If you haven't checked out The Cradle, and you're an expectant or new parent, you must go now and see! I have finally gotten around to personalizing my Cradle page and I can't wait to have a little time to work more on it (right, what is this thing they call "personal time"?). I have started creating my own web page that I can share with family and friends (and I can choose to make it public or private!) and I'm really stoked about it. This site really is an incredible resource for us parents to be, even if we're a bit "seasoned" already.
I had the opportunity to ask the founder of The Cradle, Hilary Zalon, a few questions:
MTW: With so many pregnancy/baby sites out there, what makes The Cradle different?
The Cradle: There are a lot of sites out there, aren't there? That is actually one of the reasons why I created The Cradle. It seems that an expectant or new mom needs to visit so many different places to gather the information she needs…not to mention the information she wants. The Cradle strives to deliver all of those different pieces (content, community, web pages, baby name search, etc.) in one place. So many things change in your life when you're expecting a baby. The changes aren't only physical – your entire lifestyle changes. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by it, we want to help expectant and new moms feel excited about it. Plus, we focus only on this life stage: pre-conception to baby's first birthday. A lot of sites out there are covering pregnancy through…grade school. We wanted to really dig deep into this particular time in your life.
MTW: What demographic of pregnant/new parents are you attempting to reach?
The Cradle: The overall look and feel of our site might attract a savvy, modern audience, the urban, web-savvy shopper who might read The New York Times and Us Weekly.
MTW: What are your personal favorite features of this site?
The Cradle: Oh no - that's like trying to ask a mother of 5 who her favorite child is! Okay, if I must choose, I'll go with our web page feature, baby name search and Eco Cradle. What I love about our web pages is that aside from a journal, photo gallery, and the ability to poll your family and friends, you can also link directly to your gift registries. I was pregnant within a year of getting married, so I was hesitant to tell anyone that I had registered…again. But people were asking me (and asking my mother!) so I remember thinking, "wouldn't it be nice to have a web page where they could find this information?" And some people might think that all baby name searches are the same, but I would beg to differ on that one. Not only are we working with fantastic material (we use the incredible Baby Name Bible for all of our name meanings and commentary), but the search itself just blows me away. You can type in any spelling of a name and it will find it for you in a matter of seconds. Even if you misspelled it accidentally. And the thematic lists offer great inspiration. It's just an addicting feature. The Eco-Cradle is one of my favorite features because it proves that you don't have to be crunchy to be green. Our experts provide tons of tips on how to go green when planning for a new baby, from how to have a green pregnancy to how to decorate an eco-friendly nursery.
Thanks, Hilary!
