Busy mum
It is a yes and a no at the same time, I would say. Firstly, forums are great places to pass time for pregnant women and to get some advice and share their experiences for new mums. It is understandable that many first-time mums usually try to make every effort to be the best mums in the world and they use this fast and free tool of getting advice about their babies including sleeping, feeding, playing, illnesses and much more.
However, there are some disadvantages of using discussing forums. It takes you in and sometimes doesn’t let go for a while – I am talking about the amount of time these forums steals. It is similar to facebook – once you are in, you’re in, time passes by without you realising it and you could definitely have used this time more wisely.
Secondly, there are many mums who like to soften their situation and lie about their lives. For example, somebody is saying that her newborn baby is sleeping all night without waking up or that her husband is so “loving and caring and brings flowers every day” that she is nearly jealous for herself. After a while you start comparing your life with those “ideal” lives of other mums and understand that yours is not so brilliant. I am not saying that you have to believe whatever other mums are saying, but I found this whole thing a little bit off-putting as if you are honest you expect others to be the same too.
Third reason why forums are not worth your time is not getting what you are actually looking for. You may be looking for some advice about how to treat your child if he is ill, but other mums can lead you to do something wrong. Of course, everybody understands that this is not a GP service and advice given is only guidance, you may follow it or not, but giving a misleading advice (not necessary intentionally!) may cause real trouble.
My honest opinion is that forums are simply waste of time in majority of cases and should only be used to pass time when bored. Please share your own views on the subject.
By Monika Petrauskaite
Tagged in Mums