Review of Consumer Reports Best Baby Products by Sandra Gordon and the Editors of Consumer Reports

This book has a lot of useful information on a wide variety of topics.  For each of the many categories of baby gear there is a general description of what's available, feathures to consider, and recommendations.  However, there is very little discussion of specific brands, and there are virtually no comprehensive reviews of or recommendations for specific brands or products.  All of the information is generic, though images of specific products are shown as examples.

Let's take the example of Diaper Pails.  The "What's Available" section, divided into "cloth" and "disposable" sections, runs through a list of brands and provides their respective websites.  There's a brief comparison of features.  The "Features to Consider" section describes things like capacity, ease of use, and liners vs. bags.  The "Recommendations" has general information, such as "Pails that use their own liners typically contains odors better than those that use garbage bags, but refills do cost more."

Overall, I'd say that this book is chock-full of good info, but not exactly of the type I wanted.  The information is helpful and taught me lots about the categories so that I knew what features I wanted.  But the book left me to do the work of figuring out which actual products had those features, meaning I had to turn to other books and/or research the products online or in store before being able to make a purchase.  There's also a very real potential for information overload, and I found the book a bit dry to read.  And forget reading it cover to cover.  I was a type-A researcher when it came to baby products, and even I couldn't make it all the way through this.

If you need in-depth info on a particular category of baby products, this book will probably be a help.  If you want an easy way to find products to add to your registry, you're better off going with Baby Bargains.  I don't think Best Baby Products needs a permanent place in your collection, but it might be helpful to borrow from a friend or check out of the library prior to a major purchase.

Final Rating: Borrow, or skip if you're afraid of being overwhelmed