Can you recommend any good Internet sites that provide information becoming a parent/having a baby I have had a quick look through a search engine and there are just so many

Asks alicevida

A. You're right there are loads, and it can take you about nine months to wade through them all. Some of the best in the UK include the following:

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GENERAL SITES

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The Baby Net

This is a great general site that covers much of the stuff to get you started - its best feature is its shopping section - it offers a good range of baby products for new parents (including a complete list of baby product manufacturers and contact information). It other features include baby name guide; advice on pregnancy and birth; bulletin board/chat room and a great ask the experts page.

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Baby Place

This site boasts over 5,000 pages covering any topic relating to babies, and 2,500 links to other sites. It covers pregnancy, birth, health issues, baby care, shopping, advice, message boards, competitions, birth announcements, books and joke of the week! It has a great Q&A section that covers all the worries you have during the first year of your child's birth - and beyond.

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Babyworld

This site covers everything you need to know about your newborn baby - bathing, changing nappies, feeding, development, safety, naming and registering your baby etc. Plus some great articles on immunisation, travelling, advice for dads and multiple births. It also has a chat room and discussion forums.

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UK Mums

This site has a great A-Z of child health section, which you really have to bookmark. Other features include conception, pregnancy, toddlers, dads only, chat zone and a great buy and sell/swap shop.

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A New Baby

This site is specifically for expectant and new parents - and specialises in all the products you'll need for your baby - including car seats, clothes, nursery furniture, toys etc.

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Small Folk

This site is produced in association with Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity and covers most general topics related to having a baby. It has some good articles on the fathers role; what the world looks like for your new baby; home truths about breast and bottle feeding; going back to work; food intolerance and sleep problems.

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Baby Friendly

This site is devoted to the promotion of breast feeding - concentrated on the Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative. The initiative works to introduce best practice in the health services, promote strategies for breastfeeding and provide accurate information for parents.

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For Parents By Parents

This site is unique in that it looks at the life changing elements of parenthood, including the grim bits from the point of view of real parents and where it cannot offer advice it puts you in touch with an organisation that can.

Special features include: post natal depression, returning to work, money pressures, giving up breast feeding, coping with sleepless nights, dealing with anti social behaviour and juggling the demands of your new family.

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HEALTH & DEVELOPMENT

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Childbirth

Not for the faint-hearted, this site covers the nitty gritty of actually giving birth - in an easy to understand, unpatronising and non-panic inducing way. It has some great articles on caesareans, episiotomies, breast feeding, doulas and even birth stories. Its FAQ section is great and will probably cover any questions you're likely to have about the birth. Other features include sections on birth plans, books, fertility and the all important one, sleep!

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Amazing Baby

This site is great as it concentrates on the development of a typical baby and toddler. It has special sections on physical development, social development, emotional development, learning, language development, immunisation, child care, safety and feeding your baby. It also has a directory of information, advice and support associations in the UK.

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Premature Baby

This site offers some great advice for parents of premature babies.

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DIRECTORIES

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The following sites provide an amalgamation of web links of pages related to having a baby (majority of them are shopping sites and portals):

http://www.ukbabyguide.co.uk/netguide/Info/AddURL/ - directory of UK-only websites relating to babies

http://www.e-lynks.com/babkid.htm

http://www.dfcreations.com/links.html -

directory of websites relating to babies.

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OTHER INTERESTING WEBSITES

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Mothers 35+

This is a great site for all mothers choosing to have children later in life. Examples of its featured topics include: facts and figures, tests in pregnancy, news and research and offers the chance to talk to other older mothers in its chat room.

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Vegetarian Baby

Advice on bringing your baby up on a vegetarian diet from The Vegetarian Society.

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NSPCC - www.nspcc.org.uk/cday

Doulas - www.charm.net/~totoro/doula.html

Sign language for babies- www.geocities.com/babysigning/links.html

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GOOD US-BASED SITES

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The following sites are US-based, but with good sections on general information:

http://www.babyonline.com and Parents Place. The latter site is good for parents of children of all ages, covering topics including teenagers and how to cope with them. It does have some great advice for new parents and should be checked out - including specialist advice on breast feeding, post natal depression and even birth gurus.

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If you have any other Internet related questions, please click here

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By Karen Anderson