WebMD the Magazine | July/August 2009
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Experts’
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Buy Buy Baby Time to stock your
nursery? Shop with our experts’ top product picks
Your crying baby
is Björned around your neck.
Her diaper needs changing.
You’re sleep-deprived. And
you’re lost in the pastel-hued
wilderness of the baby care
products aisle.
You want to start your
little one off right and use
only the best, of course, but
every item on the shelf seems
to claim it is fragrance-free,
unscented, organic, natural—the
words make your head spin.
What does it all mean? How
do you know what’s market-
ing hype and what’s real?
What do you need to know
when reading labels?
We turned to the pros for
help. Our panel of experts—
two pediatric dermatologists,
Sharon A. Glick, MD, and
Colette D. Lieber, MD, and
health and wellness expert
Keri Glassman, MS, RD,
CDN—judged dozens of
baby care products on five
criteria: scientific soundness;
brand promise; price; look,
smell, and feel; and overall
excellence.
Read on to see if any of
the choices you were consid-
ering in the haze of the baby
aisle made the cut.
BEST BABY CARE PRODUCTS
34
DAN SAELINGER
35
WebMD the Magazine | July/August 2009
Believe
the Hype?
Smell test Labels
can be deceiving,
particularly when it
comes to “unscented”
vs. “fragrance-free.”
“ ‘Unscented’ could
have a masking fra-
grance, which your
child could be allergic
to,” Lieber says.
Masking fragrances
may be added to
neutralize odor, Glick
says, so “when given
the choice, opt for
fragrance-free.”
Don’t cry “baby”
Another personal
favorite that didn’t
quite fit anywhere on
the experts’ list (and
isn’t labeled “baby”):
Eucerin’s Aquaphor
Healing Ointment.
“I put it on my kids’
lips and cheeks in the
cold,” says Glassman.
It also helps ward off
diaper rashes. “It’s
one of the major prod-
ucts I recommend to
patients,” Glick says.
The opinions expressed
in WebMD the Magazine
Experts’ Choice are of the
experts and are no