A Harvard Medical School study has determined that rectal thermometers are still the best way to tell a baby’s temperature. Plus, it really teaches the baby who’s boss.

The line is a characteristically Fey-style joke that juxtaposes the authority of medical research with the absurdity of parenting power dynamics. By invoking a “Harvard Medical School study,” it mimics the tone of evidence-based advice, then undercuts it with a punchline about dominance—“teaches the baby who’s boss.” The humor comes from exaggerating how adults sometimes frame childcare as a contest of control, and from the incongruity of applying macho hierarchy to an infant. It also satirizes the way prestigious institutions are used rhetorically to legitimize everyday choices, even when the real motivation is anxiety, habit, or a desire for certainty.