Bonus Material

9. Mail order sources. Catalogs and web sites that sell baby products.

10. Montreal parent resources.

Online and mail order shopping tips

Tired of the mall? Think those sky-high prices at specialty stores are highway robbery? Sit back in your favorite chair and do all your shopping for your baby by phone or computer. With over 8000 mail-order catalogs (and more web sites) out there, you can buy everything from bedding to furniture, clothes to safety items.

Yet before you pick up the phone (or fire up the web browser), a word on being a smart catalog shopper. Ordering from a mail-order company or web site that’s miles away from you can be a nerve-racking experience—we’ve all heard the stories of scamsters who bilk money from unsuspecting consumers. As a result, there are a few precautions any smart shopper should take:

1 Always use your credit card. Federal consumer protection laws cover credit card purchases. Basically, the law says if you don’t get what you were promised, you must get a refund. Technically known as Federal Regulation C, the rule says you have 60 days to dispute the charge with the company that issued your credit card—but first you must try to work out the problem with the merchant directly. Call your credit card company to determine the exact procedures for disputing a charge.

What if you pay with cash or a check? If the company goes out of business, you’re out of luck. We’ve interviewed some consumers who feel squeamish about giving out their credit card number over the phone or online. While you always have to be careful, ordering from a reputable mail-order or web company (like the ones reviewed throughout the book) with a credit card is very safe, in our opinion. And the consumer protection benefits of using a credit card far outweigh any risks.

2 If you’re buying a high dollar item (anything over $200), it pays to buy from a well-known vendor. If you aren’t familiar with a business, check with the Better Business Bureau or state attorney general’s office in the state where they do business. Don’t buy from a business located overseas unless you’re very confident in their reputation.

One caveat: watch out for sales tax. Some catalogs and e-tailers will require you to pay sales tax if they have a bricks and mortar store in your state. An example: Lands End. Now that they are owned by Sears, you’ll find yourself paying tax plus shipping I virtually every state. One plus, however, you can return Lands End goods to Sears now. In cases like this, look for free shipping deals to lessen the blow on the sales tax.

3 Read a web site’s privacy policy. Check on whether a catalog sells its mailing list. If you don’t want to find yourself on other emailing lists or catalog mailing lists, be sure to check the company’s policy and inform the company you don’t want your info sold to others. To protect your privacy, consider setting a free email account with a service like Hotmail. Then direct all the sale announcement and promotional email you’d get to this address instead of your personal or business email.

4 Watch out for sites that ask for more info than you’re comfortable giving. In most cases, your password, credit card number and shipping information are the only information a company should require to take your order.

5 If an Internet company requires a password to buy an item, don’t use the same password as you use to log on to your computer. In fact, you should change passwords every time you register with a new site. Keep a list of passwords and corresponding sites handy so you don’t have to re-register.

6 Order Only on a Secure Server. Buy only from web vendors that protect your financial information when you order online. To confirm that you’re on a secure server, look for an unbroken key or padlock at the bottom of the browser window. These symbols mean that the information you are sending is encrypted for safety.

7 Most companies have return policies that enable you to get a refund or credit within a specified period of time. Make sure to confirm this before you order. Also ask who pays for the shipping on a returned item—some companies pay, while others don’t. One tip: NEVER refuse an item that you’ve ordered but decided you don’t need or want. This always delays your refund. Accept the package and contact the company about return procedures.

When you place an order, the customer service rep or web site usually tells you when to expect delivery. Sellers are required by the Federal Trade Commission to ship items as promised, and no more than 30 days after the order date. If an item is back ordered and can’t be shipped within either the stated deadline or the 30-day deadline, the company must notify you, give you a chance to cancel your order and send a full refund if you’ve chosen to cancel. The site can cancel your order unilaterally at that time and refund your money as well.

8 Always keep all invoices, receipts, and order confirmations. Inspect all packages thoroughly upon arrival and keep the original packing, just in case you decide to return the item. For equipment, keep all boxes, documentation and instructions for at least 30 days. When purchasing clothing, wash the items immediately following the care label instructions. That way you can confirm the item does not shrink, etc.

9 Keep a log of whom you spoke to at the company. Get any names and order confirmation numbers and keep them in a safe place. If you order online, print out any order confirmations or email receipts. The key issue: record the DATE when you ordered the item and estimated shipping times. That way you can track down overdue items that might have been backordered.

