PARENTING ONLINE

There are now a number of websites where parents can chat to each other, either to reduce their feelings of isolation and/or to gain knowledge and share experiences to make parenting a bit easier.

Here are some of those sites ...

Our Little Treasure
A Free Online Resource for Anyone Caring for Young Children!

Alternative Baby
Alternative Baby is an Australian community dedicated to providing information and support about Attachment Parenting and other alternative, instinctive and natural parenting philosophies

Real Mums
well the name says it all really! This site is for parents who are willing to admit the truth about parenting - it is hard work, underpaid an underappreciated and messy! Join Mad Cow and friends as they discuss anything they feel the need to discuss... There are also articles, tips, recipes, competitions and more coming soon :)

Minti
is a virtual place where parents can visit anytime to share and gain valuable advice on parenting. The content is created by members in the form of articles. The articles are tagged, rated and commented on by the community to encourage the integrity and relevancy of the information created. Topics range from pre-pregnancy, pregnancy, babies, early childhood, schooling, tweens, teenage years and beyond. Consider Minti as your global parent support group and expect lots of new features to be constantly added to the site so we can all be better at the most important job in the world: parenting.

Melbourne Alternative and Attachment Parenting: An online and real life support group based in Melbourne, for parents practising Attachment Parenting, and other non-mainstream or instinctive parenting techniques to discuss these ideas in a safe, friendly, and supportive environment.

Natural Parenting 
Natural Parenting Magazine is the creation of full time mother, Susan Stark. It was born in Brisbane, Queensland in 2002 after the birth of her son, Harrison. Susan edits and publishes Natural Parenting with the endless support of her husband Steve and the generous contributions of Australian writers and photographers.

Natural Parenting (Melbourne) 
Natural Parenting Melbourne is a new city-wide network of families and professionals aiming to support, educate and celebrate the diversity of “natural choices” available to families as they journey their way through pregnancy, birth and ongoing parenthood.

Step Family Zone
The Stepfamily Association of South Australia Inc developed its first website in November 1997. Since that time we have been constantly developing our website to provide information and support to stepfamilies.

Step Family Zone - Forums

Mumsweb
is a large online community for parents of all ages and stages. Membership is free and everyone is welcome to say hello. You never know when you'll need some advice or support, and maybe you'll make some close friends there as well.

Smart Mums
has a mums in business directory, competitions, information for Mums, but no forums for those after a community site.

Parent2Parent
is purely an online community - the site has forums for discussions and no more. From what we've seen it has some very frank discussions of topics not seen on other parenting sites, which is great for those needing someone to discuss such health issues with.

The Parenting Sanctuary
An Aussie-based, non-profit website aiming at bringing together people and parents of all ages in a friendly, welcoming online environment

Kids n More
Kids n More Community is a free and award winning online community for parents and parents-to-be. The site has many features and resources, including discussion forums, live web chat, members competitions, online shopping, an articles and resources section (including expert advice), special offers for members only, a photo gallery and much more.  

Babyweb
Sharing Your baby's photos with friends & family can bring great joy! Babyweb is the best place on the web to show off your new bundle of joy to the world. Whether across the street, across the country or around the world. Your friends and family can meet the latest addition to your family with just a few clicks of the mouse.

The Single Parent Bible
The Single Parent Bible is an online glossy magazine for single parents, packed full of enlightening editorial, competitions, budgeting ideas, help lines and much much more