Guide to Baby Products

by Werner Freitag, Consumer Reports, Sandy Jones, et al.

The essential guide to getting the best baby products at the best price, withinformation on cribs and mattresses, child safety seats, strollers, and more.Charts and Index. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0890439184
• ISBN13: 9780890439180
• Release Date: May 1999
• Publisher: Consumer Reports Books
• Length: 301 Pages
• Weight: 0.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.5" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Excellent tool, few ratings, but lots of good advice

This book is an excellent tool--I don't think consumers do enough research before they buy a product. Even a simple or inexpensive product should be researched. Each chapter focuses on a different area of baby products--diapering, bathing, feeding, strollers, etc and it tells you all the things to look for. It describes low, medium and high grade products. It tells you which features are neccesary, features that are nice, and ones that are flat out bad (either expensive or unsafe.) It has a section about safety and also recalls. It has helped me shop effectively for my first baby. This book does not have as many ratings as I would have liked. There is a small section of ratings. I highly recommend this book. (My copy gave me 30 days of free access to the consumer reports web site!)

A wonderful resource; take the book with you when you shop.

While people have been disappointed that this book doesn't have "enough" product recommendations, it provides an even more valuable service to parents -- it tells them how to THINK about the purchases they make. The CPSC website shows that millions of infant products are recalled each year. As infant product companies are under pressure to put more and more products onto the market at greater speeds -- testing is taking a back seat. Not until thousands of babies are using the product in their homes or daycare centers, do the companies learn the product is defective. By then it's too late, since many people never hear about the recall. Pay close attention to Jones's last chapter on recalls -- she explains how these products are tested. This is the most important chapter in this book.

Good, but... There's a better resource

Briefly put, this book is fine, but too general. I buy Consumer Reports for cold, hard facts. This book more closely follows their Buying Guide format, rather than their magazine format. If you want generalities, this buok is fine for you. If you want real-world experience with the latest baby products, with a heaping helping of practicality and common sense, check into "Baby Bargains" by the Fields. Their book sure cleared up the confusion for this soon-to-be first-time dad!

This book is a must have for the new parent!

I purchased the 3rd edition at a yardsale. I can't wait for the 6th Edition. This book has all the integrity of Consumer Reports. If they say it's gonna rain....set your bucket out. The authors insight and abillity to advise on the smallest of details trains the parent on what they need and don't need. It is truly an unbiased assessment of the most popular child products. All new parents should make purchases based on these recommendations if they are concerned about their childs safety and want a quality product.

Useful Information ... For First Time Parents Especially

The Guide to Baby Products is a useful book in the traditional "Consumer Reports" style. For each category of baby product, there is a chapter that introduces you to the features of those types of products, issues to look for especially in terms of safety and durability, and then finally, includes a comparison of various products on a feature by feature basis. There are chapters on cribs, car seats, high chairs, for example. If you are a new parent to be, and appreciate a logical analysis of products, this is the book for you. I, on-the-other-hand, think that the book that you really MUST buy is Denise and Alan Field's "Baby Bargains" book. What I loved about their book was that they had strong opinions for and against certain products and were not afraid to express them. They also have lots of advice about where to buy products to get the best price. I believe that your book preference will depend on how you like information presented. I found it useful to have both books side by side so that I could assimilate information from both. Finally, I am so glad that there are book like the Guide to Baby Products and Baby Bargains to help us parents-to-be through the maze of baby product shopping.