Baby of the Month Tech Support & Troubleshooting

Question 1

My photo won't upload — what do I do?

Accepted Answer

Check these in order: (1) File size must be under 10 MB — compress at squoosh.app if needed. (2) Only JPG, JPEG, PNG, and WebP are accepted. (3) Use the latest Chrome, Firefox, or Safari — Internet Explorer is not supported. (4) A slow mobile connection can time out; try uploading on Wi-Fi.

Question 2

What are the photo requirements?

Accepted Answer

Accepted formats: JPG, JPEG, PNG, WebP. Maximum size: 10 MB per photo. Minimum resolution: 500×500 pixels. The photo must clearly show the baby's face, have no heavy filters or text overlays, and be a photo you own the rights to.

Question 3

My photo looks blurry or distorted after uploading

Accepted Answer

Our system automatically resizes and optimizes photos for fast loading. If the result looks very different from your original, make sure you're uploading the highest resolution version available. Photos already under 500px will appear blurry when scaled up. Try re-uploading from a device with the original quality file.

Question 4

I got an "unsupported file type" error

Accepted Answer

iPhones often save photos as HEIC format, which is not supported. Fix it: on iPhone go to Settings → Camera → Formats → select "Most Compatible" to save future photos as JPG. For existing HEIC files, convert at heictojpg.com (free). On Android, make sure you are sharing the original file and not a compressed thumbnail.

Question 5

Upload is stuck at 0% or hangs mid-way

Accepted Answer

This usually means a slow or unstable internet connection. Try: (1) switching from mobile data to Wi-Fi, (2) closing other browser tabs that are streaming video, (3) doing a hard refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R) and starting over. If it still hangs, try Chrome — it is the most reliable browser for file uploads.

Question 6

I forgot my password

Accepted Answer

Reset it in seconds: (1) Go to the Login page. (2) Click "Forgot Password?". (3) Enter the email address on your account. (4) Check your inbox and spam folder for the reset link. (5) The link expires in 1 hour — request a new one if needed.

Question 7

I'm not receiving the password reset email

Accepted Answer

Check these in order: (1) Look in your Spam/Junk folder. (2) Confirm you used the correct email address. (3) Add info@babyofthemonth.org to your contacts. (4) Wait 5 minutes — delivery can be delayed. (5) If still nothing, contact support with your registered email address.

Question 8

My account says it's locked or blocked

Accepted Answer

Accounts are temporarily locked after multiple failed login attempts as a security measure. Wait 30 minutes then try again, or use the password reset flow to regain access immediately. If you believe your account was blocked in error, contact us at info@babyofthemonth.org with your email address.

Question 9

I signed up with Google but can't log in now

Accepted Answer

Make sure you're clicking 'Continue with Google' on the login page and using the same Google account you registered with. If you see an error, try clearing your browser cookies for this site and trying again. Mixing email/password login with Google login for the same account is not supported.

Question 10

I need to change my email address or username

Accepted Answer

You can update your profile details from your Profile Settings page once logged in. For email address changes, we'll send a verification to the new address before the switch takes effect.

Question 11

My free votes aren't working

Accepted Answer

Check these: (1) Daily limit: you get 5 free votes per day, 1 per baby, resetting at midnight EST. (2) Login required: you must be logged in to cast votes. (3) Already voted: you can only vote once per baby per day. (4) Session expired: if you have been idle, refresh the page and log back in.

Question 12

My vote count didn't go up after clicking

Accepted Answer

Vote counts update in real-time but may take 2–5 seconds to reflect on screen. If the number still hasn't updated after 10 seconds, try refreshing the page. If you've already reached your daily limit on that baby, the vote won't register even if the button appears clickable.

Question 13

I bought extra votes but they're not showing up

Accepted Answer

After a payment, credits typically appear within 30 seconds. If they haven't: (1) Refresh the page. (2) Log out and log back in. (3) Check your email for a payment confirmation from Stripe. (4) If you have a confirmation but no credits, contact support with your order email.

Question 14

Where did my earned credits go?

