Who are they? They are the growing army of mothers who, when they are not changing nappies, feeding, burping, picking up toys, washing baby clothes, cleaning the house and making dinner for their husbands, are busy writing blogs about being a mum, writes KEVIN COURTNEY.

Where would they get the time to do that?As soon as they've put the kids out, tucked the cat in the cot and burped their hubby, thousands of busy moms are rushing to their computers to write their online journals, sharing the minutiae of their busy lives with millions of other busy moms.

So what's in these blogs?Everything you need to know about poo, wee, colic, babygros, breastfeeding and nappy rash is dealt with. Every little squeal, burp, tantrum and tear that emanates from the little darlings are carefully logged, and each stage of the motherhood process is lovingly cooed over.

Where do these mommybloggers come from?The phenomenon has really taken off in the US, but you can find them anywhere. In the UK they'd probably be called mummybloggers, and in Ireland, mammybloggers.

Who wants to read about another wet nappy?It seems that a lot of people are interested in what these mommybloggers have to say. Publishers are paying particular attention, and some of the more prominent mommybloggers have bagged themselves a book deal. Single mother Christine Coppa is about to publish her first book, Rattled!, based on her popular blog, Storked!, and celebrity mommyblogger Heather Armstrong is set to publish a book entitled It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown and a Much-Needed Margarita.

Kinda captures the whole motherhood experience, doesn't it?The rise of the mommyblogger will see a slew of books hitting the shelves over the next year, but instead of the usual how-to-do-it-right books, these will be more along the lines of how-I-got-it-mostly-wrong-but-still-muddled-through. With upwards of 15 million women sharing their parenthood stories on the internet, publishers are confident there's a readership out there only too willing to buy the book of the blog.

So what makes these mommyblogs so rivetting?Mommyblogger Michelle Mitchell reckons there are several good reasons why mommybloggers know best. Firstly, they can blog from home, making it easy to update. Secondly, mommybloggers thrive on the social aspect of the internet, since that's usually the only chance they get to socialise. Thirdly, they have a wealth of material to draw from, since there's no end to the antics that kids can get up to, and fourthly, moms are good at keeping detailed records of everything, which makes them perfect for keeping a weblog. Lastly, mommybloggers wield economic power, because they recommend the best products to other moms. Now, with publishing power behind them, expect makers of baby products to come crawling to their homepages.

What about daddybloggers?With dads spending more quality time with their kids than ever before, and more men opting to become stay-at-home dads, you can expect to see an increase in daddybloggers, with a corresponding jump in publishing power. Stay-at-home dad Adam Brophy, who writes a column in The Irish Times Health supplement, has just published The Bad Dad's Survival Guide.

Try at work: “You better call a plumber, Jones, I just read on your wife’s blog that your toilet’s bust.”

Try at home: “You just clean up your room, young lady, or mommy will tell the whole world how bold you are.”