2020 Baby Trends
All floral everything - Floral baby clothes, wallpaper, swaddles, baby carriers, the 70s came back around in a big way! I really like certain prints, but there is definitely such a thing as too much of a good thing.
Felt Letter boards - These are everywhere!!!!! Did I use enough exclamation marks there? Felt letter boards are now super popular and are available in a variety of different shapes, sizes & letters. I think we have entire instagram pages dedicated to letter boards. I must admit that each time I see a photo with a letter board, I feel obliged to read what it says so I guess they do serve their intended purpose? What I do like about them is they are so multifunctional they can be used as décor or a photo prop with cute sayings, milestone markers or birth stats.
Wood - Wood toys, rattles, teethers, and ornaments. The rustic look is definitely big now. I personally love wood in all its forms, and have incorporated it into most aspects of my home decor. Over the years we have compiled quite a collection of toys and they are clearly not all made equal. The wood toys have lastest the longest and allow them to have the most imaginative play time. There's simply no such thing as too much wood. The biggest reservation I have, is that some of the "instagram worthy" wood toys and teethers are being made by local companies that are taking advantage of people's desire to support small businesses. A lot of the toys are just not made to the quality and standards you would expect. I had a really horrible experience with Bannor toys and will post about it soon. All I can say for now is don't buy anything from them and be really careful buying from newer companies that are trendy but don't have a proven record of safety. So many purchases these days seem motivated by how cute the product will look in an instagram post. But when it comes to our little ones, their saftey has to be the main factor.
Rose Gold - While we are on the subject of rose gold lets go ahead and include regular gold, flamingo pink, dusty pink, and all the other light pinks as well? It seems like all the modern mommies jumped on a big conference call and decided this was the color of the decade {giggle}. I think when done tastefully gold, rose gold and pink accents can be super pretty, but sometimes it can be a little too pretty for my taste.
Mylar balloons - I have to say this is one of the trends that seems to keep gaining more popularity each year and goes hand in hand with the rose gold point above. Every event seems to have rose gold mylar balloons incorporated into the décor in some way. I do understand their appeal because they are big, shiny and an easy way to spell out cute phrases but I can honestly say I would be okay if I never saw another mylar balloon again. To be fair, I've never been a fan balloons, at least not since elementary school. I'm not even a fan of the "stylishly" decorated balloon arches that seem to be the pillar of all events these days so I clearly can't be objective about any type of balloon.
Monthly baby photos- These come in so many shapes and sizes. I have to say I am fully on board with these. I think non parents might find them to be blah, or pointless but as a parent there is no greater joy than watching your baby transform from a helpless newborn through their first 12 months of life. Babies change so much in their first year, so it's really nice to look back at monthly photos. I truly enjoy seeing all the original ideas that moms come up with for their monthly photos. I think I've seen it all at this point; fruits, veggies, pizza, printed blankets, stickers, cards, wood plaques... its a fun trend and I hope it keeps going!
Neutrals - This goes in hand with the rustic trend and wood items mentioned above where people are shifting from traditional bright colors to neutral creams and browns or going all out to black and white. These neutral nurseries can translate into some breathtakingly beautiful photos, but I have to say a lot of nurseries can also look super adult and almost clinical sometimes. While I like the neutral look, it also feels a bit sad to me when all the clothing, decor and toys are so lacking in color.
Turbans, turbans, and more turbans - Did I say turbans yet? Let me start by saying that while these turbans can be super cute this is a bit of sore area for me. With my West African heritage I grew up seeing my mom, aunts and grandmothers all regularly wearing a variety of head scarfs as part of our culture. Some were protective headscarves worn at bedtime or around the home, others were iconic fashion statements reserved for fancy events like weddings. I also distinctly remember that the only people that wore head coverings of that nature were immigrants primarily from Africa, Asia & the Middle East. There was constant ridicule that came along with these head covers, and an endless flow of xenophobic comments that people would make about immigrants wearing turbans. So it leaves a really weird taste in my mouth to suddenly see these turbans become a super commercialized trend. As far as I can tell there is clearly an element of cultural appropriation going on here. I have no problem with people borrowing aspects of another's culture, in fact I highly welcome that. But no, you can't borrow from a culture that you simultaneously also look down on. Most importantly it is necessary to recognize that turbans have a cultural and religious significance, so there is a time and place for them to be meaningfully worn. Similar to how a graduation gown and cap is symbolic and how different styles of gowns are worn depending on whether it is a bachelors, masters, doctorate, etc, in the same way the turbans have meaning too. So to just randomly pick a style without understanding what it might represent is like the old trend where people got Chinese tattoos that turned out to not even be real words. As you might have guessed I'm in a bit of a hurry for this trend to pass on.
Clouds & rainbows and other sky themed accents. I must confess I find most of these to be super adorable especially all the cloud pillows. I think they are cute but not too cute, and can be pretty versatile.
Tents, Teepees & Canopies - It seems no child's room is complete without at least one of these. My children absolutely love tents and can play in their tent for hours. My daughter first received a small pop-up princess tent as a birthday gift and when that broke I looked into other options. While I liked the look of the teepee, I also know that these have Native American origins and to me it just felt like something too sacred to turn into a play theme for my kids, so instead I got them a regular indoor/outdoor camping tent that they love. It is better than a teepee because it is larger and spacious with multiple entry points and a vented roof. I also really love the look of some of the canopies shown below although I doubt they are safe to have around the crib of an infant once they can pull themselves up. I believe once they child gets to that age the canopy would need to be removed to avoid becoming a suffocation/entanglement hazard
Alright folks, that sums up my baby trends list!
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