101 GREAT WEBSITES FOR MOTHERHOOD
101 GREAT WEBSITES & APPS FOR MOTHERHOOD
By MAUREEN DOYLE
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CHAPTER 1: PREGNANCY AND PARENTING
Preparation and knowledge goes a long way toward coping with pregnancy and the overwhelming responsibility of a life other than your own. Your physical and emotional state - as your identity and life path changes - will also need some care. These sites will help you deal with raising a family and all the gory and glory that goes with it.
For those just entering the “Let’s have a baby’’ stage, this pastel-schemed, easy-does-it site concentrates specifically on the areas of conceiving, pregnancy and life with a newborn. Special features include an ovulation calculator and calendar, extensive pregnancy and birth plan guide, health and fitness tips and a range of well-sourced advice and guidance for adjusting to life with a bub. It also runs regular blogs, a photo gallery and a directory for pregnancy and baby related needs.
If you want a little more of the “nitty gritty’’, this well-put together site offers excellent resources in the areas of conception, step-by-step pregnancy and birthing options, and is quite matter-of-fact in stating the complications that can arise. There are some confronting real life birth stories, a baby club and a forums section. One of my favorite clicks on this site was an area thoughtfully named “The lounge’’ featuring a stylish, lifestyle mag-look page dedicated to the art of motherhood.
Despite its cute name, this site prides itself in explaining everything in black and white so that readers can make their own informed decisions about conception, pregnancy, birth and baby. I loved the “No fluff. Real stuff’’ motto and the sections dedicated to finding a midwife or doula. You can see where your baby fits into the cosmic universe in the star-sign section and also have a look at the parenting, health and lifestyle and recipe and meal plan sections.
Want one with the lot? This extensive, news-style, bright and breezy package takes you from the start of your baby journey to the smack-bang middle of juggling family life, work, relationships – and a little bit of ‘’me time’’.
From the development stages of your toddler and school aged child, through to family health, well-being, travel, finances, food and entertainment, this site will not only help you find a babysitter – but a little bit of yourself as well.
This is ‘’the one’’, the go-to site for anything. Known as the Australian Parenting Website, this government-supported program is recommended by maternal health care staff for good reason. From baby to teens and all in between, every issue is covered - if your child has a disability, if you are divorced or same sex parents, if you are raising a child in a different culture or are an older mother or young mother; you might be looking after foster children or raising triplets – it’s all here in no nonsense form. For mums with teenagers, arm yourself with knowledge on cyber bullying or watch a video on restricting technology. Also helpful is the “my neighborhood’’ click for identifying local child care services and kid-friendly areas.
Anyone who has ever read a school newsletter or looked at the kinder bulletin board will know of Kathy Walker and may have attended one of her sessions. A Melbourne-based educational consultant, Walker wrote the best selling books “Parenting’’ and “Ready Set Go’’. Early Life Foundations offers advice covering all sectors of early childhood and primary education. It includes parenting fact sheets and most frequently asked parenting questions. Walker’s blogs are excellent, as are highlighted quotes running throughout the site such as this one from Walker herself: “Allow children to be children. Don't think that to treat them with respect and to give them a voice equals expecting them to have the understanding of an adult’’.
The first thing that popped up on this site was a list of things that worked for treating head lice. It was a bit “in your face”, but certainly drew attention to something nearly all mothers have to deal with at some point. This is a brilliant general parenting site that a lot of my friends recommended for getting ideas for kids parties or day trips. As a mum with kids heavily involved in sport, I found a lot of excellent tips. There was even a handy guide to finding a pet.
On a mission to help raise “healthy, happy and confident kids’’, this site was initiated specifically to create a one-stop-shop for parents.
Split into the baby, child, toddler, tween and teen stages, there are hand-picked articles covering parental issues, health and development - a couple of interesting ones listed included 10 top tips on how to get the right-fitting glasses for your child and how to identify and manage psychic children. There are also popular games for the kids, lots of fun competitions and prizes and a rewards club. A business directory has been compiled with the needs of Aussie kids and parents in mind.
APPTASTIC
www.androidapps.com/apps/318112-mom-2-be-pregnancy-tracker-instanceone
FREE: Mom 2 Be Pregnancy Tracker allows you to follow the progress of your pregnancy. Some features include a journal that can be exported to a blog as well as weekly tips, and daily growth statistics.
www.appbrain.com/app/parenting-ages-stages/com.zumobi.parenting
FREE: Parenting Ages and Stages can be customised for your personal use. Add your children's photos, names and birthdays and receive relevant news and tips based on their age and development.
www.appbrain.com/app/breast-feeding-tabulator%3A-free/com.ccwilcox.bft
FREE: Breast Feeding Tabulator. It tracks your feeds (breast or bottle) and reminds you of what side you’re up to.
