Reviewed Jan. 25, 2:30 p.m., Explorer 5.0 (www.ibaby.com)
an offshoot of iVillage.com, an online community for women, iBaby bills itself as “the baby everything store” – and it delivers. At first, though, the site is more overwhelming than impressive. In the center of the home page are 11 product categories, for items such as products for multiple births and preemies (great idea!) and toys – but no sign of bedding. Then I spy up top the five “super” categories: Baby, Maternity, Gifts, Toys, and Nursery. Apparently I’m in Baby, when I want to be in Nursery.
One click on the Nursery link later, and I’m awash in bedding. I can browse by brands, products, sets, and themes (Noah’s ark, moon and stars). And there’s a search engine too!
Exhaustive as the merchandise selection is, what truly distinguishes iBaby is the extras. It offers a registry, which you’d think would be standard on sites selling baby products, and buyers guides that define the basics of, say, safety products. The New Parents Checklist, which recommends what you need to buy to be ready for Junior, is helpful too, so long as you take some of the suggestions with a pillar of salt (six crib sheets?). But at least iBaby is smart enough to realize that first-time parents and parents-to-be are suckers (The Cybercritic speaks from experience) – at least until the sleep deprivation kicks in.