Essential Baby & Toddler Show
Last weekend I was really excited to be going to the Essential Baby and Toddler Show in Sydney. I've never been to something like this before so that's where most of my excitement came from, plus the fact that it was actually our first day out doing 'baby things'. Obviously Jay was just as excited as me to be doing this ;-). I knew there was a risk that he would get bored very quickly, but it was a risk I was going to take and would manage that when the time came!
I knew there was a Pram test track, sponsored by Jeep, at the show, so if all else failed, I could hopefully send him off there to do some testing. Okay so it's not exactly test driving a car, but at least it's something that might keep him occupied for 15 minutes or so!
It was pretty much what I imagined, with stall after stall of everything baby and toddler. I have to say it was really quite over-whelming when we first walked in - so many people with so many bags, and it made me wonder what they knew that I didn't know - were there all these specific stalls that we needed to be going to, to gather information and educate ourselves on all things baby?!! Were there real bargains there that we were going to miss out on if we didn't get there now?!! Okay, calm down Panna - take note of the fact that many of these people already have their little people and yours is still baking - they need to buy all this stuff because they actually need it now! Okay fine, but that doesn't mean I don't need to take advantage of this learning opportunity where possible... :-)
We just walk around and take it all in really - there are literally all sorts of stalls from disposable nappies and re-usable nappies being demonstrated, to baby carriers, to child star agencies.
Picking up some free samples along the way, and entering every competition going, we made our way around the first hall, testing out the pram all-terrain testing along the way.
It wasn't long until Jay became hungry and I could tell that he was going to go into grouch mode if we didn't get him some food soon (yes, some would say I'm getting the practice of caring for a child already haha!!)! First we had to get one of these New Bub Boxes from Target that EVERYONE seemed to be carrying around. Luckily we had just bumped into some friends, who were able to walk us in the right direction. A total bargain at $20 if you just look at what it includes! Check out the included products in more detail at www.newbubbox.com.au
All this stuff! The hygiene kit itself would be about $30!
Though the New Bub Box was the only thing we actually bought, we did consider this Adapt baby carrier at Ergobaby (www.ergobaby.com.au). I was pretty much sold on it, but I do want to have a look at the Baby Bjorn carriers that everyone has such good reviews on before buying. I've never carried, and never needed to carry a baby like this, so it was a very strange thing for us to be doing!
How do you do this without dropping the baby?!!
He's got this :-)
This was definitely and interesting day out - very surreal that we were there for our own baby, and not just tagging along with someone else!
These shows are great for getting your thoughts together on things you want/need. It is very easy to be caught up in it all though and just buy everything because the person at the stall is telling you you can't live without it! I think Jay was pretty impressed with me as I totally resisted the sales techniques. I generally don't have that kind of control, so I think he may have been expecting a bit of a dent in our bank balance at the end, but was pleasantly surprised. Unlucky for him though, it means there is a major shopping trip coming up soon :-)
