I just completed two exhausting days at the ABC Kids Show in Las Vegas. Wow, is all I can say at this point. It was overwhelming but very cool. Being the organized or, as my husband might say, OCD type I knew what I wanted to see and I had the show all planned out.

…or at least I thought I did. Once I got to the show, I felt like a kid in a candy store and those creative vendors suckered me in to their booths with their awesome displays and innovative new products. It was hard to put away my mommy hat and not want to visit every unique toy and apparel booth (I have boys though so clothes aren’t quite as fun). But I was on a mission for my store to find the best travel products and the perfect stroller, as my customers keep requesting for, and I was impressed with the travel and not so impressed with the strollers.

Let me first start with the travel products since that was the most exciting for me. I literally brought back a small suitcase full of brochures and order forms from vendors I’m 70%+ sure I will carry, so I’m just going to highlight what I felt were the top five. Since many of the products won’t be on the market for a few months you will just have to keep reading my newsletters for the new products I will be constantly adding.

No. 5, the Kemby Baby Carrier, it’s a baby bag, it’s a carrier…it’s both! The Sidekick’s ingenious beauty is in its simplicity: with just three simple steps, a parent can quickly create a comfortable, reliable carrier for a young child of up to 35 pounds, all while maintaining access to the essentials contained within the bag. The uses for this innovative, convenient product are many: at the grocery store, airport, zoo, mall — virtually anywhere parents and their children travel together.

No. 4, Deuter Backpack carriers. Deuter is celebrating their 110th Birthday as one of the premier backpack carrier companies in the market. Made in Germany, these carriers are setting the bar in innovation and technology. Their child carriers meet and exceed several consumer safety standards. I was very impressed by their quality and simplicity and from the research I have done, their quality is top notch.

No.3, if you love gadgets then you must have the MobiCam®AV Monitoring System for your kids. The MobiCam®AV Internet Kit allows parents, caregivers, or businesses to view multiple video camera sources and monitoring situations via the Internet on a PC browser or Windows® Media enabled cell phone..anytime.. anywhere! So picture this, you are staying at a beach house, your baby is napping inside peacefully (or so you hope) and you and your significant other want to lay out by the pool, but who is going to hear the baby if she cries? No worries, you can log in to your PDA or laptop and watch her sleep. If she is a climber, you can add an email or text messaging alert that will notify you if your little one has escaped. It’s amazingly simple to set up. I tested in at the show and decided it was a must have for our mischievous boys. It’s also being offered a very reasonable price for the safety and security this provides you.

No.2, One of my absolutely favorites and I think will be quickly my customers favorites, was the Buggyguard. It’s a stroller lock. It’s a cute little elephant that has a retractable lock. Yes, that’s what I said and everyone else who stood in amazement at the booth…”man I could have used that when I was at so and so this summer.” I’ve already placed an order for them and expect to receive them very soon.

No. 1 (drumroll please!)… Cars-N-Kids car seat monitor. I checked out this product before I went on my trip and it almost brought tears to my eyes. This product is so simple, yet it can prevent so many tragedies from occurring. I’m planning on telling the hospital I used to work for in the hopes that they will give it to all the first time parents that go through the baby classes. This is an absolute must have!

There are so many more products I would love to tell you that I saw, but you’ll just have to keep reading my newsletters and checking out my site.

Now, let’s move on to the strollers. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed. I just didn’t really see any new strollers that totally wowed me and trust me, I checked them all out. I might be bringing one or two new brands to my stock, but I’ll keep you posted later. Now, I was impressed with some of the new things that some of my current brands are coming up with, so at least the show made me confident that I am carrying the best based on what my customers are telling me they want in a stroller. Here are some of the new things I saw…

Phil and Teds has totally redesigned the Smartbuggy. It is an umbrella version of the Vibe. Since I’m already a huge fan of the Vibe I loved seeing a mini/lightweight version of it. They have a new hybrid of the Dash and Vibe coming soon that has four wheels. This seems to be the new trend in strollers because I saw this four wheel design in many other brands at the show. Which is smart because my customers have been asking for it for some time. See…they do listen!

UppaBaby has designed a new second seat that can attach to the Vista similar to the Phil and Teds concept. It was still in prototype phase so I’m not sure if they will be making any changes to what I saw, but it did not have a recline and it could only work if the seat was facing you, just because of the design of the frame. They also have a new and much improved G-Lite.

Easywalker, which I had stopped carrying at one point when the lost their US distributor, but definitely plan on carrying now has come up with a genius addition to their already popular DuoWalker. It now fits TWO car seats side by side. Yeah, the perfect twin stroller!

The one I was most impressed with though was Orbit Baby. I have just signed on with them and I can’t tell you how excited I am. What an amazing stroller. When I first got into the business I just didn’t get it, much like I still don’t get the Bugaboo. Why would you spend that kind of money…just because J Lo has it? But after doing my research and hearing my customer’s requests I now see why. It is a phenomenally well built, incredibly easy, total package, not to mention sleek looking stroller. As the sales rep when through the demo for me (mind you she went at warp speed) I was amazed by the simplicity of it. The car seat mechanism is so painless to install and built with such incredible material that you are completely confident that your precious cargo is totally secure.

My all time favorite though at the show, what made the whole trip worth it for me, was Kid Kustoms. Jamie and Joe…you guys rock! If you haven’t seen the incredible Roddler, you have got to check it out. It’s just cool. I just can’t explain it in words. I was trying to describe it to my friends that designed the very cool Caboose Travel Potty and I just said forget it guys, follow me. They trucked down to the horrible location the ABC Show put Kid Kustoms in and they just were awe struck when they saw the Roddler. It’s not just a stroller mind you, it now has a conversion kit that turns this freaking awesome stroller to an even cooler hot rod toddler trike. I know, I get the chills just thinking about seeing my kids riding it. Now the greatest part is I have ordered one for my store and Joe and Jamie have designed it with my logo and colors. My husband and I can not wait to strut our stuff in this thing. The only thing I worry about is it’s a single seater and I have two boys. Maybe I can’t get them to push me in it. ?

As you can tell I just really had a great time at the show, despite it being in gross Vegas, and was very impressed. If you have any questions about the products I mentioned or about the show please feel free to contact me. If you are a vendor I met at the show and I failed to mention your name, I apologize, but I promise to feature your product soon. I really enjoyed meeting so many of the vendors and look forward to working with many of them.

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