Accidentally leaving a child in a hot car is a tragic mistake that anyone could make. Blame our faulty brains, among other things. (And if you haven't read Gene Weingarten's 2009 Washington Post story on hot car deaths, make a point to do so - it's masterful.) As parents, the sooner we realise we're not insusceptible, the sooner we can all look for ways to end the devastating statistic that an average of 37 children die in hot cars each year, without judgement.

A tired and overwhelmed (new) parent recently asked me for help: Rather than searching through all of Offspring’s content to find the hacks he needed most — newborn, newborn and more newborn — could I do it for him?

I won't sugarcoat this. Trying to work while taking care of a baby is usually a mess. You're exhausted. You can't formulate coherent thoughts. You feel guilty all the time because you're thinking about your baby while you work, and your work while you parent. You rely on that Almighty Nap, but it's unpredictable, and even when it happens, there are a hundred house chores waiting to be done.

You feel like you have two different bosses in two different worlds - and one of them keeps begging for milk.

As a first-time parent with a obsession with product ratings that I realise should be questioned, I spent an absurd amount of my pregnancy researching baby gear. I needed the most reliably secure swaddles, the perfect newborn bathtub and a musical mobile that was guaranteed to change my life.

Choosing a bad baby name is like choosing a bad tattoo - except you're not the one who's stuck with it. While there's no evidence that a rubbish name will affect your child into adulthood, it probably doesn't help either. Just sayin'.

Here are 40 baby names that are tipped to be popular in 2019. Depending on your life views, this could either make them top on your list, or names to desperately avoid.

My son, who just celebrated his first birthday, has been a real mover-and-shaker since the second he was born. (The hospital’s note beside his Apgar scores at birth literally reads: “Jittery.”)

Baby books are great. All those little handwritten notes about their first words and first tooth and first daycare pals. And of course you include pictures taken during your baby's first haircut or while eating mashed up banana for the first time.

As soon as found out I was pregnant, I started researching the best tactics for parenting, including breastfeeding. I started attending La Leche League meetings before my bump was even visible. I learned about latching and holds.

I checked out books on breastfeeding from the library, and went to every community breastfeeding event I could find. I was convinced that with the right mindset and a ton of determination, it would all turn out fine.

For the past several years, Apple has offered Live Listen as a way for hearing-impaired users to turn their iPhone, iPad or iPod touch into a remote microphone that connects to a hearing aid.

On a recent trip home to see my parents, we got off the highway, where the kids were pretty much OK. But then, they started to turn green and my husband turned around in his seat to hold a bag in front of the kid behind the passenger seat. A few minutes later, both kids began an extravagant dueling barf session that covered them, their car seats, and a good portion of the car.

Here’s a secret: Kids’ favourite toys cannot be found on any store shelf. Instead, just about everything you need to stimulate, captivate and exhaust your young offspring is probably already in your possession, hiding in your linen closet, kitchen cabinet or garage.

Once you start digging around your home (as my husband and I do, frequently at 5:00AM these days), you’ll find endless novelties to present to your kids without needing to shop, wrap or spend a cent — at least until they start begging for their own phone.

How do you wear a baby carrier like a real man? Pretty simply:

1) Be a man.

2) Wear a baby carrier.

A smiling infant boy is not a “ladykiller.” A toddler offering an adult a cookie is not a “flirt.” Literally nothing a baby does needs to be turned into a romantic moment, so let’s stop saying things that imply otherwise.

As I prepare for life with a new baby, I’ve been hearing a lot of advice on how to help my five-year-old daughter Maggie transition into her role of a big sister, a title she isn’t entirely thrilled about.

“Read her some big sibling books,” people say. (Done.) “Let her help out.” (Definitely.) “Get her a gift ‘from the baby’.” (OK, though I’m pretty sure she understands that a fetus has not had time to rake in currency in the womb.)

Changing the nappy of a baby who can stand is an exercise in swift reflexes and hope. There are many variables to factor in, including those pesky onesie flaps that dangle in the danger zone, if you know what I mean.

Here’s a trick to make the procedure much easier: Start by securing the onesie over one of your child’s shoulders, using the crotch snaps.

The bath is a place of solace for babies, where they can make bubble-bath beards and write cryptic messages out of foam letters. If your place doesn’t have a tub, they can still experience the magic — you just have to get creative.

When I was pregnant with my daughter, my husband went through the childproofing checklists, making sure our home wouldn’t be a danger zone for a tot who believes the entire world is just waiting to be touched, climbed and licked. We crawled on the floor in a quest for potential hazards. We bid farewell to our sharp-edged glass coffee table. We bolted our chests of drawers to the wall, locked up our cleaning supply cabinet, and put safety covers on our electrical outlets. My daughter is five now, and still alive.

Babies. You buy them nappies, but they decide to pee on you during changing time. You make them gourmet pureed meals, but they're most satisfied gnawing on their boogers. You give them beautiful toys, but all they want to play with is the TV remote.

Infant walkers, those wheeled contraptions that give babies who can’t yet walk the sudden ability to walk, are bad. This has been long established. But parents keep using them and so paediatricians are renewing the call for a ban.