Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Motherhood: Sharing Websites and FB Support Groups (Tips)

As a new mom, there is a lot to learn about our newest family member, QW. My gut feeling tells me that even as an experienced mom, learning will be on-going as every baby is an unique individual.

I find that information provided by the Internet can get pretty daunting and overwhelming. After a while, I fall into a pattern when I search for information.

Websites wise, tendency is to depend on
  • Baby Center (USA)[1] or Baby Centre (UK)[2] for babies related materials (such as weekly development starting as early as foetus stage)
  • Kellymom[3] for breastfeeding related materials
I have also shared these websites under my "Some Links" tab

Facebook groups wise, I find that each of them, those which I have joined, have their own quirks that trigger some learning to be done. Hence even observing general etiquette, I usually will observe the below self imposed rules especially if I join a closed group just to play safe (so that I don't get kick out of the group or attract undesired attention):
  • Be a silent reader for at least a week - I find that I can observe the "silent rule" (if any) of the group through this method.
  • Read all the group info files, especially the rules files (if any).
So far, some groups which I find useful are:
  • Babywearing Singapore
  • Breastfeeding Mums (open to ladies only)

Do note that there will always be those who make the experience within the group an unpleasant one. Just don't take it to heart or stress yourself over what you read.

Using the Breastfeeding Mums closed group as an example: There are some who will upload photos of their large breast milk output or breast milk stash. I believe they meant it as a source of motivation for us to work towards and not an intentional post for self glorification. But still, some mothers have commented before that those photos sort of stressed them out. So, do take care not to impose stress upon yourself!

Using the Babywearing Singapore closed group as an example: There are many who posted photos to seek advice on whether they wore their child correctly in the carriers of their choice. Well, not everyone will get it right at the first round. Hence, do not despair if there are comments which state what went wrong. Those comments are meant as a word of encouragement to improve on the carries, rather than pointing out your mistakes.

Also, there might be occasion that their response is slower than the Breastfeeding Mums closed group (perhaps because they have lesser members since it is a new budding group).

Yupz, so there you go. My little insights after visiting many websites and joining a few FB support groups. Hope it helps somehow (=

References:
  1. Baby Center
  2. Baby Centre
  3. KellyMom

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