I seriously don't know how many times I have said this since Jayse has been born.
I was thinking about it a few days ago and realised as a first time mum google and online parenting forums have really been my best friend. No longer are my queries and questions destined for the midwife at the local health clinic, but instead for millions of online mums (or dads) who themselves are also searching for some answers.
But is this a wise move? I mean a midwife is someone qualified in the field. Should we be replacing their expertise with this instant information, when we often have no idea who is giving us this information? Well I'm not sure whether it is the right move, but the mums of the Internet age are definitely making it a popular one. Myself included.
I am a part of a group on Facebook called 'mummy madness'. Any time, day or night, you can jump on there and ask its 1300 members for help and no topic is sacred. I've seen jovial questions along the lines on 'what sex position will guarantee me a girl?' to others more serious like 'I've just changed my baby's formula and now she's vomiting severely. What should I do?'. And I think what us mum's love about it (and correct me if I am wrong fellow members) is the immediacy of it. If we have a question or query at midnight we don't have to wait till the morning to get it answered. Just this morning I was up at 2.30am with my precious monster and jumped online while he was feeding. There was a mum, who'd been up for several hours trying to get her babe asleep and she was looking for suggestions on getting her little one off to dreamland. I chucked in my two cents worth and so did several other mums within about 15 minutes of her posting it. And yes she may not have liked the advice or suggestions I made, but I went back to bed knowing I might have helped someone out. In a way it is a sense of camaraderie amongst mums to help each other out when we are in need.
A few days ago I put it to my fellow members of mummy madness to see what they thought about social media and how it assisted them on their journey of parenthood. And I was surprised at the repsonse. I honestly thought that maybe one or two people would respond to my call, simply saying they loved the group. But around 13 people gave me their thoughts, some with very in depth answers as to what they thought. So I would like to say a big THANK YOU to all the parents that got on board!
Most said groups like mummy madness were extremely helpful, as it allows parents to share their experiences, one mum even described it as 'a giant mothers group with bells on'. Another point which I tend to agree with in regards to this particular group is that most members are respectful of one another. Yes we all have different opinions, but 'we all respect each others input', even if we don't agree. This isn't always the case though. With other online parenting forums I have seen some mums absolutely grill others for choices they've made when it comes to looking after their babe and it can sometimes turn quite nasty. As we all know everyone's journey of parenthood can be dramatically different, and just because one mum decides to formula feed their baby rather than breast feed (for example), doesn't give any other mum the right to criticise their decision. One mum put it perfectly (by quoting another mum), by saying 'This groups differentiates by people sharing experience' instead of opinion.
While some questions will always be destined for the local paediatrician, groups like mummy madness are a helpful tool for mums (particularly new mums like myself), when it comes to looking after our little bundles. It is a great forum where mums can share trade secrets and tips and share their experiences. I have no idea where I would be if I had had Jayse pre-internet days and the local health clinic would probably be sick of me by now from me calling numerous times a day!
Thanks once again to all the mums that got involved, it again proves to me the camaraderie amongst mums to help each other out!
Just thought I would chuck a little pic in too! =)
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| Little man's first jump on a trampoline with Dad! <3 |
i was a member of a couple of mummy forums when i was pregnant with Jet & when he was little. it can be great support, especially where you have a special interest. i have always been big on natural parenting & i was using cloth nappies so i was part of forums that had mums with similar interests which was great because there wernt many mums that i knew in real life that i could ask my million questions to!
ReplyDeletealso, on the point of getting advice from mums vs professionals. i guess it can be a bad thing sometimes, but in a way sometimes the mums have the best advice. some of the professionals are just giving you the advice they were told when they were studying how ever many years ago & reasearch is changing all the time & they might not even have kids themselves so might not have any experience actually using their own advice. mums can tell you what they did with their kids, which might not work with yours because all kids are different, but its great to get lots of ideas & pick out the things that fit in well with you & your child & give them a go (thats my 2c anyway) :D