Archives for July 2013

Britax Car Seats: Top in Safety + Excellent Service = Happy Baby!

Britax has long had a reputation of making some of the safest car seats on the market.

 Amelia in Britax Pavilion 70
As a new mother, I trusted the masses, and we bought the Britax Roundabout 55 for the occasional car trips we would take.  (As city dwellers, we didn’t even own a car, so we wanted something light and easy to install in rental cars. The Roundabout 55 was perfect.)  But after we moved, and I got my own car, we needed another car seat that would keep my child “little A” safe on our daily back & forths to daycare.  I stuck with one of the Britax car seats and after much research looking at other brands such as Graco and Chico car seats (this is GooGooMama, after all!), I decided to splurge on the Britax Pavilion 70.
The seat was just as easy to install, (Check out this video on how to install infant car seats) though this model has a bit more heft with the additional head restraints and even the straps have extra padding.  So, it’s not as easy to tote this version around, compared to its lighter cousin the Britax Roundabout 55, but I feel like it keeps little A snug and safe everyday.  We also used the Britax B-Safe Infant Seat when Amelia was an infant, when we needed an easy way to click her in and out of our Britax B-Ready stroller.
Yes, we’ve been very happy with Britax baby products, so we continue to trust them. Indeed, we’ve never had an issue so we never had to reach out to customer service. Until recently — and I was so pleased to find out that their service is just as great as the quality of their products. A+ and lots of GooGooLove!
After a couple months with the Britax Pavilion 70, I noticed that it was very slightly leaning to one side, even when it was installed in the middle. I removed the seat and re-installed it a couple times, thinking maybe my back bench was lopsided.  But when placed on the ground, I could see that there was in fact a very slight slant.  In an abundance of caution, I called Britax to inquire — was this normal?? Was I being overly paranoid??
Jasmine quickly and easily put my mind at ease: take some pictures, send them to us, if it’s leaning to one side, we’ll send you a new car seat.  Just return the old one. And — don’t worry — of course we’ll cover all the shipping.
I did as instructed and the new Britax Pavilion 70 car seat was at my door in days. Voila!
In a world where good customer service is unfortunately a rarity, working with Britax’s Customer Service department was a delight!
This GooGooMama has lots of GooGooLove for Britax, and one happy baby safe in her Britax Pavilion 70.

Baby Gear Reviewer Goo Goo Gear Announces Website Launch

Press Release – For Immediate Release

BALTIMORE – Recognizing the difficulty of finding high quality baby product reviews, Goo Goo Gear captures everything from the best baby car seats to high chair reviews.

A new website, www.googoogear.com, has launched to empower mothers across the United States by giving them transparency through baby product reviews. With the increased number of retailers offering baby products and the lack of visibility for moms to find authenticate reviews, Goo Goo Gear hopes to fill a void in the marketplace.

“As a mother I found it so frustrating that when you search online for the best baby products, you’re unable to find credible sources to help you find the sort of product that is a good fit for your own child. Every kid is different, and some products claim to be of high quality and yet affordable. It’s a mess to try to dig through hundreds of websites to find the truth,” explained company owner Olivia Palmer.

Partnering as an affiliate with giant online retailers such as Amazon, Diapers.comGiggleBabies”R”Us, and Walmart, Goo Goo Gear assembles the best baby product reviews available from across the web. So after a reader has compared upwards of 50 different infant car seats, they can find the most affordable retailer through reviews on Goo Goo Gear who makes money only through affiliate sales. Content on the website is entirely free.

“I wanted to be able to give something back to parents out there who didn’t know how to compare the pros and cons between Britax vs Graco vs Chicco, or the handfuls of other brands out there. Now there’s a one-stop website built to compare everything good and bad about each baby product without direct loyalty to any particular brand,” said Palmer.

As a recent graduate of the Founder Institute, the world’s largest start-up accelerator, Palmer says GooGooGear.com takes it way above and beyond what many retailers display on their own products. She seeks out baby product recalls and even teaches parents how to check product safety. Then she breaks down products into affordability, and then gives her own Goo Goo Gear Love rating to each of the products based on her own experience using the products, as well as a combination of the most relevant reviews. Palmer explains, “Buying a baby bath is a stressful, even though it’s not a big ticket item. I had nightmares about my newborn slipping, drowning, scalding, and shivering during bath time. And so I hunted for the safest baby bath tub.” But it took her days to make a decision on a bathtub because there were so many choices out there, and so many unhelpful product reviews. With the new website a mom or dad can spend just a few minutes comparing the product within their budget and can make a better decision than turning to the web or to retailers directly.

“We’re really small right now but we’ve already compiled reviews on nearly 300 baby products on everything from infant car seats to booster seats. We want to become the first place parents look for to get information on all of their children’s needs,” envisioned Palmer who has been affectionately called “Goo Goo Mama.”