Baby Stuff [Paperback]

Ari Lipper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 10, 1997

Every day, parents tell Ari Lipper which baby products are "must-haves," which are purely optional, and what they really want when it comes to style, value, and expense.  The manager of Albee's, a sixty-year-old baby-goods store that has become a New York institution, Ari Lipper has seen how virtually every baby product works in real life--not just in one family, but in thousands.  And Lipper's careful eye for safety has helped manufacturers make changes in products before problems start.  Now he shares an insider's secrets about which products are safest, most reliable, and practical for every parent's lifestyle and budget.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Basing his work on his experience with customers, Lipper, a manager of a baby-goods store, has written a highly usable guide with wife Joanna about the various baby products on the market. With humor, the Lippers offer advice on what and what not to buy a newborn. Categories cover the nursery, layette, carriages and strollers, car seats, and feeding equipment, among others. A section on product and safety regulations is informative and bound to educate the shopper. Products are rated as a "must have," a "might want," or a "totally optional," with price ranges and recommendations offered. The authors are neutral in their advice, declining to endorse any particular product or retail establishment. A list of manufacturers with phone numbers, a "When You'll Use It" chart, and the tips dispersed throughout enhance this neat reference source. While intended for parents-to-be, this book will benefit future "gift-giving" grandparents as well. Recommended for public libraries.?Bellinda Wise, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, N.Y.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

What to buy, what to borrow, and what to avoid--the inside information consumer guides can't tell you...but an expert who's advised and listened to thousands of parents can!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Dell (March 10, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440507847
• ISBN-13: 978-0440507840
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,795,320 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too general for my purposes, May 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Baby Stuff (Paperback)

I found this book to be far too general for my purposes. I was looking for much more detailed product reviews. I also found it annoying that Mr. Lipper was so heavily biased toward independent juvenile products stores (e.g. the store he manages in New York). He made himself out to be an expert, given his vast experience in selling baby products to expectant parents. However he doesn't have children of his own, so he has never really tested any of these products in real life experience. Don't bother with this book if you are a first time parent and need the nitty gritty details about baby products. Instead, I'd suggest you buy the Baby Bargains book by Denise and Alan Fields. They have two very young children and have actual experience with the products that they list in their book. Also, they are not biased toward any one type of store. They advise parents to shop around. I would rate the Fields book 5 stars and can't give more than 2 stars to Lipper's.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great way for new parents to figure out what they need, October 24, 2000

By 

A parent (Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Baby Stuff (Paperback)

When I was pregnant and trying to figure out how to prepare for the baby and what to buy, this book was a tremendous help to me. My husband and I live in a one bedroom apartment, and my friends and co-workers had been scaring me by constantly telling me that I just couldn't imagine all the things I was going to have to buy and how expensive it was going to be. I kept arguing with them, thinking, how much can a little baby possibly need in the first year? But I realized that I really didn't know, and decided to try to find out. In the process of educating myself I found this wonderful book. Some of the previous reviewers are right that this book lacks the detailed product comparisons that are available elsewhere. If you are looking for lists of different brands with ratings, this book is not for you (and most of it's recommendations of particular products are already out of date). However, it is wonderful if what you are trying to do is figure out how many little onesie outfits to buy, what on earth a "receiving blanket" is and why you need some, how to decide what kind of car seat you need, and what the difference is between one that costs $50 and one that costs $200. The book systematically goes through all of the many things you could buy and lists them as "optional", "might want", or must have" and goes on to explain why this is so. It also breaks things down into three different budget levels ("lotto winner", "lots of money", or "lots of love") and provides estimates of the total cost of everything you will need based on these different budgets. If you are planning for a first baby, this book may be for you.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fairly good advice, but not the best., May 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Baby Stuff (Paperback)

This book is somewhat helpful to a new mother. However, I found the book, Baby Bargains by Denise & Alan Fields to be more useful.