The Newborn Weeks
Nobody warns you about the two-week visitor wave
Everyone who wants to meet the baby wants to meet it at roughly the same time, and that time is the fortnight you are least able to…
My John Baby — The first year, one week at a time
The Newborn Weeks
The fourth trimester is a framing, not a diagnosis, and it helps anyway
The idea that a newborn spends three months finishing something it started inside is not a clinical category. It is a way of adjusting expectations that happens to fit what the first weeks feel like.
Latest
Browse everything →
The Newborn Weeks
The first fortnight at home is a logistics problem nobody set up for you
Almost none of the difficulty in the first two weeks is about the baby. It is about a household that was arranged for two competent…
The Newborn Weeks
Newborns make far more noise asleep than anyone tells you
A sleeping newborn grunts, snuffles, squeaks and rearranges itself continuously. First-time parents spend weeks reacting to sounds…
The Newborn Weeks
Who checks on a newborn in the early weeks, and what they are looking at
In most countries a set of professionals passes through the first weeks in a defined order. Knowing who they are makes it far…
The Newborn Weeks
Skin-to-skin costs nothing and is the least complicated thing in the day
Holding a baby against bare skin is one of very few newborn practices that requires no equipment, no technique and no decision. It…
The Newborn Weeks
Weight in the early weeks belongs on a professional's chart, not in your spreadsheet
Newborn weight is measured, plotted and interpreted by someone trained to do it. Parents who track it independently usually buy…
The Newborn Weeks
All the newborn weeks →The Newborn Weeks
The fourth trimester is a framing, not a diagnosis, and it helps anyway
The idea that a newborn spends three months finishing something it started inside is not a clinical category. It is a way of…
The Newborn Weeks
Nobody warns you about the two-week visitor wave
Everyone who wants to meet the baby wants to meet it at roughly the same time, and that time is the fortnight you are least able to…
The Newborn Weeks
The first fortnight at home is a logistics problem nobody set up for you
Almost none of the difficulty in the first two weeks is about the baby. It is about a household that was arranged for two competent…
Sleep
All sleep →
Sleep
Newborn sleep comes in short blocks, and the range between babies is enormous
Total sleep, block length and how it is spread across a day vary so widely between newborns that averages are close to useless.…
Sleep
Waking at night is what newborn sleep is, not a fault in your parenting
Night waking in the first year is normal, expected by professionals and largely unrelated to anything the parents are doing. That…
Sleep
Read your own country's safe-sleep guidance, not an article about it
Safe-sleep advice is issued by national health bodies, differs between countries and gets updated. Summaries written by anyone else…
Feeding
All feeding →
Feeding
Cluster feeding at nine in the evening, seen from the sofa
Long stretches of near-continuous evening feeding are common in the early weeks and almost nobody describes them in advance. They…
Feeding
Breast, formula and combination feeding all arrive at the same place
The three routes have different practicalities and the same destination, which is a fed baby and functioning adults. Most of the…
Feeding
What a feed actually costs in time, and why the arithmetic surprises people
Nobody counts the hours before the baby arrives. Multiplying a single feed by the number in a day explains most of why the first…
Growing & Milestones
All growing & milestones →
Growing & Milestones
Milestone ages are ranges, and the ranges are far wider than they look
Almost every age quoted for a first-year skill is the middle of a broad distribution. The width of that distribution is the most…
Growing & Milestones
A percentile describes a position, not a grade
Growth charts are among the most misread documents new parents encounter. The number is a location in a population, and almost…
Growing & Milestones
Tummy time is a slow build measured in seconds at first
Nearly every new parent is told to do tummy time and very few are told how briefly it starts. Expecting minutes on day one is why…
Gear & Nursery
All gear & nursery →
Gear & Nursery
What actually fits in a changing bag, and what comes straight back out
Most changing bags are packed once, optimistically, and then carry the same unused items for a year. The working version is smaller…
Gear & Nursery
The pram that folds one-handed beats the pram with better reviews
Pram reviews measure ride quality, materials and design. What determines whether you like yours is whether you can fold it while…
Gear & Nursery
Car seats are the one purchase where secondhand is a bad idea
Almost every piece of baby equipment is fine used. Car seats are the exception, and the reasons are specific rather than a general…
Looking After Parents
All looking after parents →
Looking After Parents
Recovery after birth is a matter of time and rest, not willpower
The body that gave birth needs weeks of actual recovery, and the household usually schedules none. Treating it as a practical…
Looking After Parents
Accepting help without feeling useless
Offers of help arrive in volume and most of them go unused. The obstacle is rarely the offer and almost always the parent's…
Looking After Parents
Two adults will keep score, and there is a better system than counting
Every household with a new baby ends up comparing contributions, usually silently and usually inaccurately. The fix is not fairness…