A cot-rocking device that simulates the womb, a wheeled shopping bag to attach to a buggy and a clever way of stopping babies losing their socks ... they are all evidence that necessity is the mother of invention.

Britain's female inventor of the year will be named this week at an event where hard-working mothers apparently shun geeky gadgets in favour of straightforward innovations that reduce the stress of everyday life.

'Men want something with a huge "wow" factor, but women tend to be more practical,' said Bola Olabisi, founder and chief executive of the Global Women Inventors and Innovators Network. 'Every year women tend to go for inventions that affect them personally in some shape or form. These inventions are not something that men would scream and shout about, but they are simple things we use every day.'

The 10th British Female Inventors and Innovators Network awards on Tuesday will round off a two-day exhibition and conference in Cardiff sponsored by the Welsh Assembly. More than 40 female inventors will show off creations ranging from an inflatable fruit case and portable blackout blind to a nit and head lice removal service and a dog-walking device called a 'poopod'.

Olabisi added: 'I don't see women going into the garden shed to invent something hi-tech for the sake of it. I don't think they're looking to make millions of pounds. The majority of people who make decisions about investments are men, and we have to show these men what is important to us.'

Charlotte Evans and Carolyn Jarvis, mothers of three children each in Windsor, Berkshire, wanted to prevent shopping bags being hung on the handles of pushchairs, which can cause them to tip over and harm children. Together they designed the Buggy Boot, a wheeled shopping holdall that can be attached to the back of a buggy, reducing the need for plastic bags. Available from May for around £50, it also aims to resolve the difficulty of holding shopping baskets and pushing a buggy at the same time.

Evans, 44, a market researcher, said: 'Carolyn and I are both mums and it came out of our own experiences. It was a nightmare to manoeuvre around supermarkets: you'd have laden your buggy with bags and it would tip over. There was nothing to address the problem of supermarkets or airports, so we started with our idea and gradually took it forward.'

The Easidream was invented by Lynda Harding in response to the anguish faced by millions of new mothers trying to get their baby to sleep. It is a slimline platform that sits above the cot base and below the mattress and gently rocks a baby to sleep accompanied by soothing sounds. Harding, 43, from Waterlooville, Hampshire, is working on a prototype with Brighton University and trialling actual placental and heartbeat sounds along with other natural noises.

'It came through my own personal experience trying to soothe my youngest child to sleep,' said Harding, who has six children and runs a nursery school. 'He was fine cradled in my arms gently rocking, but going into a stationary cot produced a very upset baby. I decided there had to be a way of recreating the womb effect. When I looked on the internet and talked to mums, I found that sleep deprivation was a global phenomenon, so there was clearly an opportunity here.'

Natalie Ellis, 39, a single mother from Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, has invented the Road Refresher, a no-spill drinking bowl for pets, intended for the home or moving vehicles. Again, it was born from practical experience. She recalled: 'I had a miniature pinscher dog and used to take her out on hot days. When I stopped at traffic lights I'd put water in the palm of my hand to feed her, but then the lights would change and she'd be all over me. I thought I really need a bowl that won't spill and it set me off on the mad professor route in a white coat.

'I spent months of research in my kitchen, sticking plastic and polystyrene models together, making prototypes then taking them out on the road to test. At last, after months of model-making, intermittent frustration and several not quite perfect samples, came the "Rolls-Royce" of dog bowls, the Road Refresher.'

Other inventions being unveiled tomorrow include Caroline Oakley's Crisp Bar, which turns crisps into a bar instead of a packet, so it can be eaten with one hand, and Kezi Levin's Sock Ons, a garment worn over the sock that 'locks' it into place and 'practically solves a universal problem of how to stop babies losing their socks'.