Thursday, February 21, 2013

YouTube: Not just for cute kitties.

In my pocket I have a device that can access all information known to man, and I use it to look at funny pictures of cats.

One of the wonderful things about being alive today is the wealth of information out there available at your fingertips. I mean think about it. There used to be a time where if you didn't know something... you either had to find someone who knew it to teach you or trudge yourself to a library to find a book which would tell you. Valuable minutes if not hours or years might be spent in not knowing that you didn't know something. *oh the humanity*


Since become a Mummy, I've found that the availability of information comes with both blessings and curses.  From freaking myself out about all the things that could go wrong with my pregnancy to being relieved that that rash on The Little Man's chest is not chicken pox. (Not advisable to enter "chicken pox rash" into google images right after a heavy meal)

One site has emerged a very useful parenting tool and it's not BabyCenter or DrSpock or MedInfo... it's YouTube. For example:

Mum sent me a few old fashioned cloth nappies. The kind which are a square piece of cloth and can be also used as blankets and burp cloths and sun shades and sails for small boats. She asks me if I know how to fold them. Somehow my brain manages to sift through where I could go to get that information. And I tell her "I'm sure I can find something on YouTube... and lo...


Not having a baby or a big enough teddy bear at the time I could not try it. And after The Little Man was born we didn't have the time or the inclination to go to all that effort. But hey if the world suddenly ran out of disposable diapers or Modern Cloth nappies I'm all set with the necessary knowledge.

While in the hospital the nurse taught us a way to swaddle The Little Man. Unfortunately the day after leaving the hospital, The Little Man figured out a way to get unswaddled from that particular fold. So back we went to YouTube and lo....



So in many ways YouTube gave us ways to learn how to be parents by giving us the tools to do stuff. Then it went a step further. 

New parents are taught that Shushing a baby is a good way to relax them. What they don't tell you is that it's also one of the fastest ways to dry out your mouth and get a sore throat. Type in "Baby Shusher" in YouTube and lo....



Oh how many times we replayed that video. Until I got a version on Mp3 and just started playing it on my iPod.

Anyone else use have an interesting way to use the internet to help with the baby?

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