M+A Edit

You beat the four-month sleep regression. Convinced your standing baby to let go of the crib rails and lay down for naps. It’s sleep victory—at least until you roll out the toddler bed. If you’re dealing with midnight visits to mom and dad’s bed, endless water requests before lights out, or a painfully early riser, check out this try-it-tonight advice from childhood development and sleep expert Julie Wright, MFT, founder of The Happy Sleeper. Think of the bedroom as an ‘expanded crib’ Gearing up for the crib to toddler bed...

Holly Thaggard did not follow a traditional path when launching her business. After graduating from college, Holly became a third grade school teacher, then pivoted to pursue a career as a professional harpist. The last thing she anticipated happening was starting her own business, with the goal of creating a healthier sunscreen and educating children on skin care, but life had its own plan. In 2007, Holly started Supergoop, a program to get sunscreen and education on skincare into the hands of kids around the world. Three years later, she...

37-weeks pregnant with her first baby (a boy!), Chicago-based wedding planner Grace Hanson, Founder of Events by Grace, has navigated the fine art of surviving on your feet with a serious bump. (Hint: it's all in the cute flats, swim breaks, and warm baths.) She's got one final wedding this month before the arrival of her May baby, but made time to share a few of her best tips for dressing a bump on the go first. It's wedding day for one of my amazing brides! This cooperative oversized furry...

When Erik Allebest met Jay Severson at the Stanford Business School, their unlikely friendship would spark a love of chess that Erik was never able to shake. Turning down jobs at big tech companies (including Facebook), Erik juggled his education, a family, and building Chess.com as a resource for them and their friends to find chess related information. But as it grew, Jay and Erik realized they had something bigger on their hands. Chess.com is the number one place to play, learn about, and discuss chess, hosting more than 25...

Bouncing off the walls. It’s pretty much the only way to describe the frenetic energy you might notice in your kiddo after the second, or third, slice of cake at a birthday party. But get this: studies show that there’s actually no link between sugar and hyperactivity in kids, says Chicago-based registered dietician Amanda Baker Lemein, MS, RD. Surprised? You're not alone—most parents assume extra sugar provides kids a quick dose of kooky, but a number of double blind, placebo-controlled studies (the best kind) done over the years haven’t found...

By Megen Disanto “Do you feel guilty?” It was a harmless enough comment made by a well-intentioned friend at an inopportune time. Which guilt could she possibly be referring to—the guilt I had from binge-watching Real Housewives instead of making homemade baby food? Or the guilt I had about placing suspenders over my baby’s stained onesie instead of changing him for the third time that morning? I took a deep breath before answering my friend—the tears were so frequent now I could feel them starting to form. Of course, I...

Welcome to The Delivery Room Dish—a place for new moms to spill on the highs, lows, and nitty gritty of giving birth. What you’ll learn: there’s no one ‘right’ way to have a baby, the delivery room is full of choices (even when labor doesn’t go as planned), and every mom’s got a birth story worth sharing. Up next: Forbes.com journalist and new mom Vivienne Decker, who gave birth to five-month-old Arthur late last year. I realized labor was starting when: I woke up at 4am feeling slight cramps. I...

When Brett was in high school, her love of acrylic clutches from the 1950s and 1960s sparked a habit of collecting them wherever she could find them. As they became increasingly difficult to find, she sought out to make some for herself. She started researching the amazing bags from the mid-century and their long lost fabrication techniques, and the idea for her new business was born.Edie Parker is a modern accessories label with an inherent sense of luxury, irreverence and wit. Since the brand’s inception, Edie Parker has produced accessories...

When Lindsey Andrews and Lara Crystal met at the Wharton School, they became both friends and future business partners, inspired to start a company by their complementary skills and great relationship. On one of their weekly brainstorming meetings over take-out, they realized that there wasn't a way to get wine, liquor, and beer delivered that was as easy as everything else in their lives, from cars to food to dry cleaning. Finding that the massive alcohol market had an uncapitalized niche, they pounced on the opportunity, and Minibar Delivery was...

When you’re cruising the grocery store aisle for baby food, it’s almost harder today to find jars and pouches that aren’t organic. But when it comes to getting your little dressed? Totally different story. Loads of babies live in cotton—yet organic cotton makes up less than 1 percent of all cotton grown in the US (despite the boatload of info we’ve got about the benefits of shopping organic, especially for tiny babes.) While cotton sounds super gentle and safe, it’s actually a crop that—unless produced with organic farming—receives a ton...