https://myjohnbaby.com/ Practical, non-medical help through a baby’s first year — sleep, feeding, kit and the state of the adults doing it. en © 2026 Small Hours Media Tue, 11 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/the-fourth-trimester-is-a-framing-not-a-diagnosis-and-it-helps-anyway/ https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/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. The Newborn Weeks Shalu Prasad Tue, 11 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/nobody-warns-you-about-the-two-week-visitor-wave/ https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/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 host anybody. The Newborn Weeks Shalu Prasad Sun, 09 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/the-first-fortnight-at-home-is-a-logistics-problem-nobody-set-up-for-you/ https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/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 adults and now has to run at a fraction of that. The Newborn Weeks Shalu Prasad Wed, 05 Aug 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/newborns-make-far-more-noise-asleep-than-anyone-tells-you/ https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/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 that were never a summons. The Newborn Weeks Ekta Ranjan Fri, 31 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/who-checks-on-a-newborn-in-the-early-weeks-and-what-they-are-looking-at/ https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/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 easier to ask the right person the right question. The Newborn Weeks Ekta Ranjan Wed, 29 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/skin-to-skin-costs-nothing-and-is-the-least-complicated-thing-in-the-day/ https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/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 is also one of the few that both parents can do equally. The Newborn Weeks Ekta Ranjan Sat, 25 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/weight-in-the-early-weeks-belongs-on-a-professionals-chart-not-in-your-s/ https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/weight-in-the-early-weeks-belongs-on-a-professionals-chart-not-in-your-s/ Newborn weight is measured, plotted and interpreted by someone trained to do it. Parents who track it independently usually buy themselves anxiety rather than information. The Newborn Weeks Vinay Toppo Thu, 23 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/a-newborn-day-has-no-shape-and-the-first-one-arrives-later-than-you-hope/ https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/a-newborn-day-has-no-shape-and-the-first-one-arrives-later-than-you-hope/ New parents keep waiting for a routine to emerge. For the first weeks there is nothing to emerge, because the underlying rhythm that would produce one has not developed yet. The Newborn Weeks Ekta Ranjan Sun, 19 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/crying-often-peaks-in-the-early-weeks-before-it-eases/ https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/crying-often-peaks-in-the-early-weeks-before-it-eases/ Crying in many babies increases over the first weeks, reaches a high point and then declines. Almost nobody is told this in advance, and it changes how the worst fortnight feels. The Newborn Weeks Shalu Prasad Thu, 16 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/nappy-changes-take-four-minutes-on-day-three-and-forty-seconds-by-week-s/ https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/nappy-changes-take-four-minutes-on-day-three-and-forty-seconds-by-week-s/ The nappy change is the most repeated task of the first year, and almost all of the speed comes from layout and sequence rather than practice with the baby. The Newborn Weeks Shalu Prasad Sun, 12 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/the-paperwork-of-a-new-baby-and-why-nobody-does-it-in-week-one/ https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/the-paperwork-of-a-new-baby-and-why-nobody-does-it-in-week-one/ A birth generates registration, benefits, leave, insurance and identity documents in most countries. All of it lands in the fortnight you are least equipped to handle any of it. The Newborn Weeks Shalu Prasad Thu, 09 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/leaving-the-house-with-a-newborn-takes-ninety-minutes-the-first-time/ https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/leaving-the-house-with-a-newborn-takes-ninety-minutes-the-first-time/ The first outing with a baby bears no resemblance to the twentieth. Almost all of the difference is preparation that can be done the night before. The Newborn Weeks Shalu Prasad Mon, 06 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/four-ways-to-hold-a-newborn-and-why-the-grip-changes-everything/ https://myjohnbaby.com/newborn/four-ways-to-hold-a-newborn-and-why-the-grip-changes-everything/ Most of the awkwardness of handling a small baby comes from using one position for every task. A handful of grips covers almost everything the first weeks require. The Newborn Weeks Vinay Toppo Fri, 03 Jul 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/newborn-sleep-comes-in-short-blocks-and-the-range-between-babies-is-enor/ https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/newborn-sleep-comes-in-short-blocks-and-the-range-between-babies-is-enor/ Total sleep, block length and how it is spread across a day vary so widely between newborns that averages are close to useless. Knowing that is more helpful than any number. Sleep Shalu Prasad Sat, 27 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/waking-at-night-is-what-newborn-sleep-is-not-a-fault-in-your-parenting/ https://myjohnbaby.com/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 does not make it easier, but