As a new mother, one of the wonderful things I discovered was the highly happening place called Facebook Groups. I learnt about attachment parenting and natural parenting there. I learnt kitchen hacks and Montessori activities for infants. Also I made friends with new mothers who had the same ideals as I do.
With the low organic reach of Facebook pages, FB group are the place to go now ( FB will probably change it soon with adverts or a new algorithm or paid promotions!) I shall list out a few Qatar based and India based parenting groups that has helped me. Do add to the list if you know of any drama free groups 🙂 (I know there are many more parenting groups but I have avoided groups that have constant promotional posts of home business or self promotional blog posts! )
Qatar based Parenting groups :
A one stop group for all information related to hospitals, OBG, baby shopping, maternity shopping, birth certificate and newborn visa in Doha. If you are a new mom or mom to be, I recommend this group to you. It is where I found information about my unique baby visa issues. Relatively drama free
A continuation of the Positive Birth Group for toddlers and beyond. Great place to find play groups, information about places to go with kids etc. Closely monitored and I mean absolutely no business/self promotional posts.
A perfect place to get information around baby wearing and different type of carriers. There was a carrier lending program too. Occasional sale posts are updated.
A smaller breastfeeding support group for Doha mothers. Any doubts about latching, pumps and nursing friendly places can be found here.
A place for second-hand sale of baby items and all other related paraphernalia. A sister group of Positive Birth Doha group.
Another second-hand sale group for baby items, Second hand sale groups are pretty popular in a constantly mobile expat community like Qatar.
Qatar based general groups :
A few groups which are not to be missed if you are in Doha/moving here soon.
When, Where & How in Doha – Wealth of information for all things Doha – be it hair dressers, doctors, play areas, parks, events, traffic, new roads etc.
India based Parenting groups :
If you are a new mother, overwhelmed with all the latching issues or if over-supply/under supply makes you anxious, this is the place to be. Have any doubt about breastfeeding, pumping, weaning, diet habits for nursing mothers etc, this group gives you well-researched answers. This peer-to-peer support group is what I would recommend to any new or expectant moms. Highly monitored. Spam free
A place to get informed about natural unmedicated birth and the effect of medical intervention on families and babies. The intention is to help families seek providers that will help them in their quest to have a non-medicated birth. For mothers who do have to have a medicated birth, the group provides resources on how to have a gentle Cesarean. This group also gives information about VBAC and suggestion of VBAC friendly docs in India. Spam free.
This is a peer-to-peer parenting support group. A favourite group of mine where I first read about konmari method, one pot one shot meal plans, freezing food and meal prep, birthday chalkboard, varied parenting methods etc and makes me think out of the box and be open to diverse views. I am always impressed by the eloquence of some of the members in here. Their description says – We believe in liberal values, gentle, child-led parenting, which includes the ideas of full-term breastfeeding or else responsive formula feeding, baby-led weaning, gentle, respectful parenting and responsive night-time parenting. We are evidence led and respectful of diversity. Spam free. Highly monitored.
Their description says, Traditional Weaning is weaning (introducing solids) with thick puree, porridge or mashed and solids, when baby meets all the criteria of readiness for solids, and gradually moving to family food by around 12 months. The album has a recipe section which is my go to place for baby recipes when I am out of ideas. Spam free.
• Babies can self feed suitably modified family food from the first day of solids.
• Babies do not eat puree, mashes or special baby food.
• No spoon-feeding baby
• Babies join family meals from day one
• Babies are not distracted, forced or cajoled in any way to eat any food they don’t want, nor are they coaxed to eat more than what they want.
Though baby wearing is common amongst the tribal groups in India, baby wearing is hardly seen in urban India. This group helps in changing that attitude and bringing awareness about the benefits of baby wearing. Information about wraps, soft structured carriers, mei-tais, ring slings etc is available here. The album has an extensive review section. Sale posts are often updated.
