The Baby Show!

I spent part of this last weekend supporting Slumber-Roo at their stand at The Baby Show in the ExCel. I am their in-house consultant and have been training the team in the use of their brands for just such events as this. I wasn’t able to attend the whole three days (due to work and birthdays) but spent Saturday working alongside them.

It was just super! The day was bright and clear and almost warm at the Docklands – it is many years since I last visited the area (I went to medical school in London) and I almost felt like a tourist again spotting the Millennium Dome! The space for the show was huge… I have never seen so many pregnant parents in one place all at once. There were so many stands, from pillows, to toys, revolving lights, pushchairs, bottles, beds, you name it, it was there. It really was rather overwhelming – a real shopping Mecca for all things Baby.

The stand was busy busy all day long – there were seven of us – Phil and Debi and their daughter, two of the Slumber-Roo staff, myself, and Kate who runs a sling library in North London. We spent the day demonstrating stretchy wraps (Moby and Boba) to pregnant parents, looking for a cuddly, simple option to keep their precious new cargoes close and warm, while still being able to have the freedom to get around, make a cup of tea, go for a walk. As the stretchy wraps are elastic, they only need to be tied on once and baby can then be popped in and out as needed, with no need to take the sling on and off again each time, and therefore are very convenient. They are easy to care for as well, being simple to wash. The demos were well received by the people who came to the stall, many tried the stretchies on with the Oliver demo dolls, were impressed with them, and we had almost run out of Boba wraps by the end of the day (with another day still to go!)

We also had a good selection of buckle carriers (Beco, Boba and Scootababy) for demonstrations with children of varying ages, and spent a lot of time answering queries about these, such as can my baby face out in these carriers? (yes, in the Beco Gemini, but only for short periods and only once baby is 4 months and over.. and in fact the reason why it may make your baby feel a lot heavier and give you back pain is the shift in weight loading on the carer, etc), selling stuff, giving out information about sling libraries, helping people try on Jellystone jewellery, and having the occasional drink here and there to keep hydrated.

I went to say hello to the other sling stands at the show – little oases of people promoting closeness to babies, and talking about all the wide range of benefits, rather than encouraging exclusive pram use. Did you know that Western children are known as “the container babies” by more traditional, family oriented societies? It was all in all a super experience and I can’t wait for the next show – the So Natural Baby Show in Oxford, and then the Baby Show again in Birmingham in May! See you then!