[.ca] Baby Bargains, 7th Edition: Secrets to Saving 20% to 50% ... (ISBN 1889392251)

From Amazon.com:
Congratulations, you're expecting a baby! What you may not be expecting is all of the requisite gear you "need" to look after your dear bundle. Fear not. Denise and Alan Fields, authors of Bridal Bargains, are here to tell you what's super and what's silly, and how to find it at the best price. You'll learn all about how (and where) to shop for a crib and dresser (including how to get European styling at reasonable prices), what you need in bedding and what can be skipped (a hint: no baby requires the $200 quilt!), which clothing brands are safest and least expensive, and how to shop for monitors, toys, car seats, strollers, books, videos, and more. The authors have field-tested every major brand (and several of the minor ones), and they provide star ratings and annotations at the end of every chapter. A helpful feature in each chapter called "Wastes of Money" will steer you away from $35 Baby Air Jordans and frilly diaper stackers that match your bedding. If that's not enough, they offer a money-back guarantee: If the book doesn't save you at least $250 in baby expenses, they'll refund the price of the book. Well researched and written in a witty and comfortable tone, Baby Bargains should be required reading for every safety- and money-conscious parent-to-be. --Rebecca A. Staffel

Indispensable but frustrating:
Anyone with a baby MUST have this book. No other source even begins to have as much information on the bewildering variety of products available for babies and toddlers--safety, quality, what does what etc. You'll notice I didn't mention anything about finding bargains, which I actually don't think is the books strong point. But I am NOT complaining. Every recommendation they made was excellent and I learned TONS of useful info. So why frustrating? The Fields are very opinionated, usually delightfully so, but they sometimes have difficulty seeing that other people may have needs different from their own. As a result they deliberately refuse to review a number of products on the grounds that they are wastes of money, which they sometimes are, but not always. For instance, they tell you that changing tables are always a waste of money and that you should just buy a combination dresser/changing table. But my baby's room has a large closet and I don't need a dresser-why should I spent $350 for a dresser when a changing table is $70? Another example: they say nver buy a toddler bed, just go straight from crib to twin bed. But my daughter now hates her crib, but is too active for a bed with no sides--so I need a toddler bed. SO please-next edition add some of these products in and move some stuff into the thinner Toddler volume

baby bargains:
This book is awesome. It has safety tips and is chocked full of web sights.

More than just bargains:
Great stuff-I used an earlier edition of this book to buy everything from maternity clothes to my son's crib and stroller etc. etc. And when the crib I had so painstakingly selected using this book turned out to have a defect, the Fields kindly wrote back and stood behind their recommendation, helping me to contact the manufacturer and solve the problem. Now, if I could just get my toddler to actually sleep in the crib...

If you're having a baby, you need this book:
This book was my bible when I was accumulating baby things both before and after my daughter was born. It helped me figure out which car seat, stroller and play yard to buy and helped me figure out what I needed versus what the store's registry list said I needed. So far, there's only been one item that we bought that was recommended by the book but we didn't like (a high chair). Beyond the money we saved, we saved tons of time because this book has it all. When we registered for our baby, we spent only two hours because I had marked the book as to what we needed. Denise and Alan Fields do a great job whether you want to read the book cover to cover or just use bits and pieces as they come. I kept on referring to the book throughout my daughter's first year. Without it, we would have spent more, bought more and bought the wrong things. I would highly recommend this book to anyone having a baby!

Excellent Reading!:
Being a first consumer of baby products, I found this book to be extremely well written and a constant resource. I followed a lot of the author's advice and was never disappointed in their recommendations. Definitely a time and money saver!