Parenting Sites 411

It’s 2:00 a.m. and your three month old is crying…a lot. You’re a first time mother, and while you’ve got a ton of questions, you called your mom at 2:00 in the morning last night about that crazy looking diaper, so you’d really like to get through this one on your own.

Of course we (as in parents) are all into the parenting gig and it’s hard to find yourself doing much else.  Even parents with enormous careers that don’t involve children at all are constantly seeking parenting advice.  Just because you can run a huge company doesn’t mean you can do anything with a small child.

So, regardless of your child’s age, I have some links for you, nothing too fancy, or elaborate, just a few hot topics that might make your life easier.  For instance, if you are in that pre-baby stage and you want to read about getting pregnant, you should try places like Tips to Get Pregnant Faster, Boost Fertility:  10 Ways and then, once you get that little cherub here, you want to always be aware of car safety.  You can read about those ideas at 8 Car Seat Mistakes, 5 Facts You Need to Know, Be a Safe Driver and Car Seat Recalls.

And, as I’ve already mentioned, parenting isn’t easy, so when you are in need of support, try Teething Timeline, 7 Ways to Sooth Teething Woes, Little Pearly Whites, Cute Tooth Tools.

So, what more could you need to know?  Stay tuned til the next post….

Unless you’ve had your head stuck in the sand (like my husband) you probably realize that many parenting bloggers are women.  So, on the rare occasion that I find a good read on a blog that is written by the dad.  So, I decided, the time is nigh.  Here’s a brief intro and then I’ll get you the goods.

The site I am introducing you to is daddeeyah.  He has a blog and he writes it from the father’s point of view.  He calls it this “collection of my own experience & gathered knowledge on all things related to parenting: must-have baby gear, medical & medicinal knowledge (& hopefully regular contributions from the pediatrician in the family), musings of the day, etc.”

I would highly recommend you go to his site and at least read the about section and then his site is easy to navigate so you can just jump in and start reading after that little bit of background.  With that, here’s a couple of posts that Daddeeyah called out as his favorites, go read, see what you think, because I really enjoyed it.

First, You are four years old today.. and since my kids are playing hookie, or my one child is playing hookie tomorrow, I enjoyed reading the whole idea of doing things with my kids while they are still kids because we all know what happens right?  Yea, t

hey grow up.  So, give Doing stuff with the kids..

And, speaking of school, it’s a tough transition and here’s what daddeeyah had to say about it First day back at school and multi-lingual kids

It’s that time of the year for coughing, hacking, stopped up noses and general congestion.  And, if you are like me, you remember having your parents put Vicks Vapor Rub on you when you were a child.  I barely remember it but I do recall my grandparents using it a lot.  I remember it smelled bad, that’s about it.

However, once my babies were here and the congestion set in, I remembered something I had read about using Vicks Vapor Rub.  I read somewhere that if it was used on infants, the Rub should be put on the child’s back, not on the chest.  So, hummmm I wondered what in the world it matter.

The reason it matters is because the stuff is toxic if ingested.  And, if you put it on their chest, even with pj’s on, most kids can get their hands in it and then if you’ve ever seen a baby, you know the hands go straight to the mouth.  By putting the rub on the back, you are increasing the chance that the child will be able to touch the Rub and then put his/her hands in his/her mouth.

I found two different articles about this just recently.  So, I thought I would share.  One of them addresses not using the Rub at all for children under 2 and never to use it near the nostrils.  Again, I think we are talking a lot about the same reasoning but Mommy Babble can tell you a little more.  And, Thomas Maugh has some other thoughts on the matter as well. 

Enjoy and as always, feel free to discuss!

I’m sure I can’t be alone in this.  But every time I’ve been pregnant, one of the first things I do is start cruising the baby departments (on and offline) and start mentally planning my registry lists.  Even if I’m not planning on having a baby shower or before I’m anywhere near that magic third month marker.  I’m just a sucker for baby gear and being a “planner” by nature, I really get off on “thinking ahead”.

So if you’re anything like me, maybe you’d like to know where you can geek out on baby goodies from the comfort (and anonymity!) of your own home and even set up “what if” registry lists.  Oh yes!  You can do the whole thing ONLINE.  It’s just awesome is what it is.

• Babies R Us.  The alpha and the omega of baby stores.
• Target.  A staple of Americana and they have some darned cute things.
• Walmart.  Who can forget the retail giant?
• BabyCenter.com.  Currently revamping their registry, it looks like, so check back.
• Amazon.com.  They have their own baby store and registry now.  Did you know that?
• Babystyle.com.  For the super-stylish babies among us.

I could probably go on and on with this, but this is more than enough to get you into trouble, I think.  If you’re expecting and you have an afternoon that you don’t mind going into the toilet, check these sites out.

Before I even got pregnant, I was searching the web for all kinds of information: ovulation predictors, due date calculators, baby names, pregnancy calendars, and even baby gear. I was dreaming of pregnancy and babies all the time, I couldn’t wait for the blessed day that I peed on a stick and then saw two lines.

During my searches I signed up for the parenting website Babycenter.com. For a while the only reason I visited was to check the ovulation calculator. But there is so much more there, which was useful during my pregnancy and the first two years of Fuller’s life.

This is my first review for this blog, so before I jump into it let’s go over the details. First, this is pretty much all my opinion on the site. The main qualifications that I have are 1) I am a parent and 2) I use the internet. There are three categories that I will be reviewing on any website: design, navigation, and content. Each category will be given a score of 0 to 5 “high fives.”

Babycenter.com is a member of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies. Their about page claims they are the most trusted parenting resource on the web. It is a site that focuses on expertise, shopping, and an online community presence.

Design: Babycenter has gone through a makeover. I think it used to have a blue background and now it has a crisp white background. This gives the illusion that there is less on the page, and it is not overwhelming to look at. From what I can see, there is the same amount of content, since the makeover, it just looks less because of the white background.

The site is content driven, so there are not a lot of flashy pictures or icons. Most of the images are from the advertisements (from Johnson and Johnson product, natch), but they are placed in such a way that you are not distracted from your journey for information.

Five high fives!

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