Keep a fragile newborn alive
The first two years carry the highest mortality risk of any age until old age; parents cannot assess it themselves.
Birth to about two. The infant feels everything and can act on nothing, so every friction in this phase is experienced and paid for by a parent. It is the most supervision-intensive period of a human life, which makes it the phase where time scarcity bites hardest and where the market's core offer is simply: we will do this so you can sleep or work. Products here have a two-year life and are outgrown rather than worn out, which is why resale and rental economics work unusually well.
12 first-order frictions arise in this phase.
Its neighbourhood
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Keeping the infant alive
Cannot tell what is wrong with a non-verbal baby
Fever at 2 a.m. and no way to ask the patient.
2 solutions built for it
Nurse lines and pediatric telehealth and Parenting books, apps, and forums.
Make the child exist to the state
Without a record the child cannot later be schooled, insured, or inherit.
1 solution built for it
The mother's body and mind must recover from birth
Postpartum haemorrhage, depression, and pelvic-floor injury are common and under-treated; the baby's arrival hides the mother's recovery.
3 solutions built for it
Postpartum care and maternal mental health, Pelvic-floor physical therapy and Therapy and counselling.
Decide when, or whether, the next child comes
Fertility returns before the household is ready for it.
2 solutions built for it
Feeding
Sleep and daily care
The infant does not sleep, so neither do the parents
Chronic sleep loss degrades every other decision in this phase.
3 solutions built for it
Cribs, bassinets, swaddles, and sleep aids, Sleep training consultants and Baby monitors.
Manage waste many times a day for two years
Unavoidable, frequent, and entirely delegable to a product.
2 solutions built for it
A newborn needs a house full of equipment at once
Stroller, crib, seat, bottles, clothes — all before the first paycheck after leave.
3 solutions built for it
Baby registries and showers, Baby gear retail and Secondhand and rental baby gear.
Someone must always be watching
Someone must watch the infant every hour, but someone must also earn
The central economic friction of infancy: care and income compete for the same hours.
3 solutions built for it
Parental leave, Daycare and childcare centres and Nannies and au pairs.
Move an infant through a world built for adults
Stairs, cars, shops, planes — none of it designed for a carried person.
2 solutions built for it
The baby becomes a status object
Strollers, nursery design, and preschool waitlists rank the parents through the child.
3 solutions built for it
Premium baby brands and nursery design, Elite preschool and daycare admissions and Social media.