New parents walk around with question marks stapled to their forehead.  Breast or bottle, work or stay at home, home school or public school, and the list goes on and on.  New parents are full of these questions and it’s important that they find reliable sources of parenting information.

Where then do they turn?  Family is a great source of information about parenting.  Whether they want to believe it or not, their mother in law has raised children successfully and can probably give a few pointers about how to best take care of babies.  After all, they raised the person they’re married to, and did a pretty good job or there wouldn’t have been a wedding.  New parents would be wise to take advantage of the years of experience right at their fingertips. 

The hospital where the baby was born can provide parenting information.  They may also be able to point a new parent in the direction of parenting groups.  These parenting groups can give a wealth of information about baby care as well as some support for the stress that new parents face. 

The web can be a great resource for information on babies.  A new parent can find developmental information about their babies as well as advice geared especially for new parents.  At the very least a new parent can find parenting information that they can ask the pediatrician about at the next baby appointment.  An informed parent is a better advocate for their baby at the doctor’s office. 

Of course, the parenting section of the local bookstore can provide a wealth of information on a new baby.  From pregnancy all the way through to the toddler years, a parent will have experts at their fingertips through the multitude of books available. 

New parents can spend hours digging their way through all of the parenting information available to them.  Eventually, they will have to put the books aside, turn off the computer and just savor those precious years.