These are my go-to resources for honest reviews, expert opinions, and (where possible), science-backed and evidence-based recommendations. In a world muddled with conflicting opinions and a huge spectrum of situations, we’ve found these sources as a starting point for sound advice.
As someone who didn’t have any siblings or close friends with babies when I had my first kid, I like to joke I used Google to figure out how to raise a baby. In reality, it takes an incredible amount of time and critical thought to actually use Google to investigate sources and evaluate advice, so we whittled down our input to this collection.
General Online Resources
American Academy Pediatrics (AAP): I follow AAP on Facebook to keep the latest guidelines and alerts right in my timeline.
Healthy Children: Tons of great information on child development, healthy living, and safety protocols. This is parent-friendly outpost of the AAP. The symptom checker on this website is what my pediatrician office asks that we use as a screening tool before calling. It’s been super helpful for specific questions like head injuries with tiered guidelines — what to look for, when to get help immediately, when to call the pediatrician within 24 hours, and more. (When in doubt, I always call the nurse line so they can help me decide if the baby needs to be seen.)
Lucie’s List: This is my first go-to for any questions related to baby stuff. As a first-time parent, I loved the automated emails tied to my baby’s age, giving advice, gear ideas, and perspectives I wouldn’t have known to start thinking about.
Safe Kids Worldwide: Another great general safety resource to consult and integrate into social feeds.
New York Times Parenting: Surprisingly down-to-earth, a great mix of curated parent input and expert advice.
American Red Cross: Preparedness for emergency situations is probably the furthest from your mind in the fog of becoming a parent. This collection of resources is a good place to start:
- CPR: I took an infant CPR/first aid course before having kids, and while I still had a lot of anxiety around safety and feeding, having the basic information on what to do if my child was choking was a great confidence booster. Highly recommend. Or at least watch a video.
- Fire Safety/Escape Plans: Prepare for a home fire with these tips, and practice your plan for getting out safely, especially with a new baby and sleep deprived parents. We make sure our older child knows what a smoke alarm sounds like, what to do if they see a fire, and how to exit the house safely (and we practice this!)
- Disaster Preparedness: Update your emergency kit with baby items (here’s a quick list of ideas), and think through how to integrate your kids into disaster preparedness and response. For instance, I always grabbed my baby’s bucket car seat if we had a tornado warning as an additional layer of protection while we sheltered in our bathroom. Here’s a blog post about how I stayed informed and prepared when tornadoes hit my town.
Websites & Resources: Topic-Based
Sleep
- Cribs for Kids (Safe Sleep Ambassador Program). A great education program — quick, to the point, and you get a certificate!
- Pregnant Chicken: Safe Sleep Guidelines: This article was the first I’d come across to help put some scenarios and breathing information behind the strict rules of flat surfaces/nothing in the crib. Reading this helped me internalize the risks and realities of safe sleep practices and the exhaustion/desperation that comes with baby sleep issues. (And includes the tip: “If it looks like a strict, eastern-European nanny with no soul set up your baby’s crib, you’re probably on the right track.”)
Car Seats
- National Child Safety Passenger Certification (Find a CPST to help with or check seat installation, plus the Ultimate Car Seat Guide) *Remember, police officers and fire departments aren’t necessarily trained in car seat installations. If you are seeking outside help, make sure to ask if folks helping you are CPST-certified.
- Safe in the Seat (safety info + personal consultant available for hire)
- Car Seats for the Littles
- The Car Seat Lady
- The Car Seat Blog (more reviews on seats than safety tips)
Feeding
- Yummy Toddler Food: I return often to the master list of snack foods and frequently consult the meal plans. She has tons of recipes and includes tips on how to store/freeze foods.
Facebook Groups: Topic-Based
Reputable, moderated Facebook Groups can be a wealth of valuable information and advice. Here are some of my most-consulted Facebook groups with solid team of admins, ground rules, typically helpful members to truly leverage wisdom of the crowd.
These Facebook Groups are much more interactive than the Instagram accounts below, which are more one-way information from the experts.
- Safety-Conscious Parenting: An Evidenced-Based Group
- Safe Infant Sleep – Evidence-Based Support Group
- Car Seats for the Littles
- Slate Parenting. I’m in a slew of other general parenting/mom Facebook groups, and Slate has quickly replaced all of them. This group tends to be level-headed, offer pragmatic advice and a speak from variety of experiences.
Integrating wise voices into my regular Instagram scrolling has helped incredibly in staying updated and discovering new tips Here are my favorite accounts that consistently provide invaluable information:
Feeding Accounts on Instagram
These accounts have taught me so much about how to think about food: A healthy relationship (not reward/punishment), setting appropriate expectations for nutrition, ideas for serving and talking about food that leads to kids actually eating.
General, Safety, and Sleep on Instagram
- New York Times Parenting: Great insights and realistic, relatable ideas from parents. I love their Parenting Wins series where parents submit their little wins that we can all relate to and celebrate.
- Behavior / Discipline: Most offer courses for more in-depth help, but still provide practical, valuable help consistently on Instagram.
- Safe in the Seat: A one-woman show who offers in-person and remote consults, plus a constant stream of information on car seat installation, buckling, and general advice — like when to switch to forward facing or boosters.
Have a favorite resource that we should consider adding? Drop a comment below!
