby Oil Gel on Newborns

My mother-in-law told me to massage my son in warm mustard oil until he resembled a glazed donut. My favorite attending physician from the pediatric ward said to stick to dry air and benign neglect. The internet moms told me...

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A tiny black portable breast pump sitting next to a half-empty cup of cold coffee

The 3AM Pumping Crisis and the Tiny Machine That Saved Us

The kitchen tiles in our London flat are roughly the temperature of a mortuary slab at 2:14 in the morning. I know this because I was lying face down on them last Tuesday, desperately searching for a microscopic silicone membrane...

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A tired mother checking a baby diaper on a changing table

The Ultimate Baby Poop Chart: A Letter to My Anxious Past Self

Listen, Priya of six months ago. You're currently standing in the semi-darkness of our freezing Chicago apartment at three in the morning, holding a soiled diaper mere inches from your face. You have your phone flashlight clamped between your teeth....

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A sleeping newborn with arms extended in a sudden Moro startle reflex

Before And After Nursing School: The Truth About Baby Reflexes

I dropped a metal travel mug on our hardwood floor at two in the morning. The sound echoed like a gunshot through our cramped Chicago apartment. My two-week-old son, who was dead asleep on his back in the bassinet, violently...

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A stack of addressed baby announcement cards sitting on a messy wooden table next to a half-empty chai mug.

Baby Announcement Cards: A Postpartum Letter To My Past Self

It's two in the morning. The Chicago winter wind is rattling the bedroom window, and I'm staring at a stack of heavy-stock envelopes sitting next to a cold mug of chai. My breast pump is making that rhythmic, dying-cow sound....

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