Five out of every six car seats are improperly installed. You want your baby to be safe! Be sure to read the installation manual from each of the products you can review here at Goo Goo Gear.

Some of the best car seat tips for installation and best practices are found in this video –

How to Install an Infant Car Seat

 Tips include:

1. Car seats are meant to only last 5 years.

2. Car seats should never be in the front seat.

3. Infant car seats should have the infant facing backwards.

4. Convertible car seats need to have the harness adjust as your baby grows.

5. Most common mistake is a harness that is too loose.

 

When in doubt, take your baby and car seat to your local police station and ask them for installation tips. Most police stations are equipped with an expert to double check the safety of your car seat and baby’s comfort.

 

So you’ve read our post on why buying baby stuff online is a good idea and now you’re ready to take some baby steps forward. New things can be frightening. If you’ve never shopped online for baby products before let me forewarn you – it’s challenging! But your nesting instinct won’t let you down. Just take a deep breath and follow these easy 4 baby steps of online shopping for babies:

1. Research
2. List Your Preferences
3. Prepare
4. Buy in Advance

Research:

This is where Goo Goo Gear shines. We’ve already done the leg work and researched hundreds of baby products online so you don’t have to. If you’re looking to purchase a booster seat for instance, just go here and read reviews on the sort of booster seat you think will be a good fit for your child. Or maybe you want to compare car seat brands, just click here. List out everything you think you need for your baby on paper, then ask other experienced mothers if you’re missing anything.

List Your Preferences:

Once you’ve figured out that you and your child have special needs (we all do) you can cater to them with the right baby products. Maybe your infant is on the smaller scale and you need the sort of bath tub with a sling to hold your newborn. Or maybe you want a bigger bathtub or something for your child to grow into. Sometimes quality is a preference, sometimes you’re just looking for the cheapest product. We have reviewed products for all sorts of preferences, and you’ll be able to glean that sort of information from the list of pros and cons on each page.

Prepare:

I have a lot of friends who have recently given birth. I’ve been in their homes the day before they go into labor for one reason or another. You know what I typically find? A spotless house. I don’t know what it is about a mother’s preparation but there’s something to be said about a motivated mother-to-be. Don’t let your motivation go to waste! Prepare for your child before birth and research and buy the products before you need them because you never know when you’ll have time to do it otherwise. Plus – you’ll probably have a lot less sleep once the baby comes so catching those Z’s later because you prepared early definitely counts! Preparation will also help you in the form of budgeting. Rearing children is expensive! Always prepare a budget with your family and try to get a reserve of funds because who knows, maybe you’ll be surprised with twins…

Buy In Advance:

Because you’ve done your research, picked out the right products through Goo Goo Gear that fit your preferences, and prepared to buy in advance, you’ll save a lot of money. If you buy the right product the first time around, you’ll avoid a re-buy for the higher quality product you should have been in the first place. Buying in advance will also allow you to stock pile the sort of products you need that you won’t have time to get later.

That’s wasn’t so hard! If you have any baby steps you think other parents would benefit from, share them in the comments.

 

The number one tip I can give you on potty training tips for girls and boys is to buy the right equipment. We’ve reviewed handfuls of potties here at Goo Goo Gear, all with their pros and cons. Sure you can have your child watch you to learn from you, but if you don’t equip them with the right tools you’re in for a challenging task. After all, you really want to get out of the changing dirty diaper phase – am I right? (If you’re still in the dirty diaper phase, check out some of our garbage pails…)

Your child will tell you when they’re ready. They’ll show you interest. At first signs of Amelia (she’s in the picture to the left) show­ing interest  I started research­ing potty seats. She was only 15 months old, but could she be ready? Maybe my child was espe­cially gifted in this area!?!? So I col­lected the data (posted it here to share!) and I was res­olute that the Baby Bjorn Potty Chair was the right one for Amelia. We ordered it online, and eagerly unpacked it when it arrived. “Look, Amelia, your very own potty!” We put it in the bath­room, right by mommy’s potty, and showed her how to sit on it. Cheer­ing and clap­ping the whole time; try­ing to con­vince her that this was a fun skill she could master.

