Casting the web for good online parenting advice

A Clare mother is hoping her new business venture will become Ireland’s one-stop shop for parenting information and advice.  
Last month, Barbara Finucane and her husband Kevin set up Parenthood.ie, where Irish parents can find help, advice and support on all aspects of parenting.
“We don’t want to educate parents, all families are unique and need unique solutions. We want to share information that could help when things seem impossible and all your best intentions go out the window. Our goal is to give parents a diversity of hands-on and realistic solutions to their parenting issues and let them choose what is the best solution for their family,” said website editor Barbara.
“It is the access to information that is the main issue in Ireland. Every county has so many activities and courses and so much help but the information often doesn’t get to people. There are other websites out there for parents but I want Parenthood.ie to be parent based. I want it to address everything from the basics right through to the more complicated things from a sort of ‘this worked for me, it might work for you’ basis. Sometimes there is a generation gap in the advice people get from family members. Where your mum might recommend putting whiskey on the child’s gum when they are experiencing teething pains, you mightn’t want to go down that road. I hope Parenthood.ie will be there to provide a variety of options that have worked for other parents,” she explained.
According to Barbara, the aim of the website is to funnel parenting advice that is already available into quick, straightforward articles and a guide.
“Few parents have the time to find simple and practical answers to parenting issues and will often feel increasingly frustrated and too worn out to try out new things. Parenthood.ie hopes to funnel parenting advice into quick and straightforward articles and guides,” Barbara said.
The website follows parents from the very beginning, covering all parenting needs from the first stages of conception, through pregnancy and parenting a baby and toddler.
Barbara’s range of media experience led her to setting up the website. She has managed a fashion and women’s magazine in Sweden, worked in publishing in Canada and public relations for Viasat broadcasting, a television network in the UK.
When she became pregnant with her twin girls, she and her husband realised their dream of coming back to Ireland. While Barbara is of Swedish and Chilean descent, her husband is originally from Kilmihil, so after many trips to Clare, the two moved to Toonagh four years ago.
“We wanted to settle before our children were born and coming back to Clare was always in our plans. It was important to my husband that our children experience a little bit of rural life, similar to what he grew up with as a child in west Clare,” said Barbara.
When the twins hit the terrible twos, Barbara turned everywhere for advice on how to handle her toddlers’ tantrums. Just too tired to read the books, she was recommended and the only advice she could get was “it will pass”. She saw a demand and need for clear and hands-on advice suitable for everyday life.
“I felt paralysed when my girls went from happy babies to harpies. There was no way I was going to wait it out,” she recalled.
Dealing with the shock of raising twins and all the ins and outs of parenting, Barbara felt there was a need for easy accessible and quick solutions for worn-out parents.
Now, she hopes Parenthood.ie will be the place where parents can find help and support that makes sense to them.
Similar to many parents today in Ireland, Barbara does not live close to family that can be at hand with help or advice.
“Having the information available on the internet lets parents, regardless of their family circumstances, find the help they need,” she added.
“While the online magazine deals mainly with parenting issues, it is family and family life that lie at the heart of the business. Although improved over the last few years, there is a lack of information relevant to Irish parents. Most of the parenting advice is from international sources and disregards our situation and needs,” Barbara said.
“I got tired of reading about parenting in the US and UK. While some basic parenting issues can be dealt in the same way, I want Parenthood.ie to represent the Irish parents perspectives on raising children in Ireland,” she concluded.
Although only online for the past month, according to Barbara, the website has received some very positive feedback. 
Parenthood.ie has also received a priming grant from the Clare County Enterprise Board while Barbara has been awarded a position on the Limerick Enterprise Acceleration Programme, LEAP.