When I had my babies I was surrounded by information about the baby products that were available, they were things like buggies, prams, reusable nappies, cots, travel cots etc.  There were many choices to make about the brands, colours and designs to choose.  Not having the internet or knowing about things like baby shows, I was quite unaware of many of many new products.  I settled with a few basic items and got on with it!

Now I work in the baby industry and have access to shows, magazines and social network I am staggered as to the amount of new baby products introduced to the market every month.  There are so many things that I would have never of even thought of.  Some of them I really wished I had known about and some I really cannot understand why people have invented them and can’t believe they actually sell them or that people actually buy them.

Lots of the baby products that appear on the market are invented by mums because they have seen a gap in the market or they have encountered problems with products they have used and they have modified it and found a solution to the problem.  These products are often really popular with mums because they know that the inventor has had the same experiences and they feel some alliance with them.  There is also that great feeling that you are supporting a small company instead of a multinational that is far removed from its customers.

Baby shows are a great place to find new products; many companies launch them at these types of shows because they have access to great numbers of their target audience in a very short space of time.  They can sell great numbers to get them out into the market place.  It also gives them a fantastic opportunity to speak to customers and gauge their reaction to the products; this can help with future product development and also with colours and patterns.  Of course baby shows can also be great places to research baby products that you are working on, because you can see what is already on the market and how popular it is.  You can see current colour and pattern trends and if the product is an accessory you can make sure that it will match products that are already on the market.

I certainly think as a new mum it is work keeping an eye out for new baby products, you might find something that really helps and even changes your life!  Of course try to avoid things you don’t need, it is really easy to spend a lot of money on lots of things you don’t need and you may never use.  Of course you can resell some items you have bought when you have finished them, but surprisingly baby products don’t make a lot of money second hand, because I think most people like to buy new.