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You know the saying: First comes love, then comes marriage… And you also know that this life stage trajectory is less common than it used to be. Many couples are choosing to have a baby before getting married, and the good news is that they’re staying together at the same rate as couples who follow the more traditional path. In the past, decades of research showed that couples who had a child before getting married not only carried a stigma, but also a higher risk of divorce....

“Mid-interview, we just knew she was the nanny for us. Every question she answered was what we were hoping for — we found her four years ago.” — Sarah “She taught my kids the ABCs in Spanish, and my son would cry when she left for the day. She also ‘got’ my obsession with healthy foods. We knew she was great!” — Renee O. “My husband was key in deciding whom to choose — his instincts were amazing and spot-on!...

Pros • Super easy to pop up and break down • Compact backpack-style travel case • Side zipper door for easy access • Mesh siding is safe for baby Cons • Mattress is a little thin Bottom Line As its name implies you can take the Lotus Everywhere Travel Crib pretty much everywhere! Thanks to its small footprint, lightweight carrying case and very quick setup, we can’t imagine life without it....

After nursing her first daughter for nearly six months with virtually no problems, Meagan E. suddenly found herself in a lot of pain. “When I first experienced symptoms, it was primarily tender, hot, swollen spots in my breast,” she says. “It seemed to happen at times when my daughter’s nursing needs or habits changed and my body was trying to adjust. I was still producing milk, but she wasn’t eating as much, and I wasn’t pumping as much at work....

Gender disappointment is more common than most people probably realize. That’s because it’s PC to say, “We’re just hoping for a happy, healthy baby,” so that’s what almost everyone says, whether they’re thinking it or not. “There’s a lot of shame because we’re supposed to feel grateful and blessed,” says Shoshana Bennett, PhD, a clinical psychologist specializing in pre- and postpartum issues. “We’re supposed to be happy no matter what, so if we’re disappointed, we might not mention it, not even to our friends or our spouse....

How you respond to your child’s calls for attention will affect how eager they are to collaborate and learn. According to a new study in the journal Child Development, researchers found that toddlers whose parents responded positively to their attention-seeking behaviors were more eager to collaborate and socialize. In the study, the parent and the child were in the same room and the parent had to fill out a long survey that required a lot of attention and focus, while toddlers tried to engage their parents....

Recurrent thrush is indeed a painful, stressful, and frustrating problem for breastfeeding moms. It takes a comprehensive and consistent approach for several weeks before moms finally get rid of the thrush completely. Moms will often start to feel better and stop doing parts of their treatment program before the full course of thrush is gone and sure enough, the thrush will return. Treatment involves a three-pronged approach — treating the mom, treating the baby, and treating the environment....

If you’re like us, you never leave home without 1. your keys, and 2. your iPhone. Well you’re in good company: There are an estimated 90 million iPhone users in the US. And we’re guessing your phone is even more of a lifeline now that baby is here. You use your phone to snap photos (lots and lots of photos); text with your partner, family or friends; order baby supplies; Google endless symptoms; and access helpful apps like The Bump!...

In the latest new research published in the journal Pediatrics, scientists confirm that rates of the whooping cough increased after children received the final five doses of the pertussis vaccine (DTaP). The trend follows a steady progression that’s taken place over the last six years and has doctors worried. The study began in Minnesota and Oregon, where researchers studied children who had received all five DTaP doses. Researchers compared the health recorders of these children to data collected from the region on pertussis cases....

LGBTQIA+ culture was built on the challenges we face individually and collectively as a community. Many of these everyday struggles stem from a lack of acceptance from birth families. Fortunately, this feeling of abandonment doesn’t prevent you from enjoying close relationships with people you love. That’s where chosen family comes into play. A chosen family is a group of people who have actively decided to embrace, nurture and support each other—just as a traditional blood-related family would....

