Real-Life Guides for Pregnancy, Babies, Toddlers & Travel

When I was pregnant with my first baby, I remember wondering whether a car seat that turns into a stroller could really be worth the price. Now, after using the Doona with two babies, I can confidently say it's one of my favorite baby products we've owned. I've used it for everything from everyday errands to airports, airplanes, Ubers, and taxis. And while I don't think every family needs one, it's one of those products that has genuinely made my life easier. What I love most

Black Friday is one of the best times to shop for baby gear, especially if you're pregnant, building your baby registry, or finally ready to buy one of those bigger-ticket items you've had your eye on. But here's the thing: just because something is on sale doesn't mean you need it. I'm a mom of two, and I've learned that when it comes to baby gear, less is often more. Instead of rounding up hundreds of Black Friday baby deals, I'm focusing on the products I've actually used,

Shopping for a one-year-old can be surprisingly difficult. They're no longer tiny babies, but they're not quite toddlers who can run around and play independently either. And because they're developing so quickly, it can be hard to know which gifts they'll actually enjoy versus which ones they'll outgrow in a few months. As a mom of two, I'm a big believer that less is more when it comes to baby and toddler gear. I don't think you need a playroom overflowing with toys, and I'

I didn’t have a bottle washer or a bottle sterilizer with my first baby. I washed all of his bottles by hand, sterilized new bottles in a big pot of boiling water, and survived just fine. Then my mother-in-law gave me a Momcozy bottle washer when I had my second baby, and I became obsessed with it. We run it about twice a day, and it washes, sterilizes, and dries everything in the same cycle. I joke that it saved my marriage, which is obviously an exaggeration, but after wash

When I was preparing for my first baby, I chose glass baby bottles. Plastic gets a bad rap, glass felt like the more environmentally friendly option, and honestly, I liked the peace of mind of using glass. We used Dr. Brown’s 8-ounce glass bottles, and for the first several months, I was perfectly happy with them. If you’re trying to decide what size to buy, I also broke down 4 oz vs. 8 oz baby bottles and when we made the switch. Then my baby got older, started wanting to ho

Yes, babies can generally drink cold formula. Formula does not have to be warmed before you give it to your baby, and whether your baby prefers it cold, room temperature or warm often comes down to personal preference. With both of my babies, I actually made a point of not getting them too accustomed to warm bottles. My preference has always been room-temperature formula, but I'm also not particularly strict about bottle temperature. If my baby is hungry and the bottle I have

If you have an old car seat sitting in your garage, basement or closet, this is your sign to finally get rid of it. The Target Car Seat Trade-In is back for fall 2026, and it’s one of those baby gear events that is actually worth knowing about. You can bring an old car seat to Target, have it recycled and get a 20% off Target Circle bonus toward qualifying baby gear. And it doesn’t have to be a car seat you’re currently using. Target accepts old, expired and even damaged car

Here's a parenting fact I genuinely think more people need to know: swim diapers do not hold pee. I learned this through my twin sister before I ever needed to use a swim diaper myself, and I remember being surprised because I had assumed a swim diaper basically worked like a regular diaper that you could wear in the water. Later, I remember seeing an influencer post about putting her baby in a swim diaper and subsequently getting peed on. I remember thinking, how is this not

There are so many oddly specific things you learn after becoming a parent that no one thinks to tell you beforehand, and overnight diapers were one of those things for me. I actually learned about them through my twin sister before I ever had a baby of my own. When her son was a baby, he started leaking through his diaper overnight. She mentioned it to one of our mutual friends, who immediately said, “Oh, you have to get overnight diapers.” My sister had no idea overnight dia

When I made my first baby registry, bottles were honestly an afterthought. I was planning to breastfeed, so I assumed I wouldn't need many. I registered for two bottles from a brand I had picked out and didn't give it much more thought. Then my work provided me with a doula, and one of the things she did was go through my baby registry with me. She recommended that I have Dr. Brown's bottles on hand in case breastfeeding didn't go exactly as planned. I took her advice, switch

