Reviews of carseats, strollers etc

Does anyone know of a good site for comparison reviews of baby items wrt
safety, ease of use, etc? My mother is coming to visit next week and wants
to go shopping, so I want to know what is worth getting and what isn't.

Donna Metler wrote:

Does anyone know of a good site for comparison reviews of baby items wrt
safety, ease of use, etc? My mother is coming to visit next week and wants
to go shopping, so I want to know what is worth getting and what isn't.

I think these things are incredibly personal,
for the most part. For carseats, you need a good fit
in *your* car (everyone rates most of the Britax ones
very high for safety, but it's not safe if it doesn't
fit properly in your car). For strollers, what works
for you will depend on your height, the sorts of uses
you'll put it to, and your personal preferences.
Personally, my recommendation is to go to the
store and try them out. Bring someone else's baby or
grab a teddy bear or something and practice using the
darned thing. Can you get the stroller out and opened
and closed easily? (Personally, I don't worry about
being able to do that one handed because I leave the
baby in the carseat until the stroller is ready ;-)
Can you get the baby in and out of the high chair
easily (and get the tray on and off, etc.) if you're
planning on a high chair (we didn't use one). Can
you manage the buckles and such on the carseat? Most
stores will allow you to take it out to your car and
install it. Even if you don't take the time to do a
really good install, you'll likely get an idea if it
is possible to install it safely in your car. Push
the stroller around (throw something heavy in it ;-)
It's labor intensive, but I think it gives you your
best shot at ending up with something that will work
for you.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Ericka Kammerer wrote:

Donna Metler wrote:

Does anyone know of a good site for comparison reviews of baby items wrt
safety, ease of use, etc? My mother is coming to visit next week and
wants
to go shopping, so I want to know what is worth getting and what isn't.


I think these things are incredibly personal,
for the most part. For carseats, you need a good fit
in *your* car (everyone rates most of the Britax ones
very high for safety, but it's not safe if it doesn't
fit properly in your car). For strollers, what works
for you will depend on your height, the sorts of uses
you'll put it to, and your personal preferences.
Personally, my recommendation is to go to the
store and try them out. Bring someone else's baby or
grab a teddy bear or something and practice using the
darned thing. Can you get the stroller out and opened
and closed easily? (Personally, I don't worry about
being able to do that one handed because I leave the
baby in the carseat until the stroller is ready ;-)
Can you get the baby in and out of the high chair
easily (and get the tray on and off, etc.) if you're
planning on a high chair (we didn't use one). Can
you manage the buckles and such on the carseat? Most
stores will allow you to take it out to your car and
install it. Even if you don't take the time to do a
really good install, you'll likely get an idea if it
is possible to install it safely in your car. Push
the stroller around (throw something heavy in it ;-)
It's labor intensive, but I think it gives you your
best shot at ending up with something that will work
for you.

I second all of this try-it-out-for-yourself advice. I went for months
without knowing what to get in terms of a stroller and a carseat because
it was just so *difficult* to decide when all I did was look at them and
read about them. The thing that did it for me with the stroller was
going in and trying every single stroller in the store (I went to the
store with the biggest showroom). I think this irritated at least one
salesperson, but it amused another, so I think that I broke even on that
score. ;-) (not like I cared, though)

I liked they way the Graco models all could be folded up and unfolded
with one hand, but they were all so *big*. They were harder to push
around up and down the aisles, too, due to size (they were OK when going
straight, but turning was harder). Everything else about them was
really nice, though. The Evenflows were like the Gracos, but cheaper.
There was also something called Safety First (IIRC), but they were all
extra huge (actually the Evenflows tended to be pretty darned big, too -
bigger than the Gracos when folded up). The one that really caught my
eye was the Peg Perego model that this one store had. It folded up
really well, was easy to push around (the thing is nice and small), and
is only marginally complicated when it comes to folding/unfolding. ;-)
Their carseat is really nice, too. It uses a universal attachment
system (so you don't need to use your car's seat belt, although you can
if your car doesn't have the universal attachment system built into it),
5 point harness, totally adjustable, comes with shoulder straps that fit
the seat, has a built-in level on the base, and the base can be raised
and lowered at the front, so you don't need to put a towel under it to
get it level. I also like the way the carseat locks into the stroller.
No bar necessary - you just flip up a couple of little attachment
points on the seat of the stroller, and then the carseat attaches the
same way it attaches to the base. The carseat is also pretty light,
although I'm sure I'll still have problems once it has a 15 pound baby
sitting in it. ;-)

I really like this website: http://www.carseat.org/ and also
http://pages.ivillage.com/momika/links.html . www.Eopinions.com is another
good place to start.

