Where are you located? Are they outside? They look like they need more light. If inside and you can't provide more light, they most likely will not make it. If you don't have freezing temps in winter and they are outside, place them where they get the most sun and add a little loose potting mix to the container so they are just poking above it. Add a piece of chicken wire over the top(to prevent cats from eating it)and they just might make it to spring. If you started them inside and want to put them outside, you have to harden them off by getting them used to the outside little by little. A little more info would help us help you.

They are inside with a plant bulb directly over them. I'm in zone 5b if that helps

Okay, I looked up my bulb and it sucks. Its a GE plant incandescent from walmart or somewhere similar(can't remember). It outputs 620 lumens and from what I understand, that is far too low. I'm going out to the hardware store and look at compact fluorescents or tube fluorescents.

Are tube fluorescents or compact ones better? I know HID are best, but totally out of my price range.

I also have very young basil and parsley plants that are starting to get spindly too. And I think the parsley might need thinned, not sure. I couldn't get chives to germinate though, and I plan on attempting hot peppers(according to package, they have about 3 weeks to germinate), I haven't planted them yet, and I plan to have them outdoors.

The temps have been pretty mild this winter, it tends to stay around 30F most of the time. Would it be too risky to move the catnips outdoors this early?

Here is a link that might be useful: My current bulb

Don't try to harden them off outside until spring. Winter is the wrong time to try and harden newly sprouted seedlings. More light is definitely needed. Some also use fans to help strengthen seedlings as well as cooler temps after germination.

FataMorgana

As Fatamorgana said, you don't want to harden off your seedlings in winter in your zone(now that we know what it is). For your peppers, read through the hot pepper forum for lots of info. I usually start peppers in mid to late March, as I can't plant them out until late May to early June. I use 8 compact flo bulbs set up in a hood for my seedlings. If you use bottom heat, or the baggie method, they could germinate in a week to 10 days.
You also might check the winter sowing forum for starting some of your herb seeds, maybe the catnip and parsley. I start some basil inside in March(along with peppers and toms), and sow some outside when temps are warm. Usually the ones I sow outside grow much better than the ones I start inside over the course of the season.
It's hard not to be excited about growing things, but if you start them too early, they're likely to become leggy and weak(like what your catnip is doing right now). Seeds are relatively cheap...buy more and try different methods to see what works best for your conditions.

That potting mix sure looks like it would be a challenge to grow anything in it. If the growing medium isn't conducive to root growth and development, it really don't matter what kind of light you've got.

It is straight out of the bag miracle gro potting mix. Is there anything I could mix in it to make it better? Or chuck it out and start over?

Sounds like you need to keep trying that will teach you more than anyone can. It would have been better to try starting them in the early spring and put them outdoors as soon as your weather will be warm enough. You might want to look around for a plant at your local box store or even a nursery. catnip does just fine if a cat does not find it first. I lost 6 beautiful plants to my cat. It only took her a couple months to destroy all of them by laying on them every time she could. I have found that even chicken wire on the ground will not stop her from lying on the area but she will not use it for a cat box so at least there is some hope for my plants.

"I have found that even chicken wire on the ground will not stop her from lying on the area but she will not use it for a cat box so at least there is some hope for my plants."

I once had a patch of catnip that neighborhood(and my own)cats were destroying by rolling in it, so I mounded some large rocks around the base of the plant with space enough for it to grow through. The cats still had enough to roll on and chew, but could not break the main stems off at the ground because they were protected by the rocks. It really took off and I got a large harvest from it. After some of the stems got quite tall, the cats just concentrated on lower growing branches and seedlings.

"It is straight out of the bag miracle gro potting mix."
Well, that explains it!! You should not attempt to start seeds in a potting mix--way too heavy, and NO plant should be subjected to miracle-gro in any case, at any time, but certainly not as babies!! Use a little compost or worm castings in a mix if you feel you absolutely must have something, but it really is unnecessary for starting seeds.

For any type of seeds you need seed-starting mix--a very light mix of peat or coir (finely chopped/shredded coconut fiber), vermiculite, and perlite. newly planted seeds do not need any fertilizer! The seed itself contains nourishment; it is basically a sort of embryo, like an egg, see. Be sure to moisten the seed-starter medium before planting. It should be consistently damp like a squeezed-out sponge.

After the seedlings grow their true leaves I use seaweed solution and still later maybe a bit of fish emulsion. I always bottom-water the pots or cell packs to get the roots to grow deeply. Do not keep your growing medium saturated, but allow the surface to remain dry. This helps avoid the fungal disease called damping off as well as discourages fungus gnats. Do not crowd the seedlings; they need plenty of air circulation (also discourages gnats).
As for lights, standard shop lights are fine, no need to invest in expensive gro-lights. Position them only 2-3 INCHES above the leaves all the time. I have started hundreds of plants using shop lights on shelves over the seedlings in my basement for over 20 years and always get nice sturdy seedlings.
If your room is at least 65 degrees, your pepper seeds should be up within a week. Nothing at all is gained by starting your seeds so early that they outgrow the containers, and you certainly should not try to set peppers (or their relatives, tomatoes and eggplant) outdoors until the soil has warmed up thoroughly and nighttime temps will not go below 50 degrees F.
I am also in zone 5 and do not start my peppers until about mid-March.
Catnip self-sows very easily (it is a weed) and so you may have better luck sowing some seed directly on the ground (notice I said "on" not "in")in the spring. Just loosen up the soil, sprinkle some seeds around, and put a bit of fence around it as earlier posts have pointed out, to protect your young plants. Remember the old adage about catnip: "If you set it, they will get it, if you sow it they won't know it!" In other words, disturbing the leaves releases the scent and the cats will find it. If you keep it safe for a year, once it is established, catnip will grow into a very hardy shrub 4-5 feet tall and wide!
Good luck, redanteater!