Accepted Answer

Credits are earned at 0.1 credits per free vote. You can see your current balance and full history on your Profile page under the Credits tab. Credits don't expire while your account is active. If your balance looks wrong, contact support with your account email.

Question 15

How do I use my credits to vote?

Accepted Answer

Credits can be used for unlimited bonus votes beyond your 5 free daily votes. 1 credit = 1 extra vote. Go to any contest entry and click the vote button — if you have credits available, you'll see an option to use them. You can also buy more vote credits from the Buy Votes page.

Question 16

My payment failed — what went wrong?

Accepted Answer

Most payment failures are caused by: incorrect card details, insufficient funds, bank blocking online transactions, billing address mismatch, or a browser issue. Try a hard refresh or different browser. Payments are processed by Stripe — we never store your card details.

Question 17

I was charged but didn't get my votes/credits

Accepted Answer

This is rare but fixable. Email info@babyofthemonth.org with: (1) the email address on your account, (2) the date and amount of the charge, and (3) the last 4 digits of the card used. We'll investigate and credit your account within a few hours.

Question 18

Can I get a refund?

Accepted Answer

Purchases of vote credits are generally non-refundable once credits have been used. If you accidentally purchased credits you haven't used, contact us within 48 hours and we'll review your case. See our Terms of Service for full refund policy details.

Question 19

Is my payment information secure?

Accepted Answer

Yes. All payments are handled by Stripe, which is PCI DSS Level 1 compliant — the highest level of payment security. We never see or store your full card number. Your payment data goes directly from your browser to Stripe's servers.

Question 20

What browsers are supported?

Accepted Answer

Fully supported: Google Chrome 100+ (recommended), Mozilla Firefox 100+, Apple Safari 15+, Microsoft Edge 100+. Not supported: Internet Explorer (any version). Please upgrade to any modern browser — they are all free.

Question 21

The site looks broken on my phone

Accepted Answer

Try these steps: (1) Clear your browser cache — on iPhone Safari go to Settings → Safari → Clear History and Website Data; on Android Chrome use three-dot menu → Settings → Privacy → Clear browsing data. (2) Make sure your phone's OS is up to date. (3) Disable content-blocking extensions. (4) Try Chrome instead of your default browser.

Question 22

Pages are loading slowly

Accepted Answer

Try: closing unused tabs, switching between mobile data and Wi-Fi, disabling browser extensions (especially ad blockers), clearing your browser cache. If only our site is slow, contact us — we may be experiencing elevated traffic.

Question 23

I can't see images / photos aren't loading

Accepted Answer

This is usually caused by an ad-blocker or privacy extension blocking our image CDN. Try disabling your extensions temporarily and reloading. If you're on a corporate network, a firewall might be blocking image requests — try on a personal device or mobile data.

Question 24

"Failed to fetch" or network error messages

Accepted Answer

Try these steps: (1) Check your internet connection by opening another website. (2) Hard refresh the page (Ctrl+Shift+R on Windows, Cmd+Shift+R on Mac). (3) If you are on VPN, try disabling it temporarily. (4) Clear browser cache and try again. (5) If the error persists for more than 10 minutes, we may have a temporary outage — contact us.

Question 25

The page shows a "404 Not Found" error

Accepted Answer

A 404 means the page you're looking for doesn't exist at that URL. This can happen if a link is outdated, you typed the URL incorrectly, or a page was moved. Try navigating from the homepage or use the site navigation. If you reached this 404 by clicking a link on our site, please report it to us.

Question 26

I'm seeing a blank white page

Accepted Answer

A blank white page is usually a JavaScript error. Try: (1) hard refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R), (2) clearing your browser cache, (3) opening the page in an incognito/private window, (4) trying a different browser. If it persists across all browsers, please email us — it could be a deployment issue we need to fix.

Technical Support & Troubleshooting

Try these first — fixes 80% of issues

Hard Refresh

Check Connection

Try a Different Browser

Photo Uploads

Account & Login

Voting Issues

Payments & Credits

Browser & Device

Connectivity & Errors

Still can't fix it?