Really? You think people need that?

Well, after 3 days of walking the floor at ABC, I've seen a fair share of bizarre products. Here's a sampling, be warned, you may want to laugh out loud!

Stroller Muffs are not what they sound like. In Europe a foot muff is something that attaches to a stroller to keep baby warm. Not here. No, Stroller Muffs are a basically a pair of warm boxing gloves (because they are, of course, one size fits all!) that are attach to your stroller's handle to keep your hands warm. Yeah, we're I'm from, we have something called *mitts* and they work just fine.

Speaking of mitts, this is the Calming Mitt. Somebody, somewhere has made the shocking discovery that touch soothes infants. Who knew? But not your touch, sorry. No, no, no. You must put these mitts on and rub your baby. I suppose it's an improvement over the disembodied hands, but still. Really?

Did you know that it's never too early to introduce your baby to music? While junior is in-utero, you can strap an iPod to your belly, and you can both get your groove on. If you can believe it, there's more than one of these concepts. Do we really need to start soothing the baby *before* he's born? Can't we at least wait until he's born?

Of course, when junior makes his debut, and needs soothing, there is a product for that. It's called the Why Baby Cry Analyzer. It will tell you why your baby is unhappy! Fantastic, no? I was standing next to this booth and there was a baby crying next to me. I was dying (dying!) for the mom to ask them to analyze the baby's cry, but she didn't. I'm tempted to pinch Gracie and take her over there, but that would be wrong. Seriously, when a baby cries it's usually for one of a few simple reasons. I'm hungry. I'm tired. I'm wet. It ain't rocket science! I really think products like this handicap parents, give it some time and pay attention, you will muddle through it and figure out your baby.

The one product I can't get over is the Head Snuggler. It's basically a big toque for a carseat or stroller, to prevents 'head lolling' (is that the technical term?). I can't figure out how you would put it on. When the baby's awake? Gracie would not tolerate having her head smashed against the carseat, I don't know many kids that would. And besides, don't you think it would be pretty easy for a child to bend their head forward and get out of it, therefore rendering the carseat toque useless?

I do feel sorry for some booths when I walk by, I'm sure like most business owners, they are passionate about their ideas, but still. We don't need more stuff! You learn pretty quickly when you're walking by not to make eye contact with ppl at booths b/c they will suck you in for a 15-minute sales pitch, and when there are so many things to see, you have to spend your time wisely. It's uncomfortable, but it has to be done.

susie ;)