But Amelia quickly reminded us that she likes to do things her own way. She stood up, turned around to face the potty, and tried to get on it back­wards, strad­dling the sides and hold­ing onto the back­rest. Huh??? We tried again: turn­ing her around, and show­ing how to sit on it, fac­ing the other way. But she just wouldn’t have it! As I noted on the Baby Bjorn Potty Chair review, despite being an amaz­ing, over­all prod­uct, one of the cons in that it has a high guard. This was mak­ing it hard for Amelia to get on and off the seat, so she felt like it was eas­ier to get on the seat while fac­ing it. But then she didn’t have room for her legs because of the back rest that wraps around the sides. The poor thing!

The good news is, tonight she successfully made her momma proud and used the potty! If at first you don’t succeed, try-try-try again. But most importantly, find the right product for your child!

Here are my favorite three products that we’ve given 5/5 ratings to:

BABYBJORN TOILET TRAINER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PRINCE LIONHEART WEEPOD BASIX

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BABYBJORN POTTY CHAIR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you have any tips for potty training girls or boys? Share in the comments!

What would you do with the advice your mom gave you? Sometimes technology innovates so fast your mom’s advice can get outdated. When it comes to shopping for baby products, this is a case example. What your mom could have told you about one product quality or another is quickly outdated with cheaper products online. After all you want the best car seat for your baby am I right? So what is the good, the bad, and the ugly about online baby stores?

The Good:

• Affordable
• Quick
• Convenient
• Good for comparison shopping

The Bad:

• Big range of qualities
• Volume of products
• Volume of retailers

The Ugly:

• Certain products are unsafe for your baby, government scrutiny can’t catch everything online
• Baby recall information not always available
• Price gouging

Okay, now you’ve considered that online baby stores can have both benefits and disadvantages. How do you find the right online baby stores to shop for your baby? Enter www.GooGooGear.com. We do a lot of the work for you so you don’t have to worry about the bad and ugly stuff. Goo Goo Gear reviews baby products online, through a collection of the best and relevant reviews from across the web. Every product we’ve reviewed has baby product recall information on it. That’s right, we check to see if the product you’re reading about has been recalled and warn you.

Goo Goo Gear also has a collection of baby products from across brands and stores. So we’re not propping up one brand or product above another because we have to – we believe in certain products because they’re just better! Get qualified neutral advice from us before you shop around on a variety of products like high chairs, booster seats, and potty seats. We compare products by price, quality, and reviews – doing all the hard research for you so that you can just concentrate on your baby!

Read some reviews now before you buy products from online baby stores.

When you’re shopping around for your baby products, which brand do you choose? What are the best car seats? We’ve reviewed countless products from Britax, Graco, and Chicco. Quite frankly, picking any of these is a great choice. But finding the one that is right for your baby is the tricky part.

Brittax vs Graco vs Chicco:

Here’s the good news, these three brands are consistently the top rated. Honestly, we don’t even feel the necessity at listing pros and cons to each brand. Instead, read some reviews on our site on each product and decide for yourself!

No matter the brand you go with, look for these five things –

1. A deep recline
2. Easy fold
3. Accessible storage when stroller is reclined
4. Easy adjustments
5. Easy to fold and fit in your vehicle. 

 

Brittax products we’ve reviewed:

BRITAX CHAPERONE INFANT CAR SEAT

BRITAX B-SAFE INFANT CAR SEAT

BRITAX ROUNDABOUT 55 CONVERTIBLE CAR SEAT

BRITAX PAVILION 70 G3 CONVERTIBLE CAR SEAT

BRITAX MARATHON 70-G3 CONVERTIBLE CAR SEAT

BRITAX BOULEVARD 70 CONVERTIBLE CAR SEAT

BRITAX ADVOCATE 70 CS CONVERTIBLE CAR SEAT

Graco products we’ve reviewed:

GRACO SNUGRIDE 35 LX INFANT CAR SEAT

GRACO SNUGRIDE 30 INFANT CAR SEAT

GRACO SNUGRIDE INFANT CAR SEAT

GRACO SMART SEAT ALL-IN-ONE CONVERTIBLE CAR SEAT

GRACO MYRIDE 65 CONVERTIBLE CAR SEAT

 

Chico products we’ve reviewed:

CHICCO KEYFIT 30 INFANT CAR SEAT

Chicco Caddy Hook On Chair

Chicco 360 Hook On Chair

Chicco Polly High Chair

Chicco Smart Support Backpack Frame Carrier

 

 

 

For every baby there is a mother who lovingly gave birth to that child. Don’t forget Mother’s Day is this Sunday, May 12th 2013. Get her something special! Or even get something for mom and baby with a helpful product from GooGooGear.

