Phew, another Baby Show, another weekend of chaos, but at least this time it’s near the sea, so you can breathe. Add to this the weather was amazing, and we had to do it. I’d never been to the AMEX Stadium, though knew roughly where to head – and after a while wondered if I’d got it wrong, and whether it’d be obvious to see where we turn off; there were no signs, but eventually the stadium was pretty easy to spot.

We queued and got checked in, and once the doors opened we were ushered through quickly. This was good, however, the biggest downside with the new venue (last year it was at the Racecourse) was that you couldn’t get from one side to the other if you had a buggy – you had to leave the venue. Actually, I lie, that wasn’t the biggest downside – that was not being able to get a phone signal inside the main areas! A lot of the traders were having problems with this too, and at one point one trader had to walk over the other side of the room for his card machine to connect – it worked though.

Anyway, I’m not here to moan, I’m here to tell you about more companies that we met and saw their nice things.. so read on.

Flyer-wise, we got some good ones – Toy Rentals – brilliant idea (although I am the world’s worst at returning library books, or LoveFilm DVD’s) – check out http://www.toyrentals.co.uk – it’s set to launch in January 2012.

Mathemagical have loads of stimulating toys, games and activities relevant to them, and teaching them about maths – making it all good fun. Classes run in Brighton, Horsham and Worthing – head to http://www.mathemagical.co.uk

If I was an extremely wealthy person I’d be able to afford to get away, so for now I’ll dream from afar, but Mama Me Time offers stylish retreats for pregnant women and run away breaks for mums – http://www.mamametime.co.uk

‘Haven’t You Grown‘ Sales feature Baby, Toddler & Children’s Nearly-New Clothes, Toy, Book & Equipment Table-Top Sales – find details of upcoming sales at http://www.haventyougrownsales.co.uk

Kiddie Coupons is a great idea – and currently running in West Sussex. The 2012 edition costs just £15 and has coupons, great ideas for family days out and dining, and lists all child-friendly features at each and every venue – brilliant! http://www.kiddiecoupons.co.uk

Brighton has a new destination for children’s grooming, haircuts, pampering, parties and shopping – hello Bertie & Belle – head over to http://www.bertieandbelle.co.uk for more information – it opens on December 10th 2011.

Onwards to the excellent products and traders we saw and met – BundleBean was there and looked really busy – have you bought one yet? Have you read my gushing about them yet? Should I gush more…? With the weather so mild right now, our BundleBean is getting a lot of use.

Ohh we fell in love with the Rokka. It’s gorgeous, so versatile and it’s several toys in one – it becomes what a child’s imagination wants it to be – we were impressed with it – even though it’s quite expensive. You need to see it to believe it, and have a good drool – fabulous stuff – http://www.rokkaplay.com

My Wondercube had their stand – we bought one last year at the previous Brighton show, and it was nice to see again – it’s still going strong, and so many stories you can tell with it as your child grows up – http://www.mywondercube.com

Quack Quack Moo had a stand – we’d been sent one of their blankets for review back in April, so it was nice to meet up with them – we picked up one of their Buggy straps and H has been using it when we’re out and about – she quite enjoys holding on to it. A bargain at £2.50 too. http://www.quackquackmoo.co.uk

Baby Choes are lovely – really simple black and white prints on shoes which appeal to newborns, made from really soft leather – you need to check them out – http://www.babychoes.co.uk

Pixie and Punk had a stand, so I finally got to check out their t-shirt/toy/book combination – though only went for a book (they had one about various countries around the world which I’d not seen anything similar to) – I kind of wish I’d bought a t-shirt now… next time! http://www.pixieandpunk.com

The Nod Pod is new, and looks lovely – perfect for newborns, it is a baby blanket brought up to date. It keeps legs, toes and heads covered, and keeps arms safely wrapped up too. The blanket works with baby carriers, car seats and pushchairs without needing holes and zips to accommodate straps.  The blankets are made from supersoft fleece and I think it’s a damn good idea – I wish we’d had something like this when H was little. http://www.nodpod.co.uk

One that interested me a lot was a sample of ‘Dry Like Me‘ – a pad which would go into a pair of pants, while potty training. I’m working on a feature about potty training – if you’ve got this far, then do pop over to the Mum Friendly Facebook Group (if you’re on there) and let us know your tips if you have any – so many people do so many different things, and there’s so many things out there! I think this is an excellent idea, though I didn’t find their stand, unfortunately. However, I love samples of things and being able to try them out – so I’ll definitely try this one! http://www.drylikeme.com – you can register to test things on their site too – worth doing!

All in all it was a good baby show – loads of stalls all packed into a better sized area than last year – and even better, lots of information for local groups and activities – something which I’m sure Brighton isn’t short of. H got to meet Mister Maker “I was a little bit shy, I didn’t talk to him” she said after she’d had her photo taken with him – even though she’d been having pretend conversations on her Makka Pakka phone all the way down in the car with him. Aaah, toddlers. There’s some great stuff linked above – please take the time to visit them – they’re all lovely.