Safety Before Everything
If a product fails a basic safety standard — recall history, JPMA certification, materials transparency — it doesn’t make our shortlist, no matter how many five-star reviews it has on retail sites.
About New Baby Choice
Honest guidance for the beautifully overwhelming first chapter.
We’re a small team of parents, pediatric nurses, and product specialists who test the gear so you don’t have to choose in the fog of newborn life.
Our Story
A registry list, a 3 a.m. feeding, and a question that wouldn’t go away.
New Baby Choice began in 2021 in a small apartment in Portland, when our founder Mara — a pediatric sleep consultant with two kids under two — watched a friend spiral through 47 stroller reviews in a single afternoon. The marketing was beautiful. The advice was useless. Every list was sponsored. Every “best of” was the same ten products shuffled around.
So we built the resource we wished existed: an independent site that puts safety data, real-parent testing, and transparent criteria ahead of affiliate revenue. Three years later, our reviews are read by more than 800,000 expecting and new parents each month, and our review board still includes practicing NICU nurses, lactation consultants, and — most importantly — parents in the thick of it.
Our Mission & Values
The principles that shape every review we publish.
Babies don’t care about marketing claims. Our job is to cut through the noise with evidence, lived experience, and the kind of nuance a 2 a.m. decision actually requires.
Tested, Not Just Researched
We buy every product we review at full retail price. Our team uses each item for a minimum of four weeks with real infants in real homes — not a single 20-minute unboxing.
Transparent Compensation
When we use affiliate links, we say so — and we never let a commission rate change a ranking. Our editorial team operates independently from our business team, full stop.
Real Parent Voices
Every review includes unedited quotes from at least 12 parents across different budgets, climates, and family structures. Their experience sits alongside our expert scoring.
Plain English, No Hype
We translate pediatric guidance and ASTM standards into language you can use at 2 a.m. with a newborn on your chest. No jargon for jargon’s sake, no “premium” filler.
Updated, Not Forgotten
Products change. Recalls happen. We re-test top picks every 12 months and update our reviews within 48 hours of any major safety news — even if it means downgrading a past favorite.
By the Numbers
What thoughtful reviewing looks like in practice.
A small team, working slowly on purpose — because the wrong recommendation costs you more than our subscription costs us.
2,400+
Products tested in our home lab since 2021
800K
Monthly readers across our reviews and guides
14
Credentialed experts on our medical review board
48hr
Maximum turnaround on any safety recall update
The People Behind the Reviews
A small editorial team with a big medical advisory bench.
Most of us are parents first, editors second. Every clinical claim in our reviews is vetted by someone with a license and a pager.
Mara Reyes
Founder & Lead Reviewer
Pediatric sleep consultant, mom of two, and the person who still personally tests every stroller we recommend. Writes most of our feeding and sleep guides.
Dr. Daniel Tao, MD
Medical Review Board — Pediatrics
Board-certified pediatrician with 12 years in primary care and a special focus on safe sleep and infant nutrition. Reviews every clinical claim we publish.
Sasha Kim, IBCLC
Lactation & Feeding Lead
International board-certified lactation consultant and former NICU nurse. Leads our reviews of breast pumps, bottles, and formula preparation gear.
Jonas Lindqvist
Gear & Car Seat Specialist
CPST-certified car seat technician and former juvenile product buyer. Tests every stroller, car seat, and travel system we feature — usually in the rain.
How We Review
From shortlist to recommendation in five honest steps.
Our process is slow on purpose. Most reviews take 6–10 weeks from purchase to publication. Here’s what that actually looks like.
Research the Category
We survey 200+ parents about what they actually struggle with in the category, scan pediatrician guidance, and identify the 15–25 most-mentioned products worth testing.
Buy Everything Blind
We purchase each product at full retail price using anonymous accounts so we receive the same item a regular parent would — no PR samples, no early units, no special handling.
Live With It for a Month
Each product goes home with a real family for a minimum of four weeks. We track setup friction, daily usability, cleaning, durability, and how it holds up after the “honeymoon” wears off.
Score Against a Fixed Rubric
Every product is scored on the same seven criteria — safety, ease of use, durability, value, comfort, design, and long-term viability. Weights are public, not adjusted after the fact.
Publish & Keep Listening
Once the review is live, we read every reader comment, track returns and complaints, and re-test winners annually. If a product disappoints, the review gets updated — prominently.
Our Commitment
“We don’t tell parents what to buy. We tell them what we found, how we tested it, and who it might be right for — then we trust them to decide. That’s the whole job.”
Read Something Useful
Start with our most-loved first-time-parent reviews.
The stroller, the car seat, the baby monitor, and the one bottle almost everyone gets wrong — tested for hundreds of hours so you can decide in minutes.