Magazine

Toddler wearing a merino wool base layer and sleeping comfortably

Why I Ditched Fleece for Baby Wolle in the Freezing Chicago Winter

It was two in the morning in mid-February. The kind of Chicago night where the wind off Lake Michigan sounds like a structural failure. I reached into the crib and unzipped my son's heavy fleece sleep sack. His chest was...

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A wooden bunny baby rassel resting on a messy living room rug

Surviving the Night with a Baby Rassel: Why Simple Toys Win

The digital clock on the microwave glared at me in aggressive, glowing red numbers: 3:14 AM. I was standing barefoot in a puddle of something unidentifiable (let's optimistically call it water) while holding a screaming two-year-old who was currently producing...

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Baby wearing a thin organic cotton sweater over a base layer in a car seat

Dear past Priya: A winter reality check about baby knits

Dear Priya from six months ago. You're currently standing in the baby aisle of a boutique in Lincoln Park, heavily pregnant, holding a chunky cable-knit wool outfit that costs more than your monthly parking spot. The wind is howling off...

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Toddler wearing a long sleeve smock covered in spaghetti sauce.

The aesthetic feeding myth and why you need a lΓ€tzli mit Γ€rmel

Instagram sells this absolute lie that babies learning to eat is a minimalist, beige-hued journey of discovery. The video always starts with a perfectly clean child in a ribbed neutral outfit, sitting in a wooden high chair. They gently mouth...

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A crumpled bamboo baby blanket draped over the arm of a wooden nursery rocker.

The Truth About Baby Blankets (And Why Your Crib Looks So Sad)

I remember standing in my oldest son's nursery at 38 weeks pregnant, crying actual hormonal tears of pride because the crib looked like a freaking Pottery Barn catalog. I had a thick quilt neatly folded at the bottom, a perfectly...

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Marcus's baby wearing a heavily textured organic cotton sweater in Portland.

A Dad's Guide to Surviving the Chunky Knit Sweater Trend

It was a standard damp November Tuesday in Portland when my kid’s winter wardrobe triggered a minor family crisis. My mother texted me a photo of my son in a thin cotton bodysuit with the caption, "Put a thick sweater...

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A dad clumsily trying to fold a muslin blanket around his baby

Debugging the Swaddle: When and How Long to Wrap Your Baby

My mom told me to wrap her tight enough to bounce a quarter off her stomach. The lactation consultant we saw on day three said her hands absolutely needed to be up by her face so she could self-soothe. Then...

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Baby in a ribbed organic cotton shirt sleeping on a playmat

Surviving the newborn clothing trap and the truth about baby shirts

The meconium was somehow behind his left ear. I was twenty-four hours postpartum, sitting in a dimly lit Chicago hospital room, trying to remove a rigid, non-stretch cotton collar from my son's wobbly, grapefruit-sized head without getting the black tar-like...

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Toddler wearing a chunky oversized sweater looking away from camera

The survival guide to the baby knit pullover

It was thirty degrees in Chicago last November, and my fourteen-month-old was doing the alligator death roll on the living room rug. I was attempting to line up three microscopic buttons on a very trendy, very stiff denim jacket his...

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