10 Confirm delivery methods. Some companies use United Parcel Service to deliver merchandise. The problem? UPS can’t deliver to post office boxes and may require you to be present when the package is delivered. If you’re not at home, they leave a call slip, and you’ve got to go to the nearest UPS office (which could be a long drive) to pick up the item. A possible solution: give your work address and specify any floor, suite number, or building location for the delivery. Or you could request delivery by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). The downside to the USPS: most packages that go via parcel post or first class mail do NOT have tracking numbers. If it’s an expensive purchase (say, over $50), request shipping via a method that can be tracked. Remember, most catalogs and many web sites ship only to the U.S. and sometimes Canada. Folks outside North America may be out of luck.

11 The time required for shipping will vary widely. Some companies offer two to three-day delivery, while others may take weeks. Customized items (like monogrammed bedding) take the longest. As for the cost, mail-order catalogs use a variety of methods to determine shipping charges. Some charge a flat fee, while others use a sliding scale based on the dollar amount of the order or the weight of the package. Please note that mail order prices we quote in this book do not include shipping.

12 Use that 24-hour fax number. Not all catalogs have operators standing by around the clock. However, many have fax numbers that you can use to place an order at any time. When you fax, request the company call you back to confirm they received the order.

13 Nearly all mail-order catalogs are free for the asking. Even though some have a price printed on the cover, we’ve never had to pay for one.

14 Be prepared to wait. Some catalogs take weeks to arrive, so plan ahead. Don’t wait until baby arrives to request catalogs that look interesting. While you’re waiting, you can always check out the catalog’s web site. Not all have online shopping, but you can usually browse through some items, learn about specials, etc.

15 Get a copy of Wholesale by Mail. If you’re serious about mail order shopping, you need Wholesale By Mail (by the Gail Bradney, $20, HarperPerrenial). This thick book (available in bookstores nationwide) gives mail order sources for just about anything you need to buy.

General Baby Product Catalogs

One Step Ahead
To Order Call: (800) 274-8440. Web: www.onestepahead.com
Outlet store: Deerfield, IL (847) 714-1940

Illinois-based One Step Ahead is a jack-of-all-trades catalog that covers everything from clothes to toys, car seats to organizational items. Similar to the Right Start catalog, One Step Ahead has a slightly heavier emphasis on around-the-house items, as well as clothing, shoes, and linens. We also saw baby monitors, nursery decor, carriers, and thermometers, including many of the brand names we review in this book. The catalog is easy to use and features large pictures and helpful graphics. The customer service and delivery from this catalog is above average.

Right Start Catalog    
To Order Call: (800) LITTLE-1 (800-548-8531); Web: www.rightstart.com
30 stores nationwide

Is it a store? A catalog? A website? Actually, all of the above—the Right Start has built their biz by selling high-quality baby products like Perego high chairs, Britax car seats and more. The only bummer: prices are typically full retail, although sometimes the stores do have sales. New this year, we see an increased emphasis on educational toys and car seats. What we like best about the Right Start is their emphasis on cutting-edge products—if it’s hip and new, you’ll probably see it in their stores or catalog first. Even if you don’t buy anything at the stores, it’s nice to see, touch and try-out products in person.

Top 5 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do with the Web as a Parent-To-Be

1 Get Your Free Baby Names Here. Used to be, in the old days, expectant parents had to go to the library or a book store and pick up a baby name book. If you were looking for something unusual, you probably had to make it up yourself because you didn’t have access to a wide variety of names beyond the usual Michael and Jennifer. But today, forget those giant tomes. You can check out a myriad of free web sites with baby name suggestions.

One of the top sites to visit is Babynames.com (www.babynames.com). Here you can search alphabetically or by meaning, vote your opinion of different names and even make “name art” (whatever that means). The site is free, but for $19 the site will even pick names for you! That’s right, you tell them what kinds of names you like and they’ll develop a list of six for you. We’re sure you can handle this on your own. Don’t forget to check out their message boards, especially ones like “unusual names.”

Sites like Parent Soup (www.parentsoup.com), Parenthood Web (www.parenthoodweb.com), Baby Center (www.babycenter.com), and Baby Zone (www.babyzone.com) have baby name sections as well. For unique names we found a site called Alphabette Zoope (www.zoope.com). And the Social Security Administration has several reports on most popular names from the 20th Century. To find these reports, go to the Social Security Administration’s web site at www.ssa.gov. Once there, enter a search for Note 139 (the name of the reports). You’ll get a list of 15 reports organized by date. No surprise, but when we looked up most popular names for 1900 to 1910 topping the list was John and Mary. But names like Mildred, Bessie, and Viola were interesting to see as well. Try finding a Mildred at a daycare center these days.

