MommyCon: Why I Love It, and Why I Feel Families Should Try to Attend At Least Once

Confession Time

I have a confession. I love MommyCon. What is MommyCon you ask? I would describe it as a convention for parents about everything baby and family related. Personally, I went for the first time in 2016 and I fell in love. I enjoyed the experience, vendors, sessions, and meeting new people. I learned so much from my MommyCon experience, and I discovered parenting communities I didn’t even know existed. Sure, I knew a little bit about babywearing, cloth diapering, and natural parenting, but in my community no one really did all that.

Shopping at big box stores and following “mainstream” parenting practices was the norm. After attending MommyCon I discovered smaller family own businesses who carried pretty much the same products, and a natural parenting community that I loved. Attending MommyCon changed me. It opened my eyes to other parenting perspectives, and I personally feel the experience has made me a better parent/individual. Below is a little bit of information about what MommyCon offers, why I love it, and why I feel families should try to attend at least once. (Tickets to MommyCon also make a great baby shower gift for the expectant parents. 😉 ) 

Sessions

When I went to MommyCon D.C. 2016 there were sessions on potty training, cloth diapering, car seat safety, kid’s health, postpartum rehabilitation, natural child-birth, menstruation, intimacy after baby, babywearing, making baby food, baby sign language, and much more.  (Whew! haha!) Some of these topics weren’t covered in the baby classes I had taken or even talked about by my friends or family. (I learned so much from the sessions I attended, and Cloth Diapering 101 is where my love of cloth diapering started.) MommyCon offers sessions for everyone, and because of this you have the opportunity to learn and broaden your parental horizons. Many sessions also provide attendees the chance to win giveaway prizes.

Vendors

You will find vendors of every kind at MommyCon. From well-known businesses, think Babies R Us, to smaller family own businesses. At MommyCon D.C. 2016 there were well over 90 different vendors. If you are an expectant parent starting to build your baby registry MommyCon is a great place to start. You will be able to see the products you are thinking of putting on your registry, but also products you might not have known you needed or wanted.

You will be able to touch them, see demos of the product, and at some booths get a free sample or be able to enter to win one of their products. (Samples and giveaways are up to the vendor, and some may not have them.) You may also make friends or find businesses in your area you never knew existed. I found a couple small businesses that I order from to this day, and met people I still talk to as well.

Play/Family Areas

MommyCon does a great job of making the whole event family friendly, and they go even further by offering different areas for you and your family to explore and enjoy. At MommyCon D.C. 2016 there were play areas where you could take time during/in between sessions and let your kids get their energy out. As well as quiet area’s where you could take yourself and children if you needed a quiet moment. Other areas included a feeding lounge, babywearing lounge, changing area, and more. I found these areas to be great places to meet new friends. 🙂

Giveaways’s

Everyone who purchases a ticket and attends MommyCon receives a free gift bag full of samples, resources, and goodies. There is also a giveaway session at the end of the day where, everyone who purchased a ticket and is in attendance, gets a chance to win products from MommyCon sponsors/vendors. At MommyCon D.C. 2016 these included baby strollers, car seats, nursing pillows, breast pumps, and more. I highly recommend you stay and go to the giveaway session.

Community

One of the biggest things MommyCon strives to offer is community. MommyCon is open for anyone to attend, and you will find families of all kinds there. If I could sum MommyCon up in one sentence it would be; We are all different, but we are all parents. Since MommyCon is open to everyone they try hard to make it accessible for everyone. MommyCon tries to select locations with easy access, and that are close to public transportation. For those who cannot afford a ticket MommyCon offers a Scholarship Ticketing Program, and a Military ticket program for Military families.

For those Military families who can afford a ticket MommyCon does offer a Military discount as well. ( I am personally very happy MommyCon does this since it helps low-income families gain access to resources and products they might not have had access/knowledge of otherwise.) You can find more information about these programs here: MommyCon Scholarship Tickets and here MommyCon Military Tickets.

Other way’s to get tickets

MommyCon also has a blogger and street team of individuals who have discount codes and can help you get a discounted ticket. Many companies who will have booths at MommyCon also giveaway free tickets on their social media sites, and days before MommyCon D.C. 2016 MommyCon also offered free tickets to individuals who would be able to volunteer and work the morning or day of the event.)   So do not fret! If you would like to go to a MommyCon near you don’t give up. There are ways!

So again, if you have never been to MommyCon before I highly recommend you attend at least once. I think you will find you will enjoy the experience and community. I will be attending MommyCon again this year (2017), and will be taking my husband along with me to show him why I love it so much. For 2017, they still have tickets available for their Memphis, Austin, Vancouver, Costa Mesa, Orlando, and Atlanta events. You can find locations/dates and ticketing information Here , and if you have any questions about the event you can find their FAQ’s Here or send an email to [email protected]

GIVEAWAY CLOSED – Because I love MommyCon so much I applied, and was accepted, into their blogger collective. This means I get to give away TWO FREE GENERAL ADMISSION MOMMYCON tickets. (Winner can select the event location they would like to attend.) I also have a discount code, PRETTYINBABYFOOD17, that will get you $5.00 off an Expectant Parent or General Admission ticket. CLICK HERE TO ENTER for your chance to win.

If you would like to read a little more about MommyCon here is my review of the 2017 Orlando event.