Consumer Reports Best Baby Products, 8th Edition [Paperback]

Editors of Consumer Reports (Author), Sandra Gordon (Author)

Book Description

Series: Consumer Reports Best Baby Products | Publication Date: April 6, 2004

Few events are more exciting than having your first child, but hand-in-hand with that goes a whole multitude of new decisions.

Consumer Reports Guide to Baby Products is your personal baby shopping consultant. Over the years, this invaluable guide has helped thousands of new parents navigate the sea of complex and sophisticated baby merchandise, pointing them to the best products, and steering them away from the less-than-the-best. Consumer Reports allows buyers to streamline the selection process, avoid shopping pitfalls, and help keep the baby budget in balance, including practical advice on:
·"Building" the baby's nursery from crib to diaper bag
·At-a-glance details on hundreds of items in the all-new Product Guide
·Ratings of car seats, carriers, play yards, and travel systems
·A comprehensive list of recent safety recalls
·A guide to the most commonly prescribed medications for babies
·Shopping guide to websites, catalogs, and stores
·Checklists and worksheets to help organize the shopping process.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sandra Gordon is a writer and editor, who has written for Child, Parents, Family Circle, Fit Pregnancy, Woman's Day, and Redbook, among others. She is the author of The Aging Eye and The 30 Secrets of the World's Healthiest Cuisines. She is mom to two little girls, Rebecca, 3 1/2, and Amelia, 2. With almost four million subscribers to its magazine and over one million paid subscribers to its website, Consumr Reports is trusted for its expert and unbiased testing and reporting, and for the fact that it takes no advertising.

Product Details

• Paperback: 310 pages
• Publisher: Consumer Reports; 8 edition (April 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0890439869
• ISBN-13: 978-0890439869
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (53 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,014,484 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sandra J. Gordon (www.babyproductsmom.com) is the author of eight books, including the 8th, 9th, and 10th editions of Consumer Reports Best Baby Products. She also writes about health, nutrition, parenting, and child safety. Her other books include The Reunion Diet (Sunrise River Press, 2010), Heart to Heart: A Personal Plan for Creating a Heart-Healthy Family (HCI, 2005), The Shy Single (Rodale, 2004), The Aging Eye (Simon & Schuster, 2001), and The 30 Secrets of the World's Healthiest Cuisines (John Wiley, 2000).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Almost worthless. A waste of money., March 31, 2006

By 

KKB (NH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Consumer Reports Best Baby Products, 8th Edition (Paperback)

I will say that there is a fair amount of information provided if you are the type that likes to do all your own research while following general guidelines. With this book, you will actually have to go to the store, book in hand, and examine every product to see if it has the features you want. Consumer reports doesn't really recommend certain features over others- that is up to you. It just tells you what's out there. Overall, this book is surprisingly scant on actual ratings of products. Some categories only have one or two items rated. Many categories don't have anything at all rated or recommended, just information on what's available in the enormous baby market- which just left me more confused on what to get and why. There are so few things reviewed and some of the reports are pretty old- they actually have things rated that have been discountinued for a couple of years- and they say so! I just think it's pitiful to put out a "updated" book and knowingly give information on discontinued goods that none of us can buy. I have heard that they only review products that have been sent to them from a manufacturer so that it can be reviewed and published; I don't know for sure if this is true but maybe that's why there isn't much in it. I am a first-time mom and found this book no help at all- I learned more from salespeople at stores and shopping around online. Get "Baby Bargains"- the amount of detailed, updated information is remarkable and incredibly helpful (see my review). It tells you flat-out what you need and has brand recommendations and ratings for every item imaginable. Everything that is in the Consumer Reports book (except cars and cameras/camcorders) is well covered in the Baby Bargains book so don't worry about missing anything. The huge number of brands reviewed in Baby Bargains puts Consumer Reports to shame.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not so great, February 11, 2005

By 

C. Vibert "cvibs" (Torrington, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Consumer Reports Best Baby Products, 8th Edition (Paperback)

I expected this guide to give recommendations. Each chapter was quite brief, however, and didn't delve much into the actual pluses and minuses of the different products. Many of the products weren't even tested; they just gave a listing with the manufacturer's write-up. I found Baby Bargains by Denise and Alan Fields to be a lot more useful.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Great, September 11, 2005

By 

Jenny (San Diego) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Consumer Reports Best Baby Products, 8th Edition (Paperback)

I would not recommend this book because the information it provided is readily available on the internet. I was hoping to find more specific recommendations for specific products. Instead, the majority of the items are defined and safety features are suggested without the specific products listed that have all of those things.