Rating: 
Summary: Worth it's weight in gold!
Review: I researched almost every product I registered for and purchased for my baby. I found that the information in this book was accurate and reliable. It also saved us lots of money.
Rating: 
Summary: Think Ahead -- Learn To Save Your Money
Review: This is a great all-around book for helping you plan to save money by knowing when, where and how to shop for your babies. I have twins, and let me tell you the three best words in the English language--hand-me-downs! If you have twins or triplets, this book really helps. And please buy the funniest book about the craziness of parenting, "I Sleep At Red Lights: A True Story of Life After Triplets," by Bruce Stockler. Hilarious and really honest story you'll appreciate.
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Summary: We saved $72 in just one purchase!!
Review: We're expecting twin boys this spring, so we can use all the savings we can get. I take this book on every shopping trip, and it has helped me tremendously.This is such a wonderful resource, and I'll be buying copies for all my pregnant friends in the future!! I definitely recommend this book to anyone even thinking of starting a family. This is possibly the best money you will spend!
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Summary: Essential for Expectant Parents
Review: _Baby Bargains_ is the Consumer Reports of the baby world. It goes into depth with useful, accurate reviews of all the major products that need to be purchased. More importantly, it tells parents what to avoid, what to skimp on, and what to shell out the big bucks for. This book easily saved us hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars, and helped give us peace of mind when trying to select from the (at times mind-boggling) universe of strollers, car seats, etc.
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Summary: Saves you big bucks
Review: This book can save you big bucks by stopping you from overshopping for baby -- something that is all too easy to do when you're really not sure what you need or what features to look for when you are shopping for baby gear. And because this book is updated on a regular basis, you can feel confident that you're getting reliable information that takes into account up-to-date safety recommendations.
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Summary: A great book for ANYONE buying baby products...
Review: ...NOT just those people looking to save a few bucks! When my hubby and I were getting married, I bought the Fields' Wedding Bargains book and found that the best thing about it was the number of ideas and resources it gave me, when I had no idea where to start looking. I find the same to be true with this book, especially since this is our 1st child. Friends and family members can all give you advice but I find that 1) it is sometimes a bit outdated (and this can even be true of products just a few years old) and 2) is always biased. Now, having a "point-of-view" on a product is great, but I worry that parents who set out looking for the cheapest or most convenient baby product may not have done quite the research these authors have on things such as safety. The greatest thing is they take real-world use AND safety into consideration, and then compare it to lots and lots of brands (some you and your friends have never heard of but should not dismiss). They even review a companies customer service, something most of us don't think about while browsing in a store. I find often times that their rec's tend to match with the reviews on Amazon, but they offer additional advice that can put an overwhelmed new parents mind at ease. They also offer great tips and advice on lots of other baby and pregnancy topics, such as where to get great deals on maternity clothes, where the best garage sale deals are and most importantly WHAT NOT TO BORROW OR BUY SECONDHAND!!! Well-meaning friends and family may offer lots of things to you, which sounds great when you're on a budget, but risking a child's safety is never worth saving a few bucks. Instead, they tell you what the REAL value of an item is (if it lasts longer and comes with more, USEFUL features, it's cheaper in the long run than say a cheaply made basic model) and give you ways to save money in other areas that you can safely shop for bargains on. There is almost no topic left untouched in this book. You may think you can just find this all on the web but advertising and an overwhelming amount of unorganized info is enough to leave any parent-to-be confused and misinformed. I highly recommend the latest version of this book for any parent to be (start reading it ASAP!!!) and a visit to their website :)
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Summary: Great book for new parents
Review: This book helps you through the maze of deciding what to buy for your new baby, and then how to make the decision when confronted with so many choices for each purchase. This information is particularly helpful for first-timers who are clueless about how to decide what you need to buy. (A bit less helpful for experienced parents who already know what they personally need.) More recommendations: for a hefty (over 500 pages) and comprehensive baby care manual for a very reasonable price is Gentle Baby Care by Pantley; a great first-aid handbook is Baby First Aid by Stoppard.
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Summary: fabulous book!
Review: This book is sooo great! it is wonderful to know some of the safety and quality ratings on the big items, like cribs and strollers, before you buy them, so you get a good warranty and a good manufacturer. the clothes, bedding, and toys didnt really mean as much to me, as I have been a day care provider for years, so I already know my favorites there, but the whole books is JUST WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!! Highly recommended if you're anything less than a millionaire! ;)
Rating:
Summary: Read the whole book before using.
Review: Really, I mean it. Before you set foot in the store, read the book cover to cover. This isn't a book you can skim while you're staring at infant seats. The writers give explanations for their ratings, sometimes sizable ones, and sometimes their reasons for marking something down are irrelevant to your current needs -- or sometimes the thing they hate about a product is the very thing you're looking for. Having now used the book in the registry process, I can say that this is a good resource to go to when you have, say, two strollers in front of you that you must choose between. I was able to look up the section on each maker, identify the tradeoffs that come with each model of stroller, and determine which one earned the right to receive the registry laser gun. However, this didn't work so well with infant seats -- I scanned the section, but I didn't read the paragraph explaining why the convertible seat I picked was a horrible waste of money. I'd use this in conjunction with whatever other resources you can find -- Consumer Reports, web sites, Amazon reviews, etc. It's not necessarily the last word on a lot of these things, but the book does help you avoid the pitfalls of the Baby-Industrial Complex.
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Summary: Great resource for parents!
Review: I used this book during my pregnancy, and it was great! Lots of good information on what to buy and what not to bother with. I used this book to help inform most of my baby purchases, and I was pleased with almost all of them. The reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is that the authors tend to lean towards the high end baby items....I believe their top recommended high chair was $170 or so. (I ended up perfectly delighted with my $50 high chair.) However, they do make an effort to be sensitive to all budgets, and generally have recommendations in all price ranges. As an avid web shopper, I loved all the websites that were listed. Overall, it saved me a lot of money and really helped me navigate the baby superstore jungle!
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