Web Sites Plug Parents In to Information, Support
It’s 3 a.m., and you have just found gel-like crystals in the wet diaper of your newborn. Your “What to Expect When You Don’t Know Squat About Babies” manual makes no mention of the mysterious substance. Not wanting to risk being fired by your pediatrician, you fire up your home computer instead. A few keystrokes later, you have your answer: The crystals are the byproduct of urine mixing with the moisture-absorbing material found in disposable diapers. Nothing to worry about. Go back to bed.
Parents, new and experienced, are turning to the Internet in droves for information, humor and support. Based on the proliferation of parenting sites out there, it is proving to be a useful tool for today’s mom and dad. But before you start loading info from the sites we have listed here, a word of caution: Information culled from the Web should not be a substitute for consulting with your own team of enlisted professionals, particularly when dealing with issues regarding health.
ABCs of Parenting
URL: https://www.abcparenting.com
Chat Rooms: Yes
Bulletin Boards: Yes
Newsletter: Yes
Q&A; With Experts: Yes
Personalization: No
Members-Only Privileges: Yes
User Polls: Yes
Keyword Search: Yes
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: Yes
Free E-Mail: No
Shopping: Yes
Primary Audience: Parents of children age 0-6.
The newest member of the ParenthoodWeb family of sites (ParenthoodWeb.com, the RecipeXchange.com and eSafety.com). Functions as an Internet directory and search engine, focusing on sites of interest to parents and parents-to-be. Its home page presents a clean, no-nonsense format of categories.
Highlight: A support section devoted to special interests, including parents of children with attention deficit disorder and parents who have suffered the loss of a child.
Baby Bag Online
URL: https://www.babybag.com
Chat Rooms: No
Bulletin Boards: Yes
Newsletter: No
Q&A; With Experts: Yes
Personalization: No
Members-Only Privileges: No
User Polls: No
Keyword Search: Yes
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: No
Free E-Mail: No
Shopping: Yes
Primary Audience: Parents of children age 0-preschool
Not as well-trafficked as other sites yet offers a helpful selection of tips and resources for parents, particularly in the areas of health and safety. Cook’s Corner includes a section on money-saving baby food recipes.
Highlight: “Songs and Fingerplays.” Parents can brush up on lyrics to songs they can’t remember from their own childhood.
BabyCenter
URL: https://www.babycenter.com
Chat Rooms: Yes
Bulletin Boards: Yes
Newsletter: Yes
Q&A; With Experts: Yes
Personalization: Yes
Members-Only Privileges: Yes
User Polls: Yes
Keyword Search Feature: Yes
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: Yes
Free E-Mail: No
Shopping: Yes
Primary Audience: Parents of children age 0-1
Focuses on pregnancy through the first year. Selected by Business Week as one of the top five Web sites to watch in 1998. Offers members-only features such as a personal page filled with news, checklists and links tailored to the age of your baby or to your stage of pregnancy.
Highlight: A special area for Dad, featuring fathers-only articles (“Tips Every Labor Coach Could Use,” “Sex After Baby”), plus animated step-by-step instructions on topics like diapering. Sexist but tongue-in-cheek is the “Sports Conflict Catcher,” a guide to sporting events Dad might miss based on the baby’s due date.
Babyonline
URL: https://www.babyonline.com
Chat Rooms: Yes
Bulletin Boards: Yes
Newsletter: Yes
Q&A; With Experts: Yes
Personalization: No
Members-Only Privileges: Yes
User Polls: No
Keyword Search: Yes
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: No
Free E-Mail: No
Shopping: Pending
Primary Audience: Parents of children age 0-toddler
Presents users the option of joining as members or browsing as visitors. Among the benefits of membership: Q&A; sessions with medical experts who answer questions by personalized e-mail within 24 hours. But read the small print: By joining, members automatically consent to allow the site’s sponsors to e-mail them with promotions.
Highlight: “Growler Dog,” the site’s consumer watchdog, which tracks such topics as product safety and recalls.
