Great Expectations: Best Baby Gear [Paperback]

Sandy Jones (Author), Marcie Jones (Author), Ann Brown (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2008

Not all high chairs and car seats are created equal: every year, product-related accidents send nearly 70,000 babies and toddlers to the hospital emergency room. To protect their children, parents need the facts. And that’s the mission of this comprehensive, evidence-based A-to-Z guide by Great Expectations authors Sandy and Marcie Jones. Here is the only book that gives moms and dads actual brand-by-brand comparisons of real merchandise to help them choose the very best, safest, and most comfortable bathtub, breast pump, crib, diaper bag, and all the other baby items in between. Starting from pregnancy and going right up to a child’s second birthday, it provides state-of-the-art information, along with tips on how to shop, pictures of the most popular brands, and “Blue Ribbon Awards” winners in each category. All the choices are unbiased and based on a wide range of sources: the authors’ own hands-on experiences; written reviews by nearly 1,000 parents; and reports from the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and other major child safety organizations and agencies—as well as the findings of medical studies and injury prevention centers. Plus, it’s just the right size to tuck into a purse, backpack or diaper bag to take along to the store!

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Sterling (August 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402733356
• ISBN-13: 978-1402733352
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 6.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,630,985 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty pictures but uneven and out of touch, October 8, 2010

By 

BBlair (Washington State) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great Expectations: Best Baby Gear (Paperback)

I was disappointed with this book as compared to the Baby Bargains (BB) book because the Best Baby Gear (BBG) book seemed less authoritative, more oriented toward selling products, and somewhat outdated.

Examples: BBG mentions the JPMA certification several times but BB exposes it for the scam it is - as they note, "JPMA seal is no guarantee of safety."

BBG does not rate the items it features where BB does, so it is not clear WHY BBG is featuring them. For example, BBG features two cribs that are rated a C- and an F in BB. However, BBG also features two car seats that BB rates as an A. BBG also recommends a baby monitor that received very mixed reviews here on Amazon.com so in the end you really can't trust the quality of their featured items.

BBG is certainly not as current on recalls as BB. BB mentions a trend toward static cribs (no moving rails) and away from cribs with sides that can be lowered, as well as a potential ban on drop side cribs that is being considered due to recalls. BBG does not and, seemingly out of date, notes, "mainstream cribs, sometimes called single cribs, usually have at least one side that can be lowered..."

BB has a great website with an excellent forum community that is truly a useful resource. I found a website called Best Baby Gear but not sure if it is affiliated with this book. That website basically just peddles products. If that website is not affiliated with this book, then I could find no online resource linked to BBG.

BBG does have superior graphics, however.

Bottom line: before buying this book, compare it to the newest addition of the Baby Bargain's book (and their website). Then make up your own mind.