On the heels of my third maternity leave and re-entry to my day job marketing products to moms, I find myself consciously evaluating the new baby brands and products in my own home – the things that have become part of my daily routine (and sanity!). The baby products market is a $6 billion industry… so why did I choose these particular items? 

Because Baby No. 3 is six years younger than her closest brother, she became the recipient of many new products rather than the hand-me-downs he enjoyed. This time around, I was in upgrade mode so I had my research to do in comparing brands.

Having ‘been there, done that’ I knew what I wanted and didn’t want in a car seat, stroller and even bath wash. And I was amazed at the number of products on retail shelves – things my mom friends said I must get – that apparently didn’t exist a mere six years before. NoseFrida? Yes, please! Baby K’Tan? Don’t mind if I do! Bebe Au Lait? But of course!

When you prepared your nest for a new baby, what influenced your buying decisions?

Looking back now, I can map a few points that directly led me to a cash register (or online shopping cart) with baby products in hand. Most often, it was the advice of other moms who had recently been in the same boat. And in almost every instance, my path to purchase started online with exhaustive comparisons. Did you know two-thirds of moms say the Internet has changed the way they research products before buying?

I even created a “Baby” board on Pinterest and started gathering bigger-ticket products there that I was interested in but wanted to think more about (a.k.a. get more advice from fellow moms about) before buying.

I found myself putting the “all call” out to fellow moms on Facebook asking for their “must haves” and favorite, can’t-live-without baby products. I received an enthusiastic, even passionate, response very quickly from moms who have children under the age of 12 months. These are moms who are in the trenches – even first-timers who were telling me, a third-timer, what I should pay attention to. I noticed that I trusted most the advice of these women who are not just moms, but currently in the baby phase of motherhood, making their credibility even stronger.

I also noticed a plethora of Google searching taking me from blog posts by “moms like me” to communities like ModernMom and BabyCenter to customer reviews on retailer sites. Can you believe that more than 18 million moms are regularly reading blogs today, and 60% of those bloggers are posting about brands and products they both love and hate?

The common denominator for me was that I was clicking on and reading comments at each site from fellow moms. Not experts, specialists, doctors or salespeople. Nevermind the fact that I don’t personally know these women. They’re moms in the same stage of motherhood. So that? Is all the credibility I needed.

What sources did you turn to when buying for your baby?