Dr. Joyce Brothers OKs Baby Blogs

Posted on November 2, 2006

H.S. wrote a letter to Dr. Joyce Brothers concerned that his or her sister-in-law is busy blogging daily about thew baby. Dr. Brothers replied and basically said not to worry. She said that baby blogging is popular and it has replaced diaries and scrapbooks for some mothers.

I have heard that blogging about babies is a popular pastime now, and I can see the positive benefits that might come from keeping a record of the baby's growth and development. We used to have scrapbooks for such things, but now the Internet serves as a repository for these records, along with all sorts of thoughts and debates that motherhood brings. For moms, it can be a respite from the isolation some suffer after leaving the workplace. Replies to their blogs can help them feel that they are sharing the "new mom" experience, or quell their worries that their child is the only one with a behavior problem or developmental delay. Blogging while the baby sleeps seems OK.
On the other hand, blogging has a potential for abuse, especially if it becomes a substitute for interacting with the child, or a place to lodge daily complaints against the father, or serves mainly to satisfy exhibitionistic urges. I can't judge your brother's specific case, but in general, diaries and journals have been replaced by the Internet, and your sister-in-law has jumped on the bandwagon, hopefully with taste and moderation.

Blogging may not be replacing traditional baby blogs (see here and here) -- but many parents are actively using blogs to record their babies' activities and development. If H.S. would do a simple search for mommy bloggers or baby blogs, then H.S. would quickly realize that there are many parents blogging about their babies and children. Guy Kawasaki has a list of mommy bloggers. There's also hundreds of blogs listed as baby blogs on Technorati.