What first brought you to Mumsnet?

[HenryInTheTunnel]

Interesting first post, OP!

My very first query was about step parenting when i was in a relationship at the time with someone with a child from a previous rel. I didn't post but liked to read about all the potential pit falls and suggestions of how to approach that situation. I then got sucked in to the chatter on Active Conversations and have been here ever since, about 10 or so years now.

What first brought you to these murky waters?

My first miscarriage at 14 weeks bought me here, was years before I was brave enough to post though! That didn't happen till I lost DD at 22 weeks a few years later.

This video lmao

x

I’m pretty sure I mistyped netmums in the bleary early days of ds being newborn. I expect lots of us find Mumsnet that way

Was originally on the Huggies Forum(years ago) and somehow drifted over this way.

I googled things when my DC were babies and Mumsnet threads were the top hit on quite a few occasions

Finding out I was 5mths pregnant with dd2.
Dd1 was 23 at the time.
I was in total shock, on the internet at 2 in the morning. I didn't post straight away but spent hours reading threads.

Gender-Critical safe haven.

I had to get away from fucking shitty netmums. Twats.

I came for the adoption boards (which are better here than anywhere else IMO) and stayed for AIBU, telly addicts and Feminism.

I googled something about pelvic floor exercises and came across a very funny thread on here about them.

I was in a job where I had been shoved sideways due to impending maternity leave and had practically no work to do.

Spent about 6 weeks on here reading everything and anything and have never left.

I’m on my 3rd name, first one had ‘mum’ in it which quickly felt wrong for this site, second I had my arse handed to me on a relationships thread that I misjudged the seriousness of and made a joke and I was so embarrassed, but this name I’ve had for a few years now and I like it.

Spent an inordinate amount of time on the internet in 2010/11 whilst on maternity leave and read an article about Riven that lead me to MN. Then got hooked reading about MrsDeVere's neighbour's garden erection and never left!

being in labour.
remembering faintly that midwife mentioned a forum for mums, netmums. I got the name wrong

Elective C-S Googling about 6 years ago, before I was pregnant. Then I found AIBU and loved it, I wasn't looking at the whole site and I put a post about not wanting to bf on there. I was told I'd be flamed but I wasn't, such was the site back then. I found the pregnancy, sleep, parenting topics once I was pregnant but Classics was the one that properly lured me in.

Gordon Brown’s biscuit.

I was pregnant and kept googling questions I had about things. 9 times out of 10 mumsnet results kept popping up and they were usually the most informative and interesting. I was converted quickly! DD is 5 now and I go through phases 😁

I was on a website called Overclockers and they kept mentioning the harpies of Mumsnet, so I popped over here quite a few years ago and haven't popped back.

Matthew Wright’s constant whining about the site got me curious.

Work research on parents 15 years ago. I felt like I was reading about an alien planet.

Then found it again 5 years ago in middle of the night when googling for helping with pregnancy problems.

I googled something along the lines of ‘will my kids die, I’ve just fed them out of date sausages by mistake’ and found someone asking a similar question on this brilliant website called Mumsnet

My kids didn’t die and I found a brilliant place to procrastinate on 😄

Bounty Debates was great back in the day, but I jumped ship (with a bunch of others) about 10 years ago.

I occasionally still recognise other BDers here, but it’s huge now so hardly ever happens

2012, breast feeding advice (I think!). Fed DS1 until nearly 3, am still feeding DS2 at 2.5 years old.

I left after penis beaker (it suddenly didn't feel like the same place anymore, that was literally the worst thing to happen to this forum) but rejoined for the FWR boards, mainly a lurker on there.

Lots of the stuff on here makes me really cross, especially 'sleep consultant' threads, controlled crying etc. Babies are small for such a short time, we've lost sight of what's 'normal' as a society in terms of human development.

Breastfeeding

I joined when I was pregnant with my first 10 years ago. I used to Google pregnancy things, how big is my baby, is normal, that sort of stuff.

I found Netmums and Mumsnet. The layout on NM was terrible, and MN was better. And there was swearing so I stayed here.

Mumsnet must owe the OP of penis beaker a nice bottle of champagne, as I'm another who was pulled in by it.

I was using another mums forum at the time (not NM) but it was pretty militant about modding and most of the fun people got kicked out pretty quickly. Penis beaker showed me that Mumsnet had the spark of renegade spirit I was after.

When my dd got pregnant I was looking for advice for her, and updated advice for me,found this place, and have been here ever since. I haven't started many threads, but the ones I have started have always got me good advice. I introduced my other dd to the place too, I often find posts of hers, and we recommend threads to each other