BabyZone
URL: https://www.babyzone.com
Chat Rooms: Yes
Bulletin Boards: Yes
Newsletter: Yes
Q&A; With Experts: Yes (but limited to one expert)
Personalization: No
Members-Only Privileges: No
User Polls: No
Keyword Search: Yes
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: No
Free E-Mail: No
Shopping: Yes
Primary Audience: Parents of children age 0-1
Offers a spectrum of features, such as a monthly baby photo contest, pregnancy due date calculators and calendars, and a free Web page to show off your wee one to Grandma and Grandpa. Contains a separate area for fathers.
Highlight: “Free Stuff,” one-stop shopping for a roster of vendors offering coupons, samples, free subscriptions and gifts.
Canadian Parents Online
URL: https://www.canadianparents.com
Chat Rooms: Yes
Bulletin Boards: Yes
Newsletter: Yes
Q&A; With Experts: Yes
Personalization: No
Members-Only Privileges: Yes
User Polls: Pending
Keyword Search: No
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: Yes
Free E-Mail: No
Shopping: Yes
Primary Audience: Parents of children age 0-teen
Aims toward a broader audience but also has Stork Headquarters, an area devoted to expectant moms and dads. Under construction is its First Year Club, whose members temporarily are meeting their needs through a forum and newsletter for parents with kids under 1 year. While comprehensive in its content, its design is not as clean as that of other sites, which can make navigating difficult.
Highlight: the Swap Stop, where users swap, share or sell “gently used” products.
Childbirth.org
URL: https://www.childbirth.org
Chat Rooms: Yes
Bulletin Boards: Yes
Newsletter: No
Q&A; With Experts: Yes
Personalization: No
Members-Only Privileges: No
User Polls: No
Keyword Search: Yes
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: No
Free E-Mail: No
Shopping: Yes
Primary Audience: Expectant parents
Devoted primarily to pregnancy, labor and delivery, yet also contains a significant amount of information on the care and feeding of baby. Useful to first-time parents.
Highlight: Interactive section. Fill out a form and find out within seconds what gender your baby will be (highly unscientific, mind you, as the questions are based on pregnancy myths).
The CyberMom Dot Com
URL: https://www.thecybermom.com
Chat Rooms: Yes
Bulletin Boards: Yes
Newsletter: No
Q&A; With Experts: No
Personalization: No
Members-Only Privileges: No
User Polls: Yes
Keyword Search: Yes
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: Yes
Free E-Mail: No
Shopping: Yes
Primary Audience: Moms with modems (specific demographics unknown)
Eye-catching kitsch ‘50s design with clever, conversational text. Launched in 1995; has received numerous awards for editorial content and design, including ranking in the top 10 of all women’s sites and in the top 5% of all Web sites by Lycos’ Point Communications.
Highlight: the Doghouse, a new section devoted to pets, with such articles as how (and whether) to pick out a family-friendly critter.
Family.com
URL: https://family.disney.com
Chat Rooms: Yes
Bulletin Boards: Yes
Newsletter: Yes
Q&A; With Experts: Yes
Personalization: No
Members-Only Privileges: Yes
User Polls: No
Keyword Search: Yes
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: Yes
Free E-Mail: No
Shopping: Yes
Primary Audience: Parents and children through teens
Part of the Disney.com network. Also taps into the content of FamilyFun, FamilyPC and Cooking Light magazines.
Highlight: Local search option allows users to retrieve daily events calendars, family resources and articles from parenting publications in a desired area. Links include L.A. Parent (Los Angeles County), Parenting (Orange County), and San Diego Parent and San Diego Family (San Diego County).
KinderView
URL: https://www.kinderview.com
Chat Rooms: Yes
Bulletin Boards: Yes
Newsletter: Yes
Q&A; With Experts: Yes
Personalization: Yes
Members-Only Privileges: Yes
User Polls: Yes
Keyword Search: Yes
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: Yes
Free E-Mail: No
Shopping: Yes
Primary Audience: Working parents
A new online parenting publication scheduled to debut in November. Sponsored by KinderView, a San Diego-based company that enables parents to peek in on their child at day-care centers and preschools through the Internet. Special cameras designed specifically for Internet transmission send photos from the centers, allowing parents to see updated color images of their child every few seconds.
Highlight: Publication will include a directory of accredited child-care centers throughout the United States.
