“Raising a happy, healthy child is a piece of cake,” said no parent ever.
From toddler tantrums to teen cliques, parenting at all stages takes a tremendous amount of love and effort. Like most things in life, there is no magic formula for giving your son or daughter the best possible foundation for success.
However, a few well-timed hints or tips from professionals and other parents can provide you with peace of mind, renewed energy, and additional tools in your effective parenting artillery.
But where do you find the most reliable resources? As a parent, you have likely received advice and opinions from a variety of individuals. Everyone from your great-aunt Shirley to your next-door neighbor likes to offer words of wisdom on how to get Johnny to sleep or Sarah to start eating vegetables. You may have even been given the ubiquitous Dr. Spock manual on practical parenting. It can be overwhelming.
Thankfully, we’ve made your job a little easier by compiling a list of trained and experienced individuals to follow on Twitter. They serve as a community of voices to draw from, whether they are pediatricians (or “Tweetiatricians”) who back up everything with research or parents who’ve been there. These accounts offer a wealth of up-to-date information on parenting problems, right at your fingertips, when you need it most – whether you’re teaching the value of sharing gifts or getting the kids ready again for school.
The list is not ranked, because all of these experts are equally valuable in their own right. To give you a head start, here is some sage advice from some of the parenting experts listed below:
- “Establish guidelines and stick to them.” – Michele Borba, Ed.D.
- “Use extreme caution…Whatever you say in the kitchen goes into your kid’s ears and can come out on the computer screen – and go viral!” – Sue Scheff
- “Your child is acting like a child because he is one.” – Dr. Laura Markham
- “Offer root beer right after the medicine–it works as a great chaser to cover up yucky tastes.” – Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson
- “Assuming the caregiver role includes building a bridge back to yourself.” – Mark Banschick, MD
- “So much of one stage of life seems to help prepare you for another, and I can’t be certain, but I think surviving the toddler stage gives you hope for making it out alive from the teenage years.” – Susan McLean
Whether raising toddlers or teens, here is the list of experts to start following today:
- Amy Wright Glenn – @amywrightglenn
- Dr. Beth Onufrak – @DrBethKids
- The Baby Spot – @thebabyspotca
- Cloth Diaper Guru – @ClothDiaperGuru
- Dad On The Run – @DadOnRun
- Daily Mom – @dailymomtweets
- KidNimble – @Kidnimble
- Dr. Heather Pena OTR – @DrPtheOT
- Lauren Kossack – @EpiFamily
- Ask A Great Dad – @Askagreatdad
- MamaOT – @mamaotblog
- John Kinnear – @askdadblog
- Linda Mastroianni – @Speaking_Autism
- Jane Evans – @janeparenting
- Dr Christina Hibbert – @DrCHibbert
- Andrea Strang – @KinderSleep
- Dr. Sheldon Horowitz – @LD_Expert
- Laura Henry – @LauraChildcare
- Successful SingleMom – @SingleMomBooks
- Help We’ve Got Kids – @HelpWeveGotKids
- Dr. M. White-McMahon – @AskDrMeredith
- Cindy Anderson, Ph.D – @hopesbc
- Harley Rotbart, M.D. – @NoRegretsParent
- Ricky Y. Choi MD MPH – @rychoiMD
- Deborah Gilboa, MD – @AskDocG
- Gail Terp – @GailTerp
- Dr. Claire McCarthy – @drClaire
- Welcome Baby Care – @babycaretweets
- Gill Connell – @MovingSmartNow
- Dr. Daniel Flanders – @drflanders
- Chris Efessiou – @ChiefDaddyOfcr
- Dr Rosina McAlpine – @DrRosina
- Parent Pretty – @parentpretty
- Ava Parnass – @ListenToMePleas
- TalkingTeenage – @TalkingTeenage
- Susan McLean – @NoDomesticDiva
- Mark Banschick, M.D. – @MarkBanschickMD
- Dora Cheung – @OGTutor
- Vicki Panaccione – @AskDrVicki
- Laura Berg – @MySmartHands
- Steve Reifman – @stevereifman
- Dr. Laura Markham – @DrLauraMarkham
- Nick Bennett – @peds_id_doc
- Ourfamilyworld – @OurFamilyWorld
- Kathleen Berchelmann – @MomDocKathleen
- WendySueSwanson MD – @SeattleMamaDoc
- PEP – @PEPParent
- Stress Free Kids – @StressFreeKids
- Twiniversity – @Twiniversity
- Tamara Soles, PhD – @DrTamaraSoles
- Dr. Russell Hyken – @DrHyken
- Daniel J. Siegel – @DrDanSiegel
- Melissa Taylor – @ImaginationSoup
- Wendy Young,LMSW,BCD – @Kidlutions
- Amy McCready – @AmyMcCreadyPPS
- Dr. David Palmiter – @HelpingParents
- Dr. Nancy Berk – @nancyberk
- Regarding Baby – @lisasunbury
- Thomas Hobson – @TheTeacherTom
- Dr. Michele Borba – @micheleborba
- Uriah Guilford – @helpthiskid
- Rachel Simmons – @RachelJSimmons
- Baby Bottom Line – @BabyBottomLine
- Natasha Burgert – @DoctorNatasha
- Dr. Imig Huffman – @DrJenHuffman
- Richard Louv – @RichLouv
- Annie Fox, M.Ed. – @Annie_Fox
- The Kid’s Doctor – @TheKidsDoctor
- Lenore Skenazy – @FreeRangeKids
- Susan Stiffelman – @susanstiffelman
- Susan Newman, Ph.D. – @SusanNewmanPhD
- Melinda Blau – @melindablau
- BabyCenter – @BabyCenter
- Dr. Jennifer Shu – @LivingWellDoc
- Dr. Lynne Kenney – @DrLynneKenney
- Michael Grose – @michaelgrose
- Sue Atkins – @SueAtkins
- Jennifer Wagner – @jenwag57
- Rosalind Wiseman – @RosalindWiseman
- Dr Kim, MD – @DrKimMD
- Jennifer McGrail – @blessdwith4
- annecollier – @annecollier
- MomsRising – @MomsRising
- Scary Mommy – @ScaryMommy
- Mia Redrick – @MIA_REDRICK
- KaBOOM! – @kaboom
- Alyson Schafer – @alysonschafer
- Ronit Baras – @ronitbaras
- sarahnewton – @sarahnewton
- Sue Scheff – @SueScheff
- Mike Sevilla, MD – @drmikesevilla
- Daily Parenting Tip – @DailyParentTip
- PBS Parents – @pbsparents
- Deborah Tillman – @DeborahLTillman
- Dr. Leah Klungness – @Dr_Leah
- Dr. Robyn Silverman – @DrRobyn
- Dr. Tanya R. Altmann – @DrMommyCalls
- Justin Morgan, MD – @JustinMorganMD
- Sarah Maizes – @SarahMaizes
- Marva Soogrim – @MarvaSoogrim
Looking for all of these parenting experts in one place? Check out this Twitter list!