Baby Product Comparison

We found the book Baby Bargains to be really helpful, as have several other people we know. They have a website, but I don't think they post everything on there. They put out a new book every year. We carried it around with us to the stores, plus you can look at it while online, rather than having to navigate between multiple sites at one time. Good luck!

There's a great book called "Baby Bargains" by Denise & Alan Fields. You can find it at any bookstore. They do an updated version every year and it contains product comparisons for just about every piece of baby gear you can think of. I found it very helpful to select certain items, especially strollers & car seats. I have since given a copy to all my friends who have gotten pregnant! They also have a blog at http://baby411.typepad.com/babybargains/. FYI - their other titled "Baby 411" was also great for answering those little everyday questions that you have. I have since graduated to "Toddler 411"! You can also find product comparisons and rankings in "Consumer Reports."

Congratulations on your pregnancy! Make sure you research all of your options in everything when it comes to having your baby. www.AmericanPregnancy.org is a really good website too!

S.

Hi V.,

I found that the book Baby Bargains was a great help to me when I was registering. It provided me with a lot of info about products, brands, what I need and didn't, etc. They also now allow readers to post reviews of products online. Check out these two sites: http://www.windsorpeak.com/babybargains/
http://windsorpeak.com/reviews/items/

The best source for product reviews, I believe, is www.babiesrus.com. Tons of folks rate products and post comments there.

Best of luck to you!

Baby Bargains is GREAT. They also have a website - http://www.windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/index.php

http://www.cpsc.gov/
This is not specific to baby products but it covers them. It would be worth checking it out.

Hi V.! I work in the baby biz doing marketing & pr and I can honestly tell you that the VERY best way to get unbiased feedback on a product is to do a search both as suggested by these moms on the specific sites as well as using Google (or another search engine). Social media is an amazing tool (as Mamasource.com is!)for this purpose. It's immediate providing third party information. A company or product is hard pressed to escape the general "vibe" that gets posted.

So my recommendation would be that once you do find products you think are the "best" you do a general search to see what's being said on multiple fronts. This will also pull up a ton of blog hits. There are a lot of blogger moms that specifically take time to talk about baby/child products. And do keep in mind you'll almost ALWAYS get some negative feedback on any one product. But look for the overall "vibe" to get the truth.

Another specific site I would recommend for reviews is BabyCenter.com.

Best of luck to you!

www.elitecarseats.com - the best for car seat comparisons.

babies r us has good product reviews--they don't have every item, but most registry items and i've gotten pretty good advice and information from them!!

Its not free, but go and buy the book Baby Bargains. it is updated every year and it really is a good comparison book.

V.,

When I was pregnant with my first I went to the BabiesRus and Target websites. The consumers can rate the products and explain why they did or did not like them. I spent 9 hours reviewing every product to make my selection. I read each review and applied it to my own situation and personality to decide if it was a fit. I did it while my husband was watching football so it was great. I will say that I made some good choices and I was happy with my decisions. Good Luck!

Congratulations, V.! I highly recommend checking out from your library or purchasing a book called Baby Bargains. It was very helpful as I registered for gifts. It gives ideas as to what is a money-waster and what you will really use. I definitely recommend the Ultimate Crib Sheet from Babies R Us as well as towels from Target--you can't buy them in the store, only online. They are more expensive, but they are thick and large--will grow with baby much more so than the smaller ones sold in stores. My 3-year-old still uses them. Go to Babies R Us also and fill out the paperwork with them. There is a suggestion list that they can offer you which is helpful as well. One last thing, I am a huge proponent of swaddling--swaddles can be purchased at BRU. Rent the video, The Happiest Baby on the Block. Very helpful! We swaddled both of our girls for as long as we could--helps them sleep better, but you have to wrap them very tightly! You want them looking like baby burritos. Please let me know if you have any questions, and the best of luck to you and your husband!!

I agree with Baby Bargains. Very good information.

Also, I ended up always lookup the buyers' reviews on Amazon.com.

The problem with a other review site is that I cannot tell how bias the writer is when reviewing the products. But a product with 121 bad reviews on amazon.com will definitely tell you something.

Hi V.!

Baby Bargains is awesome! As well as all the reviews posted by parents on the Target and Babies R Us websites. Another book I used, which I think you may be able to get at the library is "Consumer Reports Best Baby Products". I used all 4 resources and found them all very helpful when shopping. Good luck and congrats!

~ D.

I always like to check the user reviews on target.com. I like that you can read about any defects or problems encountered by posters.

Ditto on Baby Bargains! Awesome book!

I just wanted to recommend the book Baby Bargains again. It is a great source of informatin and well worth the price of the book.

Hi V.,
You must be a "planner" like me! I did the same thing you are doing and researched EVERYTHING before adding it to my registry. I primarily used Amazon.com---not only for their customer rankings, but also for their customer-published "Top Ten" lists, such as top must-have items for a new mom, etc. (I often clicked over from the lists to that product's entry to see the overall rankings before making my final decision). I also used babycenter.com for those items I didn't find on Amazon.

I not only used the Amazon lists, but also the Baby Bargains book as a starting point to then understand what I wanted to look up on Amazon or babycenter.com for ratings and customer feedback. Then, I either added that item to my Amazon or my Babies 'R'Us registries, whichever was cheapest!

Drop me a line if you want anymore info at ____@____.com (that should say debusedtoscuba b/c I haven't been in 3 years, thanks to my now 18-month old!!) ;-)

Good luck!
D.

My favorite website for product reveiws is Viewpoints.com. Product reviews are written by actual users of the website and I've always found them to be very objective. Reviews are available on just about anything you can imagine, but baby products are a big part of the website.