Magazine

A deeply tired dad holding my baby while staring blankly into the middle distance

Surviving The Absolute Chaos Of The First Year With My Baby

3:14 AM. I'm holding a phone torch in my teeth because the main bulb in the nursery just popped with the sound of a small gunshot, and I'm currently elbow-deep in what can only be described as a biological incident....

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A small infant sleeping safely on a firm flat mattress without blankets

The reality of bringing your preemie baby home from the NICU

The hospital sliding doors open and the winter wind hits your face. You're holding a plastic bucket seat containing a human the size of a standard bag of flour. They told you the discharge paperwork was clear and you could...

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A soft bamboo blanket and organic cotton retro shorts folded on a nursery chair

The tiny tuxedo myth and other hard truths about baby boy gifts

I was sitting at my cousin's baby shower in Naperville last month, watching her unwrap a tiny, stiff tweed blazer. The tags said zero to three months. It had elbow patches. Everyone cooed, but I just stared at it, calculating...

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Priya dealing with the baby boomer age range during a nursery visit

My 2 AM Fight About the Baby Boomer Age Range and Safe Sleep

The radiator in our Chicago apartment was hissing that dry, rhythmic sound it only makes in late January. It was two in the morning. I was standing in the doorway of the nursery, rubbing my eyes, watching my mother try...

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Messy pile of yarn and a half-finished blanket on a living room rug

The Truth About That Heirloom Crochet Baby Blanket

I was thirty-seven weeks pregnant with my oldest, sweating completely through a gray maternity tank top in the middle of a Texas July, when my grandmother proudly pulled a massive, neon-yellow afghan out of a plastic grocery bag. It had...

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A sleeping baby in a crib demonstrating a safe babies only sleep environment

The babies only survival guide for the newborn trenches

Listen. You're standing in the hospital parking lot, staring at a seven-pound human strapped into a car seat that looks like a NASA prototype, and you're realizing the discharge nurse actually let you leave. They just wheeled you out and...

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Dad measuring sound machine volume next to baby crib

Decoding Infant Sleep Audio: My War With Sound Machines

It's 3 AM and I'm hovering over my eleven-month-old's crib with a free NIOSH decibel meter app glowing ominously on my phone, watching the needle spike into the red zone. My wife is standing in the doorway in her robe,...

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A tired mom drinking coffee next to a baby sleeping soundly near a white noise machine in a cozy nursery.

The Messy Truth About White Noise For Babies And Sleep Safety

I was sitting cross-legged on the stained rug of Leo's nursery at like 3:14 AM. I was wearing my husband's college lacrosse hoodie that smelled vaguely of sour milk, and holding my screaming four-week-old, totally convinced I had already broken...

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Tired dad researching the dreamland baby sleep sack at 3am

Why a weighted sleep sack almost broke my parenting resolve

The glow of my phone screen was the only light in the nursery, casting long, vaguely sinister shadows over two cots containing infants who had apparently unionised and agreed to strike against sleep. It was 3:14 in the morning. My...

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