Now to be clear, I am not a group oriented type of person, never have been. Did not ever get on a group Facebook page for babies being born during this month or anything like that. It's just not my style! I am more of a lets just chat to my therapist and close friends type of person. Although, get a drink in me and I will practically tell you anything.
So while sleep deprived and alone during the day (and night until I found "takingcarababies", see below), I would be up looking at insta accounts and started watching stories. At first, I thought this story things was weird, my younger cousins where on snapchat and I just thought, this isnt for me and yes snapchat is not my thing. But I found all these interesting baby resource accounts on instagram and started to follow them and then followed who they were following and all of a sudden I had created this awesome string of accounts that really created a community for myself. Yes, I wasn't actually talking to these people, they were not my friends BUT I didn't feel so alone in the middle of night, other moms clearly had been experiencing the same thing and I could quietly engage in listening to their information from the comfort of my bed.
I found resources on sleep information, breastfeeding, feeding babies, obviously products and more products but a lot I LOVE and would have never found elsewhere, activities, sensory bins, travel tips, and humor lots and lots of commiserating humor.
I have compiled a list of all my favorite Instagram Mom Resource Accounts I follow for you below.
SLEEP
@TAKINGCARABABIES
The second I hear a friend is preggers, I send them this account. I stumbled upon her on instagram account late one night, while breastfeeding my babe back to sleep. Thank god! because by 8 weeks old Anders was sleeping 8 hour stretches and continued to sleep like a champ! I took her online course once, emailed her a question I had and received a response back within the hour. Her class taught me to listen and learn my babies cues and just learning these things made sleep easy for us. Don't get me wrong we still had difficult nights but few and far between. He learned to put himself to sleep and that was the best thing we could have done! Highly recommend following here even if you don't take the class, she gives great tips on her stories too!
FOOD
@FEEDINGLITTLES
A dietician & a feeding Occupational Therapist got together and created Feeding Littles in Arizona. Their website as classes you can take online if not local to learn how to get your picky eaters to eat everything. They teach baby led weaning {BLW}, which we didn't really adhere too but we did give Anders everything we ate at the beginning, including all the seasoning to help with not being a picky eater. I have never done the online classes but wouldn't be oppose to it. Love to follow their instagram feed for ideas on food, Trader Joes shopping hauls and lots of other tips.
@DICTATORLUNCHES
Jenny Mollen {@JennyMollen} is a writer, actress and all time hilarious mom to follow on instagram. She makes these insanely awesome lunches for her kids and created an entire instagram account dedicated to her "Dictator Lunches" because all toddlers turn into little dictators at some point. The creativity and humor she brings is enough reason to follow even if you don't make school lunches yet but she and kids eat incredibly clean and healthy and I like getting ideas from here.
OTHERS TO FOLLOW...
ACTIVITIES
@BUSYTODDLER
Holy grail of sensory bins and other great easy to do activities for your toddlers at home. Teacher turn at home mom entrepreneur.
