Who do you turn to for the best parenting advice and why? Share with us and Nurofen for Children - £300 voucher prize draw! NOW CLOSED

[ZaneMumsnet]

These days, parenting tips are available from a wealth of sources and sometimes it can be tricky to know who to listen to. The team at Nurofen for Children would love to hear who you turn to for the best parenting advice and why you trust or listen to them most of all.

Here's what Nurofen for Children says,"Being a parent is a wonderful life changing experience, full of challenges and triumphs at every stage. We understand seeking advice from a variety of sources is an important part of feeling confident in the decisions you make for your children, so we’d love to hear who you turn to for advice (and the reasons you love the tips they give)".

So please share on this thread your best sources of advice: whether it's a trusted friend who has been there and done that, your own mum, your health visitor, a magazine or blog, the content pages or talk boards on MN etc. They'd also like to know why you love that source of advice so much - perhaps you could share the best advice you've been given and why it worked for you.

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one mumsnetter will win a £300 Love2Shop voucher!

Thanks

MNHQ

Terms and conditions
-To enter the competition answer the question above
-To enter, you must be:
a) A UK resident; and b) 18 years old or over at the time of entry and c) a registered member of Mumsnet
-Competition closes at midnight on 26-2-2016
-Entries posted after the closing date will not be considered
-One winner will be chosen from all winning entries
-Mumsnet will choose the winner at random after the closing date
-Mumsnet will contact the winner privately to organise delivery of the prize
-The prize is £300 Love2Shop vouchers
-Full terms and conditions [[http://www.mumsnet.com/pdf/terms-and-conditions-for-survey-prize-draws-
v3.pdf here]]
Nurofen for Children 3 months to 9 years Orange / Strawberry. Nurofen for Children Orange / Strawberry 3 months to 12 years (weighing over 5kg). Contains Ibuprofen. For relief of fever. Always read the label.

Babies was " your child from 0-5" by Penelope leach as I was overseas when I had my DC, no friends or family, no one in my family had bf and I suppose my ideas ( not leaving baby to cry) were unfathomable to them and they didn't like it. There was no mid wife facility, just consultants and I had to sign a special form just to make sure I could have my newborn in my room and not whisked off to a nursery the moment they arrived.

Now the DC are older it's a bit of mn, my rather fabulous doctor, a co worker with children my age and actually I tend to ask my kids a lot- we are pretty inclusive and democratic in my house, although I am in charge:) I love that my DC can help themselves, each other and me be better.

Mumsnet is always my first port of call because there is such a wealth of information here. I trust the advice of my friends too. They all have children and are wise women.

Has to be Mumsnet (or good old Dr Google ) because there's always someone who's been there. My mum would have been an absolute font of knowledge but her Alzheimer's was already severe when I had my first child and she died just after my second child was born

Depending on the situation, I have quite a wide network to ask.

Mumsnet is great for practical advice like the best things to do at x attraction.

Health stuff - don't mess around, ask someone qualified! Pharmacists are great as you don't need an appointment and they know what they are talking about.

For emotional type stuff, I have a lot of amazing women at the end of the phone/facebook who are very wise. Stepmum, aunts, grandmothers and friends.

Google!

My NCT buddies and the few friends who have kids and a splattering of mumsnet For health stuff I always go to a health visitor or gp.

I do talk about children-related issues with friends who have children of the same age. I talk to my Mum, but she's a different generation and often sees things differently, so it's more sharing than asking for advice as such.
I don't have much trust in GPs who don't really know my children. I've seen the health visitor twice at the most and found them a total waste of time. And I definitely avoid books written by super-nannies-baby-controllers-type.
As my older son has special needs, I occasionally attend a group of mothers at his school, and they are an invaluable source of information on all things SEN.

TBH I get most advice from the internet. For serious matters like health I would go to a more official site like the NHS website but for general advice such as behavioural issues I would look to mumsnet or other similar sites.

There are a few reasons for this. Firstly a lot of my friends don't have kids so I wouldn't ask them, but mainly its probably due to embarrassment. I either don't want to look like a bad mum or I don't want to look like a hypochondriac or panicky mother which DH already thinks I am. I can't imagine I'm alone in this and am just grateful that there are so many great sources of information out there.

Mumsnet is where I have got most of my advice from, I particularly found the feeding threads helpful when I was struggling to establish breastfeeding with DS1.

Otherwise I would ask my Mum for her opinion or a friend who had a little boy three months before I did.

I rely on my mums network IRL and online. My NCT antenatal group are great (and include one mum of 4 and a GP so a good, knowledgable resource). I try to parent in a gentle way and like the RIE approach. I belong to a few groups who advocate this: Evolutionary Parenting, Janet Lansbury's online group/ forum and a local gentle mums group. Great to bounce ideas off each other and find out about the latest information as well as asking specific questions.

The best piece of advice I have ever been given is to trust my instincts. I suffered with my MH postnatally and the gentle way is what I felt was right BUT I wasn't sure I was doing it correctly and worried about my LO growing up entitled or spoilt. Finding like minded people online gave me the courage of my convictions and helped me learn about teaching boundaries in a respectful way, instilling good values and kindness.

Online forums as u get lots of different views instead of one

I rely on my colleague for parental advice - because she's got a daughter a year older than my eldest - we compare notes quite a bit :)

Usually friends, its good to get advice form people going through the same things at the same time

Family and friends, they have children the same age and therefore been through the same problems.
I also listen to my instinct.

Mostly from my parents and a couple of close friends. Also MIL, and of course Mumsnet.

Children Centres are great for advice but also to sign-post you to other professionals :)

A friend who has the most well rounded kids I know - she's never flustered and doesn't care about unimportant things (such as having a tidy house!). She really helps me when I'm worried about stuff to put it in perspective.

I turn to my aunty, it's ridiculous she knows everything. She is so good with babies and has brought her girls up so so well. I will always turn to her

My mum and nan, I turned out ok so they must have done something right.

I would usually go to my mum for advice, she used to be a midwife way back in the day (1980's) but as times have now changed my first stop is my health visitor for anything to do with my child's welfare.

I think it depends on what I need advice for! I might ask my mum, a friend or turn to the Internet- usually Mumsnet but a Google search will often bring up what I'm looking for. Before becoming a parent, I devoured a huge number of parenting magazines and books and I often recall advice from these when needed.
Mostly I trust my own knowledge and judgement for the final decision on anything though- usually in conjunction with DH too!

My mother in law turned out to be the voice of sanity surprisingly. She has a great way of stepping back and getting me to step back with her

we just make it all up ourselves .... doing ok... so far!

Always my DM, I hope I'm half the mother she's been!

Always my mum, always gives reasoned advise I can trust