2 Recalls As They Happen. Tired of hearing only a couple words on the nightly news about a serious recall of car seats, playpens or toys? Want the details and fast? Consider a couple options. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (cpsc.gov) has a great web site you can use to look up past recalls. But even better, you can sign up to have recall info immediately emailed to you as it is released to the public. Plus you get more details on the recall (was it life threatening, was anyone injured or killed as a result, was it voluntary or did the company have to be forced to recall the item, how many items were sold, what kinds of remedies are available like retrofit kits, how to contact the manufacturer and more).

A similar service is offered by Safety Alerts (www.safetyalerts. com). They add in other topics like food allergy recalls, drug and medicine recalls and more. Both web sites allow you to report a problem with a baby product as well. We highly recommend that if you have discovered a problem with a baby product you report it to the CPSC as soon as possible.

3 Make New (Pregnant) Friends. If you’re looking for other parents in the same situation as you, then the Internet has the answer. Back in the early days of the Internet, there were mailing lists. You signed up to be on a mailing list with a group of other parents whose babies were due in the same month. The only disadvantage to the mailing lists: every single email anyone in the group sent came to your address. This means you could get quite a bit of email. Today, you can also join “expecting clubs” or visit message board. All these options are organized by due date and the plus is you can get involved when you want to without getting oodles of email. Parents Place (www.parentsplace.com), Parent Soup (www.parentsoup.com), ePregnancy (www.epregnancy.com) and many of the large baby sites we review later in this chapter have message boards as well. Although they aren’t organized by due date, we have our own message boards at BabyBargains.com. You can post questions or comments on a variety of topics.

4 Coupons For Special Deals. The Internet has quite an array of sites whose sole goal in life is to find coupons and special deals. Big Big Savings (www.bigbigsavings.com), Fat Wallet (www.fatwallet.com) and Total Deals (www.totaldeals.com) are just a few of the options out there. See page 301 for details.

5 Compare prices at the click of your mouse. Consider using shopping bots to help you find great deals. Shopping bots are merely search engines that compare prices on the same product from different sites. Plug in a stroller brand and model, for example, and the bot will find every appearance of that item on the web and the cost. You then click on the site with the best price to buy or research further. Some of the most common shopping bots include: My Simon (www.mysimon.com), Shop Best (www. shopbest.com), Smart Bots (www.smartbots.com), Price Scan (www.pricescan.com), and Deal Time (www.dealtime.com).

Parents in Cyberspace

Baby Center
Web site: www.babycenter.com
What it is: Baby information and shopping site.

What’s cool: Right off the bat when you pull up Babycenter.com, you’ll be able to check on your baby’s development (before or after birth). It’s a neat idea to pull you into the site which emphasizes its articles and tips with general topic areas like “prepregnancy,” “toddler” and more. The “Shop at our store” area leads you off to an easy-to-navigate page with every product area imaginable. They also list weekly specials, clearances and membership info. We like the clear shipping button ($5 on most orders), the links to the gift registry and new items and the variety of the most popular products.

Needs work: No matter how hard we looked, we couldn’t find much to complaint about on Baby Center’s web site. They have a well organized, easy-to-use site with a wide selection of items. If there is one caveat to their online store, it would have to be selection. Compared to BabiesRUs.com, Baby Center simply doesn’t stock the variety you see elsewhere.

Baby Style
Web site: www.babystyle.com
What it is: Estyle.com’s baby oriented off shoot.

What’s cool: Estyle has always tried to position themselves as a hip, upper end site catering to style conscious folks. And that carries through to their attractive baby products web site. You’ll see high end gear here like Bugaboo strollers, Britax car seats as well as fancy diaper bags and a plethora of other baby gifts from top designers.

Needs work: In many categories, this web site has only a few items available. The ads from manufacturers can be a bit irritating although they’ve tried to make them discreet. Prices are regular retail meaning that some items are quite expensive but they have an extensive sales page for each category.

* Other sites: There are a myriad of web sites targeting new and expecting parents. One of the more promising entries into the market is Baby Ant (www.babyant.com), a whimsical site with items ranging from safety gates to humidifiers to clothing.

Baby Super Center (www.babysupercenter.com) offers more than 17,000 baby products. Their site has a newsletter, assembly tips and news articles on pregnancy, childbirth and children.

A less sophisticated site, Baby Products Online (www. babyproductsonline.com) offers extensive line listings of products by brand, age, price and category. They even sell all terrain vehicles (a mere $1789). They offer free shipping within the U.S. Baby Bundle (www.babybundle.com) on the other hand, has a more limited selection and a more upscale price range. We saw a bassinet set, for example, for almost $500!

Specializing in the more popular mass market brands like Graco strollers and Cosco car seats, Baby Super Mall (www.babysupermall.com) offers closeouts mixed in with regular priced merchandise. They also carry bedding, clothing and toys. Just Babies (www.justbabies.com) is another general site carrying everything from maternity clothes to breast pumps to crib bedding and more.