The Labor of Love
URL: https://www.thelaboroflove.com
Chat Rooms: Yes
Bulletin Boards: Yes
Newsletter: Yes
Q&A; With Experts: No
Personalization: No
Members-Only Privileges: Yes
User Polls: Yes
Keyword Search: Yes
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: No
Free E-Mail: No
Shopping: Yes
Primary Audience: Parents of children age 0-preschool
As indicated by its name, is heavy on pregnancy and childbirth issues, but also includes general parenting information. Read other women’s birth stories, enter the “Cute Kid” contest or post your own baby announcement.
Highlight: “Parent Prose.” Parents (obviously from another planet because they have time to do this) submit poetry, journals and essays about pregnancy and parenthood.
Moms Online
URL: https://momsonline.com
Chat Rooms: Yes
Bulletin Boards: Yes
Newsletter: Yes
Q&A; With Experts: Yes
Personalization: No
Members-Only Privileges: Yes
User Polls: Yes
Keyword Search: Yes
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: Yes
Free E-Mail: No
Shopping: Yes
Primary Audience: Parents of children age 0-teen
Posts a recipe of the day, a mom of the week and winners of the month (participants in its trivia game). Geared toward a broad market, from hopeful couples trying to conceive to experienced moms and dads. Its staff of parents boasts of equally diverse backgrounds, ranging “from academics to sailors to 911 dispatchers.”
Highlight: the Comfort Corner. Helps stressed-out parents unwind through visualization and relaxation exercises.
National Center for Fathering
URL: https://www.fathers.com
Chat Rooms: Yes
Bulletin Boards: Yes
Newsletter: Yes (magazine)
Q&A; With Experts: No
Personalization: No
Members-Only Privileges: No
User Polls: No
Keyword Search: Yes
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: Yes
Free E-Mail: No
Shopping: Yes
Primary Audience: Fathers, fathers-to-be, wannabe fathers, father figures, fathers of fathers
A product of the National Center for Fathering, a research and education center founded in 1990 whose mission is to inspire and equip men to be better fathers. The center’s site maintains a comfortable balance between humor and practical information.
Highlight: Top 10 list. Recent samples: “The Top 10 Dinner Dishes When Mom’s Away and Dad’s ‘Cooking’ ” (No. 4: Cocoa Puff surprise) and “The Top Last Things You Want Your Children to Learn to Say” (No. 9: Your “Ouch-I-hit-my-thumb-with-the-hammer” word).
ParentPartners
URL: https://www.ParentPartners.com
Chat Rooms: No
Bulletin Boards: Yes
Newsletter: No
Q&A; With Experts: Yes
Personalization: Yes
Members-Only Privileges: Yes
User Polls: No
Keyword Search: Yes
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: Yes
Free E-Mail: No
Shopping: Yes
Primary Audience: Parents of children age 0-5
A comprehensive resource for child development information that combines knowledge of your child with the expertise of child development specialists.
Highlight: Personalized profiles. Site offers members a quick profile of their child’s development with a free “Child Snapshot” or, for a fee, provides members with a more comprehensive assessment of their child. Five reports--categorized by social; language; logic and numbers; visual and spatial; and movement--are available for $9 each. Or users can purchase a multiple-abilities report, which encompasses all of the individual reports, for $30. Each report requires members to submit a detailed questionnaire about their child.
Parent Soup
URL: https://www.parentsoup.com
Chat Rooms: Yes
Bulletin Boards: Yes
Newsletter: Yes
Q&A; With Experts: Yes
Personalization: No
Members-Only Privileges: Yes
User Polls: Yes
Keyword Search: Yes
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: Yes
Free E-Mail: Yes
Shopping: Yes
Primary Audience: 30-something mothers
The mother of parenting Web sites. Offers everything from daily news stories to emergency telephone numbers. Provides thorough information while maintaining a friendly demeanor through its witty and sometimes sassy voice. Boasts simple, clever graphics, and its clean design makes navigating easy. Offers members free e-mail through iVillage.com, its umbrella network, which also supports ParentsPlace.com.
Highlight: User-friendly sections categorized according to specific ages of children.
