The Baby Show at Earls Court

Yesterday we headed up to London for a day out to attend The Baby Show at Earls Court. We visited The Baby Show when I was heavily pregnant with Beastie so we knew what to expect beforehand. What we didn’t have last time was a toddler in tow so it wasn’t quite the browsing experience I would have liked it to have been, not that I had any elusions of it being an easy day. Like any toddler Beastie doesn’t like being strapped in his buggy for too long so it was a combination of squeezing through the crowds with a buggy and trying to keep an eye on a toddler loose. Now he can be pretty good and walk alongside us, as long as it’s at his pace, which of course is painstakingly slow but nevertheless okay. It’s the fact he walks aimlessly looking to the side whilst walking that causes a problem and several people to be nearly tripped up in the process.

What we did find is that we didn’t have as much to see and buy this time seeing as we have done it all before. We wanted to go and see what new products were now available but with the combination of having most essential items and my broadened knowledge in general and since blogging, there wasn’t anything we hadn’t already seen before this time. However, it wasn’t a wasted day and we managed to return home with a couple of essential items.

First up was My Carry Potty. I had previously heard about this ingenious item mainly through the medium of twitter and although intrigued, I hadn’t looked into it any further. We had a little chat with the girl on the stand to get a better idea of the concept and carried on around the show. It was then that I decided this invention could be the answer we are looking for in regards to Beastie’s imminent potty training. The idea of the potty is that it is all they will ever need to use, so they can use it at home and on the go which keeps their routine consistent throughout. The potty is lightweight, leak-proof with a watertight seal and is bag free. As Beastie is happy to sit on the potty as well as on his training seat on the toilet, I thought maybe he could take a liking to this portable friend. Besides trying to actually get Beastie to produce anything in his potty it hadn’t crossed my mind as to what our options would be when we are out and about. So it would involve taking a potty out with us so that he can go whenever he needs and I will have to dispose of the contents wherever possible or the other vision I had in my mind of hovering him over public loo. Bear with me, I am new to this!

So this is what we bought. They do three colours in pink, blue and yellow. We opted for the yellow, the only unisex option seeing as we don’t yet know whether I am carrying a girl or a boy. Hopefully if this is a hit then it will be used for the baby one day.

So far I have been familiarising Beastie with his new potty and he has been carrying it around and has sat on it when buy cialis philippines asked to. He filled it with some toys when we brought it home so it swiftly got taken away. I can only imagine what horrors I might in the find in the future if I let him continue using it as a carry bag as well as confusing him as to what’s it function is. As I have a few days off in a row coming up, I plan to start his training as I know he is ready. I am really hopeful this potty will make the transition as smooth as possible and of course will be feeding back on his progress…

The next item we bought was the multi award winning Medela electric breastpump. We were very impressed with the ladies at the Medela stand who showcased the functions of their products very well. I initially asked about the manual pump as that is what I used in my first pregnancy and the lady was dismayed to hear that I had been using a Tommee Tippee pump, purchased when on offer and because I wasn’t sure whether to fork out for an expensive pump if I was to be unsuccessful feeding. What did surprise me was that Medela are the only company to actually manufacture their breast pumps following actual research into how babies feed from their mothers, apparently all the other competitors have completed no such research.

When I was shown a demonstration with the electric Swing pump I could quite clearly see how effective they are. There I was with my little manual pump, trying in vain to get a reasonable amount in which to feed my baby. I will always remember getting 7 ounces (from both sides) and being overjoyed! Especially as that never happened again. I can now see that the pump I was using was never going to produce enough milk as it was not mimicking the suckling of a baby. Their research has found that babies initially use short fast sucks to stimulate the milk production reflex, once the milk begins to flow, they change to a slower deeper rhythm to feed. It makes perfect sense and pumping away on a basic manual pump will not only be harder work but will also be far less fruitless and more brutal on the nipple itself.

Since this is my second pregnancy and I know more of what I am doing, I found this to be a great buy and I am looking forward to it making my life a little easier and am hoping that breastfeeding will go as smoothly as last time. They also sell tubes of nipple barrier cream which is similar to Lansinoh (which I loved) but in a much smaller tube at the fraction of the cost. I thought this was a great idea seeing as I barely used the large tube of Lansinoh that I bought, as I only needed it for the first week or so. I forgot to buy the nipple cream but we snapped up the pump with a substantial saving and I am very glad we did.

All in all it was a worthwhile day and I would definitely recommend going along for the savings that can be made. I think that it will be the last show that we visit but I am pleased that we did.