it changes what you blame. Sleep Vinay Toppo Wed, 24 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/read-your-own-countrys-safe-sleep-guidance-not-an-article-about-it/ https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/read-your-own-countrys-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 are the wrong place to get it. Sleep Vinay Toppo Mon, 22 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/bedsharing-is-a-decision-families-make-differently-and-guidance-differs/ https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/bedsharing-is-a-decision-families-make-differently-and-guidance-differs/ Some families bedshare deliberately, many more end up doing it unintentionally, and official advice on it is not identical between countries. That combination is worth understanding before the night it comes up. Sleep Vinay Toppo Thu, 18 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/sleep-training-is-a-family-of-approaches-not-a-single-method/ https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/sleep-training-is-a-family-of-approaches-not-a-single-method/ The phrase covers a wide range of approaches that differ substantially in what they ask of parents and babies. Understanding that the category is broad is more useful than any description of one method. Sleep Sanjana Oraon Tue, 16 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/the-four-month-sleep-change-and-why-regression-is-the-wrong-word-for-it/ https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/the-four-month-sleep-change-and-why-regression-is-the-wrong-word-for-it/ Sleep frequently gets harder somewhere around the middle of the first year, and it is usually described as a regression. The underlying change is developmental and goes in the opposite direction. Sleep Shalu Prasad Wed, 10 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/dividing-the-night-between-two-adults-so-that-one-of-you-actually-sleeps/ https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/dividing-the-night-between-two-adults-so-that-one-of-you-actually-sleeps/ Two half-rested adults function worse than one rested one and one exhausted one. The night is a rota problem, and most households never sit down and solve it. Sleep Sanjana Oraon Mon, 08 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/short-naps-are-not-a-technique-failure/ https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/short-naps-are-not-a-technique-failure/ A baby who sleeps forty minutes and wakes is following the length of its own sleep cycle. The parent who concludes they did something wrong is reading a normal event as a result. Sleep Sanjana Oraon Thu, 04 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/a-bedtime-routine-works-because-it-is-boring-and-identical-every-night/ https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/a-bedtime-routine-works-because-it-is-boring-and-identical-every-night/ The content of a wind-down matters far less than its predictability. What a routine actually does is signal, and signals only work when they repeat exactly. Sleep Sanjana Oraon Tue, 02 Jun 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/what-a-dark-quiet-room-can-and-cannot-do-for-a-baby/ https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/what-a-dark-quiet-room-can-and-cannot-do-for-a-baby/ The sleep environment is the part of infant sleep parents can actually control, which is exactly why it gets asked to do more than it can. Sleep Vinay Toppo Fri, 29 May 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/sleep-often-gets-worse-in-the-weeks-a-baby-learns-something-new/ https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/sleep-often-gets-worse-in-the-weeks-a-baby-learns-something-new/ Unsettled stretches frequently coincide with rolling, sitting, crawling or a burst of language. The pattern is widely reported, and it is easier to live with when you expect it. Sleep Vinay Toppo Sun, 24 May 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/sleeping-through-the-night-means-something-much-narrower-than-it-sounds/ https://myjohnbaby.com/sleep/sleeping-through-the-night-means-something-much-narrower-than-it-sounds/ The phrase is used by parents, researchers and relatives to mean at least three different things. Most of the comparison anxiety in the first year comes from that ambiguity. Sleep Sanjana Oraon Fri, 22 May 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/feeding/cluster-feeding-at-nine-in-the-evening-seen-from-the-sofa/ https://myjohnbaby.com/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 look alarming and are usually ordinary. Feeding Nitesh Kujur Mon, 18 May 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/growing/milestone-ages-are-ranges-and-the-ranges-are-far-wider-than-they-look/ https://myjohnbaby.com/growing/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 reassuring fact in developmental science. Growing & Milestones Nitesh Kujur Sat, 16 May 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/kit/what-actually-fits-in-a-changing-bag-and-what-comes-straight-back-out/ https://myjohnbaby.com/kit/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 than the recommended one. Gear & Nursery Priyamvada Lakra Tue, 12 May 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/parents/recovery-after-birth-is-a-matter-of-time-and-rest-not-willpower/ https://myjohnbaby.com/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 resource problem works better than treating it as resilience. Looking After Parents Shalu Prasad Sat, 09 May 2026 09:00:00 GMT https://myjohnbaby.com/feeding/breast-formula-and-combination-feeding-all-arrive-at-the-same-place/ https://myjohnbaby.com/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 noise around the choice is about something other than the baby. Feeding Sanjana Oraon Tue, 05 May 2026 09:00:00 GMT