EVERY one minute and 46 seconds an Australian becomes a parent and inevitably seeks guidance and support to help make parenting decisions easier.
Australia’s Raising Children Network provides easy-to-understand information – based on the best available science and research – relating to everyday parenting topics from pregnancy through to the teenage years.
From crying and sleeping, tantrums, to communicating with teenagers and looking after themselves, Raising Children Network ensures parents can access quality information anytime and anywhere.
Every week more than 150,000 visitors to raisingchildren.net.au seek information about their children’s health, behaviour, daily care, nutrition, safety and more.
Raising Children Network executive director Dr Julie Green said parents were looking for reassurance that their experiences were normal.
“Children are as individual and as different as their parents, and making decisions about what’s best for raising children is intensely personal,” Dr Green said.
“Fathers and mothers look for real-time information to help inform those decisions.
“They’re looking for markers along the way that let them know they are on track and how to respond to issues.”
Parents are big users of social media and sharers of online information.
They use online parent forums to share stories and ask questions about raising children of all ages and abilities.
“More and more, parents are joining one of our 25 forums, ‘liking’ Raising Children Network on Facebook, and sharing our posts with family and friends,” Dr Green said.
“They return to the site again and again as their children develop and grow.
“Functioning as a family is a journey that parents and children are taking together.”
The Raising Children Network is supported by the Australian Government and is an initiative of the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute with The Royal Children’s Hospital Centre for Community Child Health, and the Parenting Research Centre.
For more information visit www.raisingchildren.net.au