Before I had my first baby, I had no idea bottle nipple sizes were even a thing. I knew I needed bottles, obviously, but I didn't realize those bottles could come with different nipple flow rates or that I would eventually have to figure out when to move from one size to another. After two babies, I've now used everything from an Ultra-Preemie nipple to a Size 2. I've also learned that moving up isn't always a straight line. Sometimes a slower nipple works better, and sometim

If you have a premature baby, there is a good chance someone will eventually start talking about corrected age or adjusted age. And if you have no idea what they're talking about, you're not alone. My daughter was born at 33 weeks and 1 day, almost seven weeks before her due date. I vaguely knew about corrected age before she was born because I had friends whose babies arrived a few weeks early, but I didn't really understand how it worked. After my daughter was born, my sist

Feeding was one of the biggest parts of our NICU experience after my daughter was born at 33 weeks and 1 day. Before having a premature baby, I had no idea how much went into teaching a preemie how to eat or that feeding could be one of the things keeping a baby in the NICU. My daughter started with a feeding tube, eventually learned to drink from a bottle and came home using a Dr. Brown’s Ultra-Preemie nipple. Even after we left the NICU, feeding continued to evolve as she g

Bringing a preemie home from the NICU is the moment you have been waiting for since the day your baby was admitted. But when it finally happens, it can also feel completely surreal. My daughter was born unexpectedly at 33 weeks and 1 day and spent just under two and a half weeks in the NICU. For most of that time, our entire focus was getting her strong enough to come home. Then suddenly, much faster than I expected, the nurses were telling us that discharge might actually ha

When my daughter was unexpectedly born at 33 weeks, I had nothing for a preemie. I had no preemie clothes, no preemie diapers and no special preemie supplies waiting at home. One of the biggest things I learned from having a premature baby is that you don't need to panic and order an entirely new baby registry just because your baby came early. While your baby is in the NICU, the hospital has what they need, and when your baby is ready to come home, many of the things you'll

My daughter was born at 33 weeks and 1 day, weighing 4 pounds 2.5 ounces. Until a few days before she was born, I had been having a completely normal pregnancy. At my 32-week appointment on a Monday, my blood pressure was high, and by Friday, I was delivering my daughter by C-section because I had developed severe preeclampsia and HELLP syndrome. It all happened incredibly fast. If your baby was just born at 33 weeks, or you've been told that you may need to deliver around 33

For a full day of daycare, I send one bottle for every feeding I expect my baby to have while she’s there. For us, that currently means three bottles for an 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daycare day. That sounds simple now. With my first baby, I was much more nervous about it. When my son started daycare at six months old, one of my biggest worries was that he would get hungry and they wouldn’t have enough food for him. If I expected him to drink three bottles while he was there, I sen

If you’re wondering how long do babies use preemie nipples, the short answer is that there isn’t one age when every baby needs to move up to the next nipple size. One month? Two months? When they reach their due date if they were born prematurely? After using preemie nipples with both of my babies for completely different reasons, my biggest takeaway is that I would not focus too much on age. I paid much more attention to how my baby was actually feeding. My first baby was fu

Before I had my first baby, I assumed he would go straight into 0-3 month clothes. He was 7 pounds, 9 ounces, and I was wrong: he wore newborn clothes for about a month, longer than I expected. My second baby was completely different. She was born at 33 weeks, started in preemie clothes, and did not move into newborn until she was around two months old. Having two babies with such different timelines taught me that the word newborn on the tag does not tell you how long the cl

Before I had a baby, I had no idea bottle nipples even came in different flow rates. Bottles were bottles. Nipples were nipples. Then I became a mom and realized there was an entire progression of nipple sizes, and somehow I was supposed to know when my baby was ready to move from one to the next. After bottle feeding two babies, I have learned that changing bottle nipple flow is much less about following the age printed on the package and much more about watching your baby.