Frequently Asked Questions

Please be sure to read this entire page prior to entering.

Q:  What are the contest rules?
A:   In order to be eligible all photos must meed the following requirements. Please scroll down for further explanation.

1. All photos must meet the current month's theme
2. All entrants must be three years old or younger
3. All photos should have been taken within the last six months
4. Photos entered may not be professionally taken (JC Penney, Olan Mills, etc.)
5. The only person in the photo may be of the one baby entered (with the exception of the Family Photo Op contest - only that contest may have other people in the photo)
6. No Nudity (i.e. no exposed genetalia)
7. Winners (or runner ups) of previous contests are not eligible.
8. Photos must be good quality (e.g. no "white space," rotated properly, not too small, not blurry, not too dark, not grainy, etc.).
9. Your baby should be the focal point of the picture. For instance, if your photo is 4" wide, and your baby is in the bottom ½" corner, the photo will not qualify.
10. Photo must be appropriate. Babies Online's standard is this: If it can't be hung in a kindergarten classroom, it can't be on our site.

Q:  What is the contest schedule?
A:   Our Contest is broken down into four parts each month - three preliminary rounds and one final round. All rounds begin at midnight and end at 11:59 pm MOUNTAIN TIME (GMT-7). The schedule is as follows...

Round 1:		1st through 7th
Round 2:		8th through 14th
Round 3:		15th through 21st
Final Round:		22nd through last day of the month

You may only be entered into one preliminary round per month

At the end of each preliminary week one (1) winner is chosen and will be awarded a prize package. The three winners of the preliminary rounds, as well as two (2) runner-ups from each round are automatically entered into the Final Round. The winner of the final round (nine (9) babies total will be entered into this final round) is awarded the Grand Prize and is posted on our site the following month.

Q:  Are all entries accepted?
A:   No. Our contests are run by theme, and only photographs that depict the current month's theme are accepted. For example, if the theme is Sleeping Beauties, and you submit a picture of your baby with wide open eyes, you will not qualify. There are other rules as well - see the top of this page for a list of those rules.

Q:  How do I know what the theme is?
A:   Each month's theme is posted on the Entry Form. You can see a list of all twelve month's themes on our Themes Page but please note these are subject to change.

Q:  Can I enter a professionally taken photograph into the contest??
A:   No. Due to copyright restrictions that the individual photographer may have in place we can not allow professional photos to be entered into the contest. If you are unclear if your photo was taken professionally, the general rule is if you paid someone to take the photo (Sears, Olan Mills, etc.) it is considered professionally taken. This includes "Santa Photos" taken at your local shopping mall. Under no circumstances are we able to accept a photo that appears to have been professionally taken. Unfortunately we can not verify ownership of every photo, so if your picture *appears* to have bee taken professionally, regardless if it actually was or not, we will not be able to accept it. This is both for the previous reason, and also to eliminate the hundreds of complaints we would receive stating "their photo was taken professionally, why can't I enter mine."

Q:  Can I enter pictures from my photo gallery?
A:   Our programming requires that you enter a picture from your baby's main page, not the photo gallery. So be sure to upload the picture you want to enter as picture 1, 2, or 3 in the upload section of the Member's Area. Additionally all photos must be in jpg format to enter.

Q:  How will I know if my picture is accepted?
A:   You will be notified via email when your picture is reviewed. Please be sure to add noreply@babiesonline.com to your address book so that you can receive our emails! The review process can take up to ten (10) days. Please make sure your Spam Filters allow our automatic mailings. See our Spam Filters FAQ for details.

Q:  Can I update my baby's web page after I enter?
A:   Yes. When you enter a picture our computer "grabs" the picture that you enter and copies it to a different directory. So after you enter the picture you want to compete with you can upload a different picture on to your web page. It will not affect your entry. However any changes you make to your baby's name will be reflected on the voting pages.

Please Note: anyone falsifying information for the purpose of gaining attention or placement in the contest will have their entry deleted without notice. Full names must be case sensitive, accurate, and without any additional characters, in order to be eligible. This includes listing your last name as "a" or "BaBiEs OnLiNe," ".Babies Online," "*Babies Online," "A-Babies Online," or "ÆÑàæBabies€€OnlineæèêçÝ" for example.

