Baby Bargains, 7th Edition: Secrets to Saving 20% to 50% on baby furniture, gear, clothes, toys, maternity wear and much more! (Baby Bargains)

This book was a HUGE help when I was shopping for my baby and I have since recommended it to all my friends. It's a great place to start, if like me, you had very little clue about what you would need. It's also a great place to start if you do know what you need because it then helps you sort through all the different options available. The authors have tried to keep their advice practical and I especially appreciated their tips on some commom 'waste of money' items. I think they definitely helped me make smart choices.

The two areas I would suggest for improvment are:
(1) coupons - I saw little to no reference to coupons and have found that that's a huge source of savings when shopping for baby products
(2) online shopping - I bought most of my gear online and saved a lot of money since prices were usually cheaper and I didn't pay sales tax. Some websites are better/cheaper than others and I think it would be great to have a more comprehensive listing and review of them

Finally, although this probably has to do with needing to come out with a new edition, but there are definitely some great products that are new to the market that don't get reviewed in the current (7th) edition (e.g., the Quinny stroller).

This is the kind of book that you buy to look things up in, rather than read cover to cover, which makes it all the more mysterious that the index is so awful. It's not totally useless, but it becomes progressively inaccurate as the book progresses. For entries below page 350, it's about right, but if the index tells you something is on page 500, it's probably somewhere between 475 and 525. Unless you're very patient, you'll probably switch to google very quickly after trying to use this book to evaluate a specific purchase.

This book has been a great help to me as a new mom-to-be. I only wish that there was a 2008 version.

I bought this on recommendation from my dentist (a father of two). As a first-time mom I don't know what I would have done without it. I read the entire 600+ pages in a single weekend and completely re-worked my registry. I was able to eliminate a lot of unnecessary items that other lists (made by stores and manufacturers) say are essential. I did end up upgrading a couple of items such as the convertible carseat but I'm very glad I did. The tips and reviews are great - don't register without reading this first!

I am a soon-to-be first time mommy and clueless about most things baby-until this book. Informative sections about each baby item left me feeling confident enough to make intelligent purchases. I highly recommend this book to new parents and those having multiple children.