Is there a website where you can get advice on parenting?

[disillusioned]

I know, I probably sound sarcastic. It just all seems so different these days. Unless you are a well known prolific poster or you are posting about something really unusual or outrageous, people just aren't interested.

You only need to look at some of the topics and you can see that posters who have concerns about their kids, parenting etc only get a few replies. Yet ask about sex toys, what's for dinner and baby names and you're inundated with replies.

When I joined MN I was amazed at the replies you would get when you started a thread, it seemed that people were genuinely interested. Nowadays, there are umpteen unanswered threads and it all seems more superficial.

I know there are times when everyone comes together eg the christmas pressie thing, but on a day to day basis no one really cares anymore.

Btw, I've just changed my name as I've just noticed a thread when someone was moaning about my name being similar to theirs. Will be sticking with this from now on.

this thread has really got me thinking and some of your points have got me thinking. Like tm says you could try to check if someone really is ignoring you, or is it simply a busy thread, where perhaps everybody's comments are being taken on board but people are not being acknowledged individually?

As has been said, there are now so many members and so many subjects, I'm sure that loads are not getting the input they need. When I log on I sometimes just look at the "last 15 mins" cos I know I'm not going to have time to read everything that's going on.

Wonder if mnhq will have to stream the active conversations into serious and not so serious... so those who just want books, chat, meetups, etc go to one area and those who want advice go to another.

Don't be downhearted!

Disillusioned, (and 2shoes) it is very hard not to feel like throwing in the towel when you have bared your soul and then been talked over...usually I change my name for very sensitive stuff to 'protect' the innocent as it were, and sometimes the person who talks over me is someone who I felt was a MN 'friend' which seems doubly upsetting.
And there was one poster who used to ignore me even when I addressed her directly - that's kind of hard to forgive or make excuses to yourself over. Sometimes i get a little paranoid about it, and depressed. Sometimes I get a grip and ring a 'real-life' friend.

But usually, just when I'm beginning to think ''WTF am I doing here'' MN comes up trumps.

I hope I've never ignored you.....