Q:  Can I enter more than once a month?
A:   No. You may only enter once per month, and only until you win (runner-ups, preliminary and grand prize winners may not enter in future contests to make it fair to everyone). If your photo is not accepted you may enter again immediately with a different picture.

Q:  When can I enter for next month if my baby was entered this month already?
A:   The month of preliminary rounds ends when the final round begins on the 22nd. So you can enter for future month's rounds any time after that date. If your photo is not accepted you may enter again immediately with a different picture.

Q:  How do I know who won?
A:   Winners are posted on the Winner's Page within three business days after each round ends. All winners and runner-ups are also sent an email immediately after their round ends alerting them that they won.

Q:  How is a winner chosen?
A:   Winners are chosen by the number of votes a baby's picture receives. At the end of the round we crunch the numbers and the picture with the most votes wins! So it is certainly in your best interest to urge your friends & family to vote for your baby every day.

Q:  How will I know how many votes my baby received?
A:   Because we want to discourage any fraudulent activity we do not disclose this information. This is because people who try to cheat, but do not win, want to know how to alter their activity to win next time. It wouldn't make sense to help them try and cheat.

Q:  Can I vote more than once a day?
A:   No. Each person may vote only once a day. Please keep in mind that we have no way of tracking you, your husband, and your neighbor separately if you're using the same computer. So this means that only one *computer* may be used each day to vote. We do have ways of tracking this, so please don't try to cheat the system.

Q:  How can I solicit votes for my baby?
A:   Feel free to invite your friends & family to vote for your baby by emailing them, calling them, IM, etc. However, SPAM will not be tolerated. SPAMMING includes sending bulk emails, posting to numerous email lists, posting on message boards that are unrelated to the topic of your baby or which you are not an active member in.

Q:  What are the prizes?
A:   Prizes may change on a monthly basis, so we created a page just for prize info. Click Here for the current month's prizes.

Q:  Why do I need a Babies Online account to enter?
A:   We found this is the easiest way to track information and to enter your pictures. If you don't have a Babies Online account, please register with us.

Q:  How is the voting form organized?
A:   Because of browser "load time" we decided to make multiple voting forms for each week. When you visit our Voting Page you will see a list of all the babies entered for that week. This list is organized alphabetically by last name, so simply follow the link to the page where your baby is listed.

Q:  Will my last name be shown to the public?
A:   That is entirely up to you. When you create your Babies Online account you will be asked whether or not you want to post your last name. It is strongly advised that you do not, in which case only your initial will appear. However if you choose to show your last name it will be shown on the voting form(s).

Please note! If you falsify your or your child's name in order to alter placement or gain attention on the voting forms your entry will be eliminated from the contest. Full names must be accurate, case sensitive, and without any additional characters in order to be eligible.

Q:  I have two babies - can I enter the both?
A:   We advise against your children competing against each other so we recommend not entering more than one child in any given month. However, if you want your votes divided between two entrants, you can enter each of them separately. Please note you will need an individual account for each baby you wish to enter.

Q:  I saw a baby photo on the voting form that doesn't meet the theme/rule requirements...
A:   Babies Online reviews thousands of entries each month. While we certainly are not infallible, we do our best to ensure all photos entered meet our theme and rule requirements. In months with less entries, we have the luxury of being more lenient than during months that are more popular - months with the most entries will be the most strict as far as themes go. Please keep in mind that this contest is intended to be fun. If your photo isn't accepted, you are welcome to enter a different one. If a photo is accepted and you don't feel it should be there because of the theme, be happy for the parent who squeaked by :) However if you see a photo that has been professionally taken please let us know.

Q:  My question isn't answered here.
A:   Then please ask us! We have created a message board just for comments, suggestions, and questions. Please note that while we take all suggestions into account, we will not be changing the basic format of the contest. For example, the way a winner is chosen (by third-party voting) is not going to change. Not accepting photos that appear to be professionally taken will not change. The decision to only allow one baby in each photo entered will not change. If your question/suggestion pertains to anything other than what is set forth above, please direct your browser to our How Do I Forums and ask!