$4.49: St Johns Ambulance Australia.
This is only on iPhone, iPad and iPod at the moment and may seem expensive, but its one that could save a life, its easy to use and includes some of the most common and critical conditions that can require first aid including Allergic reactions and asthma, stings and bites, burns, chest pain, choking, severe bleeding and sprains.
CHAPTER 2: SHOPPING
Retail therapy at the push of a button. The internet makes it so easy for mums to research and buy items at their leisure. It’s especially handy for those difficult toddler years when going shopping usually ends in tears.
In those first few months of pregnancy, why not start browsing for maternity wear. This site offers an extensive range of stylish outfits and accessories from 60 different brands. There is an excellent guide to finding the right style of maternity jeans for you, as well as a size chart. You could even leave a hint with your family or friends that there is also a gift voucher service.
10. www.prelovedmaternityboutique.com.au
Started by a mum who had paid a fortune for a few key maternity items, this site was born in an effort to sell clothes that were still in excellent condition, while giving pregnant women an affordable way to buy designer items. That was almost 10 years ago. These days the site features hundreds of outfits – each with a photo and description. Most items cost between $20 and $35. And if you want to lash out a little bit, the site has recently introduced brand new clothing from Serendipity.
From the inventor of the now world wide popular BellyBelt, comes this thriving online shopping site. Fertile Mind showcases more than a dozen baby and maternity products invented by mums for mums around the world. Their practical items include breastfeeding clothing, breastfeeding pillows and maternity accessories. There is a terrific range of maternity wear, as well as heaps of sales and specials and up-to-date fashion photos, blogs and newsletters.
Yeah, baby, all the top designer gear and gifts here – Bebe, Coco and Ginger, BIG by Fiona Scanlan, Plum, Oobi, Ouch , Minti - very chic looking site.
13. www.mathildasmarket.com.au
Lots of passionate endorsements from mums – and grandmas - for this one. Mathilda's Market stall-holders offer original clothing, accessories, home-wares and toys for littlies. Perfect for mums who want to stylishly dress their children or decorate their bedrooms, but don't want to buy mass-produced, chain store items. The site lists markets held all around the country.
Another favorite from new-mum friends. Once you know what you want, read what others have to say about the product and make a well-informed decision. Check the mother and baby section and see how items such as baby car seats and high chairs rate and compare.
Does all the work for you, click on what you want - baby clothes, prams, car seats - and it will list the relevant retailers.
Mums with an eye for detail, value and style bring this site for mothers on the look-out for up-to-date products. A practical, innovative site that is fun to browse and offers prompt service.
17. www.kidsconfidential.com.au
Mums who have subscribed to this site receive weekly emails listing warehouse sales or great website sales for all things kids. They say they love the hundreds of related retail listings that appear as well.
This site features an extensive shopping directory that includes a “top 20’’ most popular online shopping stores and sites. There is also a list of popular overseas stores that deliver to Australia.
Another site with every category imaginable, lots of great deals on toys and other family products – and a daily clearance section to nab that extra bargain.
Beautiful site, full of heart. Items featured have been handpicked for their usefulness, creativity, development and fun factor. The site pays particular attention to toys and products for children with special needs
21. www.coles.com.au
This site saved me when my daughter was at her terrible-twos, tantrum-throwing best. I would go straight to the online shopping specials section and start filling up my virtual trolley from there. But you can browse and click through each category and gradually build yourself a basic shopping list that can be saved and used whenever you want. Personal shoppers fill your order and you can get it delivered or “click and collect’’ yourself. The site also has some good recipes for economical family meals.
A little bit of old-fashioned service using 100% Australian products. Aussie Farmers Direct offer a free home delivery service for fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and seafood and milk and bread. Everything is sourced from farmers throughout Australia and there are some brilliant introductory offers, such as the family time saver package that was down from $70 to $35. A lot of my school-mum friends use this service, but when I went to try it for myself, I was informed they didn’t deliver to my street, even though I was only a couple of blocks away from the others. That was a bit annoying, but I’m told the quality and freshness is superb.
APPTASTIC
www.appbrain.com/app/shopping-list/com.fivefly.android.shoppinglist
FREE: Shopping list helps you organise and manage your shopping lists or grocery list from your phone.
www.appbrain.com/app/barcode-scanner/com.google.zxing.client.android
FREE: Bar Code Scanner: Scan barcodes on products then look up prices and reviews.
www.appbrain.com/app/easy-currency-converter/com.easy.currency.extra.androary
FREE: Easy Currency Converter. Great if you like to buy things from overseas. Set up your personal currency list and have important currencies at first glance.