Baby Universe (www.babyuniverse.com) is a pleasing site with products for health, safety, diapering, feeding and much more. In fact, they cover over 15 different topics. Likewise, Baby Age (www.babyage.com) stocks an amazing assortment of products. Users can peruse baby bathtubs, playpens, even kid size rockers and potty seats. Check their specials for deals. We saw an On My Way Position Right infant seat on sale for $55 (regularly $70 to $80).

BabyPressConference.com broadcasts live, streaming Web video of your newborn right from the hospital. The webcast is free; BabyPressConference.com makes its money by selling copies of the webcast to family members or a digital picture of the newborn. The site also owns UrbanBaby (www.urbanbaby.com) which has resource guides and an online store.

* All purpose sites with good baby sections: Many web sites offer a few items to parents shopping for baby products, but one of the best is Overstock.com (www.overstock. com). They sell exactly what it sounds like: overstocks and clearance items. We saw accessories, clothing, and bedding from makers like NoJo. An Amy Coe duvet set was a mere $166. Recently, we noticed their stock of baby items was low, so check back frequently. How do they get such deals? You’ve probably heard about the flame-outs of so many baby e-tailers in recent months. These guys failed at trying to sell juvenile products at low prices. While that’s bad news for consumers who enjoyed the low prices, in the short term, you can often find deals on liquidator’s sites like Overstock and another site to watch, Smart Bargains (www.smartbargains.com).

* Bricks and Clicks. These are web sites that have both real stores and great cyber sites. Examples include Baby Depot, Babies R Us (part of Amazon.com), Walmart, Kmart, and Target. Many of these sites are reviewed in detail in Chapter 2. Each of the major discounters include a baby section on their general site. These sections are small and include mainly mass market brands. The best bets: Baby Depot (www.babydepot.com) and Babies R Us (www. babiesrus.com).

* Feedback sites. With the myriad of baby product web sites out there, how do you really know who’s reputable? Which sites have high satisfaction ratings from consumers? Feedback sites are a great way to take a quick pulse on which e-tailers to trust. One example is Planet Feedback (www. planetfeedback.com) where you can look up company report cards for various sites in their “news and ratings” section. You can also read “shared letters” from consumers that either complain about or praise companies. To test the site, we looked up the ratings on the notorious e-tailer BabyGear.com, a bankrupt baby products supplier. They earned a dismal D+ on the site. By contrast BabyStyle.com earned an A.

Montreal resources

Resources

Alternative Naissance
An excellent resource, Alternative Naissance is a community organization that offers complete information about the diverse support services offered in Montreal for pregnancy and childbirth. Call them for free referrals, recommendations and more information about the prenatal and postnatal support community in Montreal. 6006, ave. de Bordeaux, Montreal (514) 274-1727

Breastfeeding Clinic – Jewish General Hospital
Goldfarb Breastfeeding Program
Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays: by appointment, no fee for service
Tuesdays 1:30 – 3:00: mother & baby support group
Carole Dobriche, Head Lactation Consultant

Herzl Family Practice Center
3755 Cote St. Catherine E-0010
Info: (514) 340- 8253

Bring your baby to the movies. Special programs in Montreal-area cinemas that invite mom and dad to bring baby to see the latest feature films. Everybody in the theatre has a baby, so no one worries if your baby cries, needs to be fed or is sound asleep. Local listings can be found on-line and movies change each week. 
www.moviesformommies.com
*Also available in Toronto and Vancouver

Exercise
Yogaspace Studio, L’Esprit Rehabilitation Center
5252 de Maisonneuve West, #100
514 933-8671
www.yogaspace.com
A special family weekend class to give mom and dad a chance to participate together in a beginner’s yoga class with baby, and to practice baby massage.  Pregnancy yoga is $150 for 10 sessions, Mom and Baby Yoga is the same price.  There is also a Mom, Dad and Baby Yoga Special Weekend Class. Yoga instruction will be given for both parents to strengthen and to improve posture – and to have fun! Dads/partners can learn movements with baby, including “kiss the baby,” “flying baby,” and others. They will also have a chance to practice baby massage.Times often change depending on availability so you can contact the instructor, Clearlight, directly for more information.(514) 933-8671.

Toys

La Grande Ourse Toys 129 Duluth E. Montreal, (514) 847-1207 
Open at noon (closed Mondays)
All toys are hand made using natural fibres.  Dolls are filled with pure wool and all pieces are made with particular attention to detail.  Items include:  doll houses, rocking horse, dolls, castles (complete with King & Queen pieces), farms (with animals).  Prices range from $10-$350.