ParentTime
URL: https://www.parenttime.com
Chat Rooms: Yes
Bulletin Boards: Yes
Newsletter: Yes
Q&A; With Experts: Yes
Personalization: Yes
Members Only Privileges: No
User Polls: No
Keyword Search: Yes
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: Yes
Free E-Mail: No
Shopping: No
Primary Audience: Parents of children age 0-6
Owned by Time Inc. and Procter & Gamble, publishes material by its staff and by the authors and editors of Parenting and BabyTalk magazines. Experts include Dr. Ruth Westheimer, whose sex tips can be heard on RealAudio, and pediatrician William Sears and his wife, Martha, a registered nurse and certified lactation consultant, who field health and development questions.
Highlight: “Project Planner,” featuring instructions and illustrations for projects for a rainy day.
ParenthoodWeb
URL: https://www.parenthoodweb.com
Chat Rooms: Yes
Bulletin Boards: Yes
Newsletter: Yes
Q&A; With Experts: Yes
Personalization: Yes
Members-Only Privileges: Yes
User Polls: Yes
Keyword Search: Yes
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: No
Free E-Mail: Yes
Shopping: Yes
Primary Audience: Parents of children age 0-6
Well-organized and substantive. Part of the women.com network, which also supports Stork Site. Web links segment lists almost 150 other sites. The pregnancy and labor section is virtually a separate site because of its extensive content.
Highlight: “Ultrasound Index,” dozens of high-quality ultrasound images at various stages of development.
Parenting Q&A;
URL: https://www.parenting-qa.com
Chat Rooms: No
Bulletin Boards: No
Newsletter: Yes
Q&A; With Experts: Yes
Personalization: Yes
Members-Only Privileges: Yes
User Polls: No
Keyword Search: Yes
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: Yes
Free E-Mail: No
Shopping: Yes
Primary Audience: Parents of children age 0-teen
Answers users’ questions pertaining to all aspects of parenting. Panel of experts ranges from lactation consultants to child development specialists.
Highlight: Guarantees every question gets a response. If the answer to your question is nowhere to be found among the topics listed, you may e-mail the gurus to get a personalized answer.
Parents.com
URL: https://www.parents.com
Chat Rooms: Yes
Bulletin Boards: Yes
Newsletter: No
Q&A; With Experts: Yes
Personalization: Yes
Members-Only Privileges: Yes
User Polls: Yes
Keyword Search: Yes
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: Yes
Free E-Mail: No
Shopping: Yes
Primary Audience: Parents of children age 0 to teen
A highly interactive site that draws from Parents, Child, Family Circle and McCall’s magazines. Experts and parents add to the mix.
Highlight: “Recordkeeper,” an electronic keepsake section that allows parents to track everything from their child’s first steps to vaccinations. Alerts users of important deadlines like childproofing and medical checkups.
ParentsPlace.com
URL: https://www.parentsplace.com
Chat Rooms: Yes
Bulletin Boards: Yes
Newsletter: Yes
Q&A; With Experts: Yes
Personalization: No
Members-Only Privileges: Yes
User Polls: Yes
Keyword Search: Yes
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: Yes
Free E-Mail: Yes
Shopping: Yes
Primary Audience: 30-something women
Founded by a couple after the birth of their son. Has grown from a single bulletin board and minimal content to more than 400 boards and thousands of editorial pieces. The home business eventually merged with iVillage, the network that also supports Parent Soup. Fertility and pregnancy section, touted as the “most trafficked expecting area on the Web,” has more than 800 columns on infertility, conception, pregnancy, complications, tests, childbirth and postpartum care.
Highlight: Children’s Health Center, one of the more impressive parenting resources on the Internet. The “Kids’ Health” section alone lists almost 70 topics, with additional topics categorized according to age and even more issues of interest to parents of children with special needs.
Stork Site
URL: https://www.storksite.com
Chat Rooms: Yes
Bulletin Boards: Yes
Newsletter: No
Q&A; With Experts: Yes
Personalization: Yes
Members-Only Privileges: Yes
User Polls: Yes
Keyword Search: Yes
Articles: Yes
Age Categories: Yes
Free E-Mail: Yes
Shopping: Yes
Primary Audience: Parents of children age 0-1
Part of the women.com network. Specializes in pregnancy and raising infants. Through its mentor program, members can find a mentor mom or sign up to be one, based on similar experiences, like raising twins or dealing with postpartum depression.
Highlight: Free e-mail upon registering with Stork Site.
For more parenting information, such as advice on dealing with a colicky baby and the most recent research on preventing SIDS, see Monday’s Health section.