Field note: adapted from the Korean diary entry I published on 27 April 2024, about our self-funded visit two days earlier. Entry, coupons, exhibitors and prices change between editions; the organiser's current COEX page is linked below rather than reconstructed from my old receipt.
This was my second baby fair, and the difference between the two visits was almost entirely preparation. The first time I wandered in curious and came out tired. This time I arrived heavily pregnant with a written list, and left having bought roughly what I meant to buy.
I did not strictly need to go. But my mother offered to buy things for the baby, which is a difficult offer to decline, so we went together.
I Prepared for the Building, Not for My Mother
The first visit had taught me enough to solve the dull part. In April 2024 I booked valet parking through a Kakao app and used a tower beside COEX. The main car park was already full when we arrived, so handing over the car and walking inside felt like a victory. That was our arrangement then, not current parking advice.
The person I had not planned around was my mother. I brought her partly for advice. She had not raised a baby in a long time and showed almost no interest in modern equipment. What she did have was a complete loss of composure whenever she saw tiny clothes.
The 2024 Entry Routine
That edition sent a pre-entry barcode through KakaoTalk. I scanned it at one of several kiosks, wore the printed sticker and collected the available coupon booklets inside. Some limited coupons were already gone. I had the list, not the timing, so I let those go.
Before shopping I stopped to put on the belly band I had doubted after the first fair. By late pregnancy I no longer doubted it.
The Grandmother Effect
I would ask about something practical and she would already be three booths away holding up an outfit. She compared the prices with department-store baby brands; I compared them with cheaper shops. Since she was the person offering to buy them, her comparison won.
We left the clothing area with several bodysuits, a pair of colic trousers and a traditional newborn benet suit. None had appeared on my written list.
What Was on the List, and What I Actually Got
My list was short: baby bottles, a bath tap fitting, a cheap waterproof mat, a bottle brush, and nail clippers and cotton buds.
The bottles were the main objective. Mothers I trusted told me that their babies had accepted this model, which was all the reassurance I had without a baby available to test it. We already had two small bottles from an online deal, so I bought a six-bottle set: two small with teats, four large without, plus one spare teat in the size we did not already own.
The waterproof mat was the easiest decision of the day. There were many booths selling them in bamboo, cotton, single-sided, double-sided and silicone. I bought the cheapest simple option: 10,000 won single-sided, 18,000 double-sided. I took the double.
The nail care and cotton bud brand was one I had skipped at the first fair, where its booth was enormous and impenetrable. On a weekday it was a modest stand I could simply walk into, so I picked up a nail care set and an assortment of cotton buds with the plan of trying them and only rebuying whatever we liked.
The Purchase I Would Take Back
The bath tap fitting is the honest failure of the day. I bought one brand; afterwards, experienced mothers in my chat told me a different brand was better. My husband and I were happy enough with ours, so I decided to just use it.
The genuine mistake was a matching holder accessory, too small for our shower fitting. I bought it without checking what we had at home. If something has to attach to existing plumbing, measure first.
My mother liked the demonstration so much that we bought extra sets for my parents and fitted them on the way home.
The Receipt Versus the List
The total came to 346,000 won across bottles, tap fittings, the nail and cotton-bud sets, clothing, the benet suit and the waterproof pad.
My list kept the practical shopping from spreading. It did nothing about a grandmother with a tiny outfit in each hand. Then we ate fast food, I dropped her home, and that was the day. Thanks, Mum.
Sources checked
Last reviewed August 29, 2026.
- Original Korean diary – second baby fair at COEX — Banggujin Naver Blog
- Current COEX edition information — COBE Baby Fair
Schedules, prices and operating rules can change. Where a detail is time-sensitive, the linked operator remains the final authority.