Over are the days of going to Walmart, Target, and every other box store in person. Nowadays the best baby products can be found online cheaper, faster, and all from the comfort of your own home. So how do you find the best baby products? Reviews sites are one of the best ways to find the right baby product for your child. Introducing GooGooGear, the most extensive collection of reviews on baby gear from across the Internet. Looking for a baby high chair, car seat, or potty seat? Go to one of our categories and in seconds you can read about hundreds of baby products, but organized for the best and most liked reviews on each product. There are no fake reviews here like on some other websites!

Reading consumer reports on the best baby products takes too long. Going to Amazon can be overwhelming considering the sheer volume of products. There are literally now thousands of baby stores online. How can you tell the good ones from the bad ones? We rate each product by using the most popular reviews. So in just a moment’s glance you can see more than 30 potty seats and compare products through up to 5 stars each. Find the best rated baby products at GooGooGear.

Just because it’s the best selling baby product doesn’t mean it’s the highest quality. Cheap baby products aren’t necessarily the best choice for your baby. Because, after all, if you buy a cheap baby product for your infant and then have buy a second one due to quality, you’re out more money than had you gone with the higher quality in the first place. Plus your baby could be safer! Avoid baby product recalls.

So if you’re looking for a booster-seat all you have to do is go to our selection and browse all the new baby products and find the one that is the right size, quality, and price for your child. If you’re looking for something that is easy to clean, there’s at least ten options right for you that we have already reviewed. Or maybe you’re looking for a booster seat that is adjustable so that when your baby grows you don’t need a new one. We have already reviewed several of those too. Or if you just want a cute option, since we have pictures of more than 30 on one page you can get an easy glimpse of a gut check to see what fancies your taste.

Check out www.googoogear.com for the best reviews on baby products online.

 

 

 

 

Let’s face it, moms have to make hard decisions. Sometimes that includes spending time at work when we’d rather be being mom at home potty training on the Fisher Price Ducky Fun 3-In-1 Potty. So with the passing of Bring Your Child to Work Day this week, I fully intended to write about my experience and what it means to bring my daughter to a formal office.  Is it too early to start teaching my daughter that she should Lean In, like Sheryl Sandberg urges all women to?  But that it’s acceptable — and sometime necessary — to step out, like Anne-Marie Slaughter has assured us? Only one way to find out, and a magic eraser won’t be able to clean the slate.

 

At 19 months, my daughter “Miss. A” still doesn’t grasp that Mommy has a separate work life — or that anyone does, for that matter.  We recently bumped into one of her caretakers outside of daycare and my daughter was utterly confused.  I gently explained, “Yes, Miss. Sophia goes home at the end of the day too.”  So, maybe it’s a little too soon to start telling her about this new feminist revolution that’s brewing and how her world may be very different.

 

But this has all reminded me of my childhood, when I would spend the day at my parents’ office.  They owned their own business, so “Bring Your Child to Work Day” was almost every Saturday, when my siblings and I would raid the supply closets, play with all the stickers (i.e, Avery labels) and highlighters.  And when we were old enough, we even got to help file and collate!  Of course, that was only possible — and necessary — because my parents owned their own business.

 

My daughter doesn’t experience Mommy at work.  That world remains foreign to her.  I’m excited to teach my daughter about all the opportunities I hope she’ll have.  But in the meantime, she sees Mommy doing plenty of housework.  And so, while I’m thankful for all the opportunities I have — that earlier generations of women fought for — I am also grateful to the brilliant minds that invented Mr. Clean’s Magic Eraser.

Before and After the Magic Eraser

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If only my baby proofing product reviews were up already, maybe this wouldn’t have happened?