HTH

CY

"Donna Metler" wrote in message
...
Does anyone know of a good site for comparison reviews of baby items wrt
safety, ease of use, etc? My mother is coming to visit next week and wants
to go shopping, so I want to know what is worth getting and what isn't.

"Donna Metler" wrote in message
...
Does anyone know of a good site for comparison reviews of baby items wrt
safety, ease of use, etc? My mother is coming to visit next week and wants
to go shopping, so I want to know what is worth getting and what isn't.


Babiesrus.com (aka amazon.com's babystore) has opinions.

Nancy

I second what Ericka says and add that Baby Bargains will help you avoid the
duds. By using the book to avoid the awful stuff, combined with using the
'test it out' method, you're more likely to have something that works for
you. That said, your baby still may not use what you buy. We bought an
infant seat we loved and we finally gave up after three months and put E in
the Britax, where she was more comfortable. We bought a MacLaren stroller,
which is highly rated and seemed perfect for us, but E won't sit in it to
this day without crying (it's going up on Ebay next week or soon thereafter,
virtually unused).

Good luck!

--
Melissa (in Los Angeles)
Mum to Elizabeth 4/13/03
and ??? due early 3/05

"Ericka Kammerer" wrote in message
...
Donna Metler wrote:

Does anyone know of a good site for comparison reviews of baby items wrt
safety, ease of use, etc? My mother is coming to visit next week and
wants
to go shopping, so I want to know what is worth getting and what isn't.

I think these things are incredibly personal,
for the most part. For carseats, you need a good fit
in *your* car (everyone rates most of the Britax ones
very high for safety, but it's not safe if it doesn't
fit properly in your car). For strollers, what works
for you will depend on your height, the sorts of uses
you'll put it to, and your personal preferences.
Personally, my recommendation is to go to the
store and try them out. Bring someone else's baby or
grab a teddy bear or something and practice using the
darned thing. Can you get the stroller out and opened
and closed easily? (Personally, I don't worry about
being able to do that one handed because I leave the
baby in the carseat until the stroller is ready ;-)
Can you get the baby in and out of the high chair
easily (and get the tray on and off, etc.) if you're
planning on a high chair (we didn't use one). Can
you manage the buckles and such on the carseat? Most
stores will allow you to take it out to your car and
install it. Even if you don't take the time to do a
really good install, you'll likely get an idea if it
is possible to install it safely in your car. Push
the stroller around (throw something heavy in it ;-)
It's labor intensive, but I think it gives you your
best shot at ending up with something that will work
for you.

Best wishes,
Ericka

I found the customer reviews on BabiesRUs.com (okay, Amazon) to be very
helpful.

"Donna Metler" wrote in message
...
Does anyone know of a good site for comparison reviews of baby items wrt
safety, ease of use, etc? My mother is coming to visit next week and wants
to go shopping, so I want to know what is worth getting and what isn't.

Tracey wrote:

I found the customer reviews on BabiesRUs.com (okay, Amazon) to be very
helpful.

Really? I don't trust the reviews at Amazon at all. I know that at
least on the book side, the reviews have been known to sometimes be
bogus. Sometimes they're written by the book's own author! I wouldn't
be too surprised if some of the reviews on baby products are also bogus.

When I was pregnant with Eva I went to babies r us. You can take all the
stuff out to your car and try it out to see if it fits. We are planning on
going there to find a new infant seat for this baby. I heard that some of
the other stores will do this too but I don't know.

Kay
Mommy to Eva Sept 2002
one on the way Jan 2005
"Donna Metler" wrote in message
...
Does anyone know of a good site for comparison reviews of baby items wrt
safety, ease of use, etc? My mother is coming to visit next week and wants
to go shopping, so I want to know what is worth getting and what isn't.

I wasn't too concerned about that....most of the products I looked at had
50+ reviews, and I read all of them. Reading that many gave me a pretty
good idea of some things to consider that I wouldn't have thought of (hmm,
that strap might be uncomfortable, the attachment was hard to clean, the
fabric faded after two washed, etc). I figured that after reading so many
reviews I got a pretty good idea of things to consider, and even if a few of
them were biased, most of them seemed honest and useful.

"Vicky Bilaniuk" wrote in message
. ..
Tracey wrote:

I found the customer reviews on BabiesRUs.com (okay, Amazon) to be very
helpful.

Really? I don't trust the reviews at Amazon at all. I know that at
least on the book side, the reviews have been known to sometimes be
bogus. Sometimes they're written by the book's own author! I wouldn't
be too surprised if some of the reviews on baby products are also bogus.