My first-grader thinks she’s a teenager. The sass. The eye roll-heavy attitude. The elephant foot-stomping. The hands-on-hip defiance. It’s cute, until it’s not. The backtalk and very purposeful button-pushing cease to be charming at 8:45 p.m. when I’m burnt out from a day of parenting and working and cooking and cleaning and all-around adulting—and I’m begging, pleading, yelling(!) for her to just. go. to. bed. Weekday mornings aren’t all sunshine and rainbows either....

The Bump presents #MomBoss, a series dedicated to showing off all-star moms. We catch up with mompreneurs behind products we love, influencers who get real about motherhood and SAHMs who can multitask in their sleep. Working mom guilt is real. When Lauren Kassan launched The Wing with co-founder Audrey Gelman, it was a labor of love. The women-focused working space creates a safe haven for females and fosters a sense of community....

Sleep inhibitors? Wandering eyes? Losing the baby weight? See all baby Q&As Look who’s almost walking It’s normal for baby’s feet to look flat and turned out and his legs bowed when he starts to take steps, but talk to your doctor if you feel like something’s not right. No need to worry about shoes just yet — walking barefoot actually helps strengthen the muscles he needs. To-do: Make sure your home is baby-proofed Help baby with stranger anxiety Don’t stress about percentiles...

Welcoming a new addition to the family is an exciting (and nerve-racking) time. While you can’t wait to bring baby home, you’ll want to make sure everyone, and everything, is ready for your little one’s arrival. That means prepping both your pet and your physical space for the transition. We asked an expert on animal behavior for her top dos and dont’s for introducing baby to the family pet in a way that keeps both feeling happy and safe....

Imagine you could listen to baby’s heartbeat any time you’d like during pregnancy without making a trip to your OB’s office. An exciting proposition, isn’t it? That’s the appeal of an at-home fetal Doppler device—to let an expectant parent use a fetal heart monitor and connect to baby from the comfort of home. The problem is, in untrained hands, a baby Doppler can give you a false sense of security or set off needless alarms....

When Christa Terry’s son Hunter was ready to start solid foods, she loaded up her shopping cart with jars of strained vegetables and fruits. She definitely wasn’t expecting Hunter’s first mealtimes to turn into baby food battles, but he responded by spitting each bite out. “He did not care for the texture,” says Terry, of Beverly, Massachusetts, who runs the social networking site mommeetmom.com. “So we just said, ‘Okay if that’s what you want, you’ll eat what we eat....

Essential oils have been steadily increasing in popularity over recent years. So if you’ve ever come across them while browsing a cool lifestyle blog, you’re likely not alone. You might have even wondered if aromatherapy starter kits and essential oils are something you could use—after all, your pregnant self is feeling pretty exhausted and nauseated these days. We don’t blame you for thinking about giving essential oils for pregnancy a try....

Every day: Diapers. Pack a diaper for every couple of hours you plan to be out — and always one or two extra. (Hey, you never know.) Wipes. Look for ones that come in a resealable pack, or store them in a plastic sandwich bag to keep them moist. Diaper cream. Travel-size tubes take up less space. Hand sanitizer. Stick to ones with an alcohol-free formula — it’s safer for toddlers who like to jam their fingers in their mouths....

Maybe it’s the middle of the night when baby’s crying up a storm, and you can’t figure out what the little guy wants for the life of you. Or maybe he’s bouncing along happily in his ExerSaucer when your curiosity strikes: What’s going on in that little noggin? According to new research, quite a lot. Understanding gestures & expressions Even when babies are first born, they already know a few things about people, language, and their new world, according to Alison Gopnik, professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkley, and author of The Philosophical Baby: What Children’s Minds Tell Us About Truth, Love, and the Meaning of Life....

Starting solids is an exciting and important milestone in baby’s development—one that not only opens them up to a brand-new world of flavors and textures, but also puts them on the right path to growing healthy and strong. Here’s what you need to know about how and when to start baby food for a smooth transition. In this article: When to start baby food How to start baby on solids Best first foods for baby Introducing allergenic foods...