For Briar, Instagram is more than just a way of keeping in contact with her blog readers in between posts - it offers a number of personal advantages. 'I started off posting photos of Sunday in her first few months if I had dressed her in a cute outfit, say - because, let's face it, there isn't much else going on in that haze of breastfeeding and sleeping,' she tells me.
'Looking back through my Instagram feed, I have an amazing visual diary of the first two years of her life. The photos of Sunday genuinely bring a smile to my face. I have a huge family too, and they all love seeing an update from Sunday's week.' The feeling's mutual - even at two, Sunday enjoys scrolling through Instagram with her mum to look at photos of her cousins and friends: 'I'll make sure I have a weekly scroll through with her,' says Briar, 'where she names everyone and we talk about what they're doing.'
Instagram mums: photos from Briar Stanley's Australian Instagram feed (PHOTO: @sunday_collector)
The social aspect of Instagram works both ways, she finds: 'There is a big and supportive community of mothers there and I find it a really friendly and engaging forum for women.'
Much as her feed offers inspiration for homewares, Briar is influenced by the variety of parenting experience available on Instagram: 'There are some accounts that are more personal, they might discuss their child's sleeping habits; others are all about cute kid's interiors and fashion. I'm drawn to both. I find daily inspiration on Instagram - in work and in life.'
There are currently fewer widely followed 'Instamums' in the UK, but the trend is growing. Plenty have embraced the social network to connect with other mothers, and all of the users I speak to have the same positive experience.
Nina Grimstead, who lives in Bexley, south London, with her husband Dan and three sons, runs her own children's clothing business, but manages to find time to share and improve her photography skills via Instagram.
Nina has had an account for two years, and enjoys posting artistic black-and-white shots of her boys, Ollie, 10, Tom, 8, and Jack, 5, with hashtags that help her find curated photography groups that share the best shots on Instagram. Of the groups she participates in, almost all of the other contributors are keen photographers too. 'There is a community feel to Instagram which I really like,' she says.
Bloggers and online parenting groups have jumped on the Instagram-wagon, which has helped photography and mothering communities collide. Blogger collective BritMums has been encouraging their community to share photos under the #SnapHappyBritMums hashtag, with a different theme every day, such as 'heirloom' and 'room of one's own'. Since January 2012, nearly 1,400 photos have been contributed to the campaign.
However, this is dwarfed by #FMSphotoaday, a tag which has been used by 4.8 million Instagram photos, which was created at the same time by Chantelle, the Australian blogger behind Fat Mum Slim, a weight loss journal which has become a brand and community in itself.
Instagram mums: a photo by Cara McKee. 'Instagram lets me keep up with friends when we're not seeing each other so much,' she says (Photo: @ohwedo)
Six thousand miles away in Largs, on the west coast of Scotland, blogger and mum-of-three Cara McKee took part in #FMSphotoaday before she had Instagram, which she joined six months ago. Like Briar, Cara, 40, enjoys sharing photos of her son and two daughters and updates her blog and her friends and family at the same time: 'Instagram lets me keep up with friends when we're not seeing each other so much. For instance, one Mummy friend of mine has recently moved to Ireland, and it helps me to keep up with the building of her new home.'
While there is an engaged community around blogging, Cara says connecting through Instagram is more rewarding. 'I'm usually impressed by the kindness shown by people all around the world. Instagram seems to be a friendlier, more benign place than some others in the world of blogging.'
But really, the photos shared on Instagram aren't so far removed from any other family snaps: little occasions caught in time that would otherwise pass so swiftly. Nina explains: 'I have always shared pictures of my children. I love trying to capture their everyday antics.' Cara agrees: 'Just looking back through the pictures, it's so clear how fast they grow,' she says. 'I want to capture all the moments.'
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