This was one of my favourite groups for getting information about cloth diapering . Until I came across this group, I did not know there were so many vendors in India. Their pinned post has all the information you need about cloth diapering. Add to it using the search feature in groups, all your doubts would have been asked/answered earlier by some one else. Though the concept of cloth diapering is used by almost everyone in India since forever , the easy to use and maintain Modern Cloth diapers are not commonly available. This group is helping a good number of people to be aware/ start using these easy options.
Their description states – We believe that children can and should be brought up without resorting to violence, physical or otherwise. Children respond best to being treated with kindness, respect and empathy, much like adults do. The foundation of gentle parenting is the relationship between parent and child, and nurturing that relationship takes a lot of patience, effort, time and mindfulness. This group was created to help us support each other in navigating the challenges we may face on this path.
A newly setup group for cloth diapering discussion and B/S/T.
Though I am an avid user of all such groups, I would always advice parents a few points :
- Medical opinions and prescriptions should always be from people with a valid medical degree. I have seen some dangerous home remedies even for something as simple as colic.
- Parenting cannot be done with one-for-all laws and logic. Read and make yourselves aware but eventual decision should always be tailor made to your child and family situation.
- It is extremely easy to get pushed into ‘my baby has not reached so and so milestones’ when you keep reading constant updates of a 9 month old walking and 1 year old talking. Do not! Every baby grows at their own pace.
Do you have any more groups to add to the list – that which are spam free and are a wealth of information? Or do you head any such groups? Please comment below or email me. Happy to add to the list!
This was a good share. I know people in Qatar and India and this post would be helpful to him. Sharing now 🙂
Shahira… Thanks for this… 🙂 This post is a boon for those who are staying away from home
What an amazing list. Moving to Qatar! Kthankbye ?
Great list! So much patience involved in making lists. My whole clan is Indian 😛 will forward the new mothers this list!
You are always a great deal of support. I’m gonna join the Indian based groups. Salute you for taking the patience to share about all these groups?
I am actually amazed at how much there is out there. I used to live in Dubai and visited Qatar Often for Work (this was 10 years ago) and I wasn’t married so I wasn’t bothered about this and I wasn’t on Facebook at the time really. But to see how much the middle east has changed and developed is awesome. I am really proud to see this and will share this with a new mom I know who recently moved to Doha 😀
Facebook parenting groups really are a big help arent they! thanks for sharing 🙂
This is so useful Shahira! I don’t live in Qatar or India but know of a few people I could share this with! What an excellent idea to put it all together 🙂
This is such a useful list!! I hope you are able to share it in the groups you are a part of so other local moms can benefit too. And yes I totally agree with you on being a part of drama free groups!!
I’m not a mummy but this looks super helpful and I will share this with my friends who are 🙂 I think it’s good to be apart of such groups it can be very beneficial when it comes to getting advice, venting and so on. But no one ever needs more drama lol especially when you have children so be careful and never get involved. (www.beautywithzainy.com and http://www.spicyfusionkitchen.com)
Is it absurd that I am a part of most of these groups 😀 😀
Good compilation mommy!
Such an informative post. I never knew of some of the froups. I hqve not chevked this area though! Hope parenting is a tad bit easier knowing there is so much support from the online community. Good to be membrs of such groups where you can find answers to many questions and discuss with fellow Mums.
Such a useful list! I found Positive Birth Group Doha invaluable in the lead up to Sophia’s birth, and continue to dip in and out if I ever have any pressing questions. A lovely, supportive community of mummies, which is really needed out here when so many of us are far away from family.
Polly xx
What a lovely idea to share the list of support groups. I’ll be sharing this with all my mummy friends! Thanks Shahira
Nice to see good community building up.
Thank you so much 🙂
Sorry – Can you please drop the link, it just pasted by mistake..
Very informative, well done Shahira
Thank you?
Great list. Actually didn’t even know so much of information is all lying out there! Thank you.
Thank you so much for sharing these groups definitely need to check some of them out