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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Is it worth going to the Baby Show ??

18 replies

JoGehani · 12/05/2012 18:40

Hi all,

Is anyone thinking of going to the baby show in Birmingham ?? I'm due in September :) and was wondering if this really is the best place to shop for everything under one roof ??

Cheers,
Jo.

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pingdriver · 12/05/2012 19:18

depends on what you want really. We found it good for comparing and contrasting things particulary pushchairs. Also really great for being able to handle and try things before ordering online for example. Alot of the stuff being sold is stuff that you really do not need so can be easy to get carried away. We took a list and really tried to stick to it.

Having said that we came away with a decent haul. Moses basket, resuable wipes, lots of trial nappies, baby monitor, storage baskets, and resuable nappy system (used for 1 week and then ditched!) and cotbed (delivered!). There are good deals to be had but not always. We had DH Iphone with the price scan checker thing (Dh reckons its a red laser ap?????) which effectively checks the price of things against internet prices which was very useful.

PickleSarnie · 12/05/2012 19:51

I went. Hated it. Lots of hormonal Owen under one roof! :)

But I don't like crowds of people at the best of times. I just found it a bit overwhelming and full of things that you really don't need but start to feel that you should.

Agree that it's a good place to see everything under one roof. Just focus on what you need and don't, like us, end up with a ton of stuff that you don't need that only ends up on eBay afterwards!

PickleSarnie · 12/05/2012 19:51

Women, not Owen!

DaisyMaisyJessicaEmily · 12/05/2012 20:24

If you go, sign up for their mailing list beforehand, there's a voucher you can print out for a free Mam bottle. I was going, but miscarried sadly.

Chunkychicken · 13/05/2012 11:00

We went to the London one in Feb 2010 before my DD was born.

I agree with pingdriver it is good to view things that you usually only see online. Didn't buy much ourselves there but did order our pram & car seat. Found the vouchers etc quite useful.

It was a bit overwhelming at times though - I was 7mths pg & wanted to get things sorted and stood arguing with DH about the pram, almost in tears at one point!!!

If you already have an idea of what you want/need, there are bargains to be had but most of the stuff is part of the huge money-making industry (much like wedding shows), hugely expensive/over-priced and completely unnecessary.

PinkPepper · 13/05/2012 12:48

I'm going, me and dp went to mothercare, boots and supermarkets and made up list of what we want and prices we can get it for. Anything cheaper at baby show we will get, but at least we know if it's actual saving ifykwim.
I could imagine it'd be easy to get carried away though. We're pretty sure we know what pram we're getting but want to double check and hopefully order there.

Florin · 13/05/2012 16:01

We went to London one we are used to going to big shows at excel but even though the baby show is smaller we found it quite overwhelming. An iphone is your friend as it's easy to be told you are getting a good deal. We worked out what we wanted got quotes round the show and then sat down with our iPhones to work out if we could get it cheaper on the Internet. Having said that we are very happy we went as the mothercare person made a muck up and gave us hundreds more pounds off our pram package then they meant to but that was luck!

PenguinSarah · 13/05/2012 16:47

DH and I are going because we're hoping to get a good look at a lot of different prams/travel systems. We've researched in advance and DH is taking his iPhone for checking prices while we're there.
Also hoping it will just be a nice day out looking at cute baby stuff, although in reality I suspect I'll just end up aching, grumpy and overwhelmed after only a few hours :)

ALittleLemonTwist · 13/05/2012 19:18

Worth going on the last day of a show as the sellers are keen to get rid of stuff. My friend went on the last day and got an icandy travel system for pretty much half of what it usually retails for. I am still kicking myself for not going as she picked up loads of bargains!

heliumballoon · 13/05/2012 19:36

www.mumsnet.com/bloggers/guest-blog-hackney-doula

Mumsnet doesn't exhibit at the Baby Show due to the event organisers' links with arms fairs. So for that reason alone I would not go. I also think that many of the things you will see for sale either you don't need or you can get more cheaply second hand eg. on gumtree or at a nearly new sale.

melliebobs · 13/05/2012 20:24

Really depends what you want. We really liked the look of Tutti Bambini furniture but no where near us had it in. They had a stand there and had big discounts on their bundles. So we got that there. Also I wanted dh to see n have a go at the iCandy pram I wanted (but got it somewhere else)

There's loads of gadgety things that just ain't necessary but was a good afternoon out where we could get excited about our baby if nothing else

Original poster

JoGehani · 14/05/2012 19:31

Thanks for all the feedback :)

I've decided to go... maybe I'll just end up comparing and trying out different product ranges. May get a bit overwhelmed by the crowd as I never liked crowds even when I wasn't pregnant ! :)
Lets hope I can get my list together before this weekend .... I still wish there was another baby show closer to my due date... I'm just 21 weeks pregnant so still have some time to go :)

Cheers,
Jo

OP posts:

ItsMyLastOne · 14/05/2012 21:49

I'd take a phone that does internet if you have one. That way you can have a break, do some googling for prices and decide whether it'd be best to order there or online etc.

Original poster

JoGehani · 15/05/2012 20:50

I've got the price comparison app on my phone :)

OP posts:

Lora1982 · 15/05/2012 21:13

when is it?

DaisyMaisyJessicaEmily · 15/05/2012 21:56

This weekend at the NEC.

Original poster

JoGehani · 20/05/2012 16:04

So now that I have been to the baby show I can tell you that it's very helpful as you can try out a lot of the products... especially the pushchairs. My DH is taller than average (6'4) and before the baby show I had no idea that some pushchairs will be very uncomfortable for him... the handles are either too low or his long legs keep hitting the break bar at the back. The only ones without the bottom back bar were Mylo and Stokke...

We didn't buy a lot and you do come close to buying stuff that you don't really need :)
The downside is that it was pretty overwhelming and by the end of the day my feet were killing me...

The next one is in Manchester in end of August if anyone is interested :)

OP posts:

goingmadtrying · 20/05/2012 17:51

hi I've had a great time at the show today although the swollen ankles probably wouldn't agree lol, managed to make a massive saving on my pushchair, £210 off rrp but a massive £445 on the package i got which was still cheaper than the offer id seen at a local retailer for just the pushchair!!! also saved over £80 on some real nappies, and the price was the deciding factor for me giving them ago :)

lots of nice freebies, and better still i got free tickets and free disabled parking as with my mum so overall a fantastic day out

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