Checking Out the Parenthood Expo 2012, Kuala Lumpur

Ever since I learned that there was going to be a Parenthood Expo held in Kuala Lumpur in end of July, I had been looking forward to check this expo out and shop tons of stuff for my baby like crazy. This Parenthood Expo claims itself to be Malaysia's largest branded mother and baby expo so needless to say, being a first-time Mom and attendee of such expo - I had high expectations in going home with lots of baby items bought at cheap(er) price.

End of July finally arrived. My husband and I indeed went to Mid Valley Exhibition Centre, Kuala Lumpur on last Sunday with the hope to purchase bargain baby essentials; mainly because we have purposely refrained ourselves from buying certain baby items before this expo actually took place. 

Definitely not my best picture, taken in front of the Parenthood Expo last week. 

I looked so plump and tired.

My God! The exhibition centre where the Parenthood Expo was held was just so full of expectant parents, parents and their kids. It was almost impossible for me to check most of branded baby clothes on sale because I was literally rubbing shoulders with other pregnant mothers, grand mothers and parents. 

Anyway, since we're there already, my husband and I looked around and bought some of baby and breastfeeding essentials such as breast pump, nursing bras, breast pads, baby bath towel, cloth diapers, baby bottles' strainer, baby wipes and a little bit of baby apparels, to name a few. We didn't manage to buy baby stroller, baby walker and infant car seat from the expo as planned because their costs were so out of our budget, even after rebate.

A snippet of the hourly lucky draw at the Parenthood Expo last week. 

A bit messy?

When my husband waited for his name to be called during the hourly lucky draws at the expo (but it was not, sadly); I continued looking for baby clothes and shoes at some exhibitor stands that were not madly cramped with buyers and I was so happy to bring home these cute baby girl shoes from Bebe.

Cute, eh?

Guess what, when I checked the inside of my shopping bag from Bebe at home, I found this Essential Checklist for Newborn which I think quite useful. 

Click on the picture to get a better view of this checklist.

In conclusion, I must say that the mother and baby exhibition last week was fairly well organized and most of the participating exhibitors were local and international prominent maternity and baby care items manufacturers. In addition, they gave away quite many of goodie bags and freebies. Who doesn't love the latter part?

Although my husband and I didn't manage to buy some baby items as intended, I personally quite enjoyed checking out baby expo such as this one. I mean, as a new Mom-to-be, I am always excited and interested in shopping quality baby stuff at best rate. My mistake before going to baby expo like the one we went last week was not doing any legwork in finding out the usual/normal price of the baby and maternity stuff that my husband and I wanted to buy so we both could actually compare the prices with those sold during the expo.

Also, I learned my lesson in becoming a more efficient pregnant shopper in an expo. My advice to pregnant mothers out there when shopping in an expo is to buy the product you like when you see something nice at a particular stand/exhibitor in the expo and find that the price of that product reasonable. Don't think of comparing prices, colours, designs, bargains, etc. at other stands in other sections because the exhibition centre used for an expo is usually huge and overcrowded with other buyers. By the time, you finish circling the whole exhibition centre and think of going back to the stand which sells stuff that interested you, you'd be too exhausted and lazy to walk all the way back to that specific stand just to get your stuff. Further, it is likely that you may forget the exact location of the exhibitor's stand you saw earlier on. Bear in mind that you are pregnant (and you have weaker legs and back) plus your hands might be full of some heavy shopping bags too by then. Yet, if you'd like to compare some products which are sold from stands/exhibitors whose locations are close to each other, by all means, check the other stands first before buying the items you want, especially for the pricey ones.

So, am I still interested in attending baby expos again in the future? Yes, absolutely – but probably for my second baby!