MommyCon Anaheim 2015

My MC loot, I did but some of the cloth diapers, the silikids lids, and a swaddler
pretty much everything else came with the VIP or General Admission (I had 2 tickets)

This was the year I had ever heard of MommyCon and  the first year that I attended. Like many of you, I didn’t know exactly what to expect nor did I know if it would be worth it. I just want to go and see. I searched the internet for more info and I wanted to know of the experience of others. I found a lot really great experiences and a lot of negative experiences. I thought I would add my experience to the bunch.

First off  WHAT IS MOMMYCON?

Well, it is a convention centered on parenting, babies, baby gear, and parent support. It mainly focuses on the more natural / organic side of parenting, BUT no one is preachy on this subject. They advocate for it, but also don’t shame parents for doing things differently. (more on that later) Vendors from many different types of products such as breastpumps (evenflo, ameda), swaddle suits, teething products, all natural baby and home care products, car seats, etc. You name it, they have a vendor or a booth that has it. 

There are also different seminars you can attend I will post the schedule so you can see what types of informational seminars there were.

You meet really neat and some really odd parents…HA! I was probably the weirdo.

There are VIP or sessions you have to pay extra for but also get these amazing goody bags from.

VIP Sessions

These sessions were not exactly what I was hoping for…expecting...I thought I would learn about a particular subject but ended up being a little different….Here is a break down, session by session. All sessions had a snack bar....

Cottonbabies with Jennifer Labit 

She took the time to listen to our questions and answer them

 MY FAVORITE. 

I thought I would learn about the ins and outs of cloth diapering, but it ended up being a session geared towards empowering women and answering questions about how to start, continue, and manage a business. When I walked in and Jenn started asking for business related questions, I thought to myself “Great….not what I wanted.” It ended up being exactly what I needed. Jenn talked about her struggles as a mother, deciding between buying diapers and feeding her family, her experience with post par-tum depression, her not so perfect messy home. She was REAL. She said something that hit so close to home. “Don’t let perfection be the expectation” I walked out of there feeling like I could conquer the world and that it was ok to ask for help.

After the session Jenn and I had a little conversation. Now, she doesn’t know me and didn’t know the struggles I was facing, but she hugged me and looked me in the eye and said, “take care of yourself, really, Take care of yourself.” Then we continued talking. I needed to hear that…

Cost: $40

Goodie Bag:

Awesome canvas tote, Bumgenious Cloth diaper, wet bag, and bum cleaner, and lot's more….

Babywearing with Ergo and Beco

Everyone walked away with one!

This one was a little more informative but mostly fun. We walked in and each company talked about the how to properly use a carrier. Although, this was specific to the carriers, they explained the physics of how the weight is distributed, which I feel applied to many carriers. They talked about how to check to see if the child in safely in any carrier. Before entering the session, you had to draw a paper that either said Beco or ErgoBaby. After the information part they, handed out the carriers. The choices where a Beco Gemini, Beco Soleil, Ergo Original, or Ergo 360. They actually had the parents who did not have a carrier take first pick. I ended up with an Ergo 360, yay! After everyone got their carrier, We played a game. I met another mom from my area, so that was pretty awesome.

Cost of session

$60

Goodie:

Ergo 360 Carrier and Chompy Chic Jewlely

The Leaky Boob with Jennifer

I love that she was so honest about her parenting/feeding experiences

This again was not what I was expecting. I wanted to know about breastfeeding. I struggled so much with my first and had to stop nursing because I just stopped producing. I was hoping on hearing about tips to help. Instead, Jessica talked about her experiences with feeding her children. First, we started with and introductory game that had us find mothers with similar experiences as us. Easier said than done! (which I think was the point) This was eye opening. After that,  Jessica started talking about Her experiences and how they were all very different and very difficult.  As a new parent that had to stop breastfeeding, I felt like a failure. I knew formula wouldn’t kill her, I just set a goal for myself and because I had to go back to work, I couldn't keep up with the pumping. I wasn’t there for my daughter. It weighed on me. Breastfeeding was hard; I thought I was an idiot because I had such a hard time…Guess what. She did too and so did most moms. As a new mother, I wish I would have known that this doesn’t just come as easily. She kept saying “I am enough” and “Fed is best.” Enough said. We are all doing the best we can and our best IS enough.

Cost:

$45

Goodie bag:

ErgoBaby Nursing pillow, nipple creams, hand pump, Ameda Breast Gel pads, Bamboobie reusable nursing pads, crocheted monkey toy, lactation tea, baby teether, voucher for a free nursing tank (can use with any bra). All in a canvas tote

After Dark with Xza Higgins 

Can you see how much fun it was?

So they had margaritas, you could request virgins. We started off with a little intro and a who had gone with sex the longest game. Ha! Then we had a woman’s physical therapist talk to us about how we can enhance our sex life and achieve better orgasms, faster. Then we just had fun talking about our awkward moments and any other sex questions we might have had. This is usually not my cup of tea, but I thought…why not? It was totally fun and I laughed so hard!

Cost: $40

Goodie bag:

EzPz bowl, a vulva shaped pillow toy, Punani Paste, Uber Lube, Lavender Sugar body scrub, feminine wipes,

MommyCon

The convention itself was a little crazy, This was the hotels fault not MommyCon. They rooms for the sleep consult were removed from everything else..weird. Parking…there wasn’t enough. In case this may happen to you get there early.  My niece was working for the convention, we had to be there early, so we got lucky. Vendors showed up late, people didn’t know where to go; it was kind of crazy for some. Hopefully next year there will be better organization, they had to change up a lot of things because the Hotel didn’t provide enough space. ( there were several other big events and another convention going on)  Next year it will be held elsewhere.

There were a lot of vendors, everyone one of them was great! There was a cloth diaper resource center where you could play and look at the many different types of cloth diapers, ask questions, and get any other info you may need.

There was a babywearing section. Here you could choose from several baby carriers and wraps and try them on, learn how to wrap. This was great!  I learned a lot.

They had play areas for the kids everywhere, they also had a art station for the kids with art supplies from Wee can To.

The seminar themselves were also really informative. They had time for Q & A’s so this was a great time to get in any questions.

Towards the end of the day I felt soooooo tired. Actually towards the middle I was done! Ha! I didn’t want to go home, but I was dead tired. So was everyone else, especially the littles.

The giveaways included: t-shirts, water, bottles, car seats (Britax, Orbit, Chicco, Clek), Diaper bags (Juju be, baby K’tan), Humidifiers, 4 moms  mamaroo and breeze, EzPz merch, breast pumps, and sooo much more!

Ticket: $35-$45 (depending if you got pre-sale or used a discount code)

(if you cannot afford a ticket, they have sponsorships you can apply for)

Goodie bag:

Kiinde starter set, Evenflo breastpads, Juju Be Be Quick, Foodie container, baby bottle, food pouch, Kind bar,

All in all, It was worth just in what I came home with. I learned bit on some topics but not as much as I would have liked, but I liked the focus of this year. Which was not matter how to choose to parent, how you feed your child, it is right for you. Next year I will probably go again and I will take more girlfriends with me. 

Next the Southern California event will be on August 20th in  Costa Mesa Will I see you there???
You can check the event calendar to see if there is a MommyCon coming near you.

Use Code: CRAZYLOVE16

for $5 off any MommyCon event ticket!!!