Bringing up a child is an incredibly unique chapter in your life. However, it can be both exciting and daunting in equal measures. To help, we’ve gathered four brilliant parenting trends for 2022 and will explain how you can engage your children and give them the start they deserve this new year.

1. Creativity is a trend every year!

Not exactly new, but very on trend, is creative baby and parent play – whether you have a brand-new newborn or a toddler toddling, this represents seriously good (but not so clean) fun. Despite 18 months of closure for some facilities, creative art centres are back with a bang as parents begin to venture out again. Nonetheless, if you don’t fancy leaving the house, you could incorporate this parenting trend at home. Try an artistic activity with your little one in 2022, such as Raised Salt Painting. This involves combining Epsom salts and food colouring to create fun patterns!¹ Sealed with glue, these create a great memento to keep forever (which could even double as a fun present for a relative this holiday season!)

2. Passive but twice as fun!

A parenting trend that will definitely outlast 2022 is ‘toys without functions’, sometimes called passive toys.² Instead of buying your child a toy meant to do something, these toys allow the child to do anything – invent, create, and imagine their purpose. We could be talking about cardboard boxes, stacking cups or indeed those plastic bricks so beloved by parents’ bare feet! Having toys that haven’t had their purpose already imagined by adults enriches the baby’s mind. And while your little one is having hours of fun, keep them comfortable and secure with the range of baby and junior solutions on iD Direct. We can even help you choose the right nappies for your baby with this handy guide.

3. 2022 Eco-parenting trends

Make sure your little one starts on the right path to sustainability with this world-changing trend. The trick is to balance being eco-friendly with time-friendly activities so that you get to spend more time with your baby without wrecking their planet! With 93% of families trying to use less plastic⁴, why not choose wooden building blocks and keep those plastic-wrapped store toys firmly in their wrappers? You can also swap single-use plastic bottles and plastic snack bags for reusable water bottles and food containers. Another green parenting trend that could become big in 2022 is renting baby clothing. Companies, such as Bundlee, offer a subscription service, where you receive 15 clean and sanitised items of clothing per month, which you then return as your baby grows out of them. A great way to kit them out with a cute, budget-friendly wardrobe that is also better for the planet

4. Budgeting for baby!

Babies can cost up to £500 a month⁵, and the last two years haven’t been overly kind to any of us. Many of us have been furloughed, and others have seen necessary changes to their careers. Baby budgeting is a parenting trend that is here to stay in 2022, and there are so many ways to do it! Make yourself a good list of your needs and remember that not everything needs to be bought new. Check out the charity shops for baby clothes and bulk buy those nappies! Lots of new parent websites have super useful baby budget calculators so you can make sure the costs don’t run away from you!

We hope you enjoy including these four trends in your parenting style in 2022. Nevertheless, with so many things having been closed for the past 18 months, the trend for the new year could just be about getting back to the lovely parenting activities that existed before lockdowns!

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Sources

¹ “15 Best Creative Activities for Kids”, Aliya Khan, 4 May 201, Source: https://parenting.firstcry.com/articles/15-best-creative-activities-for-kids/
² “Using Passive Toys As Learning Resources For Babies And Toddlers”, Playgroup NSW, n.d, Source: https://www.playgroupnsw.org.au/ParentResources/EarlyChildhoodDevelopment/Passive-Toys-As-Learning-Resources
³ “8 Parenting Trends That Are Sustainable”, Elizabeth Hines, 29 April 2021, Source: https://medium.com/sustainability-x/8-parenting-trends-that-are-sustainable-2902c27d66cb
⁴ “Progressive parenting trends”, Jaqui Parr, 9 January 2020, Source: https://www.preschoolnews.net/progressive-parenting-trends-are-predicted-for-2020/
⁵ “Starting a family – how much does a baby cost?”, Jessica Brown, 3 September 2021, Source: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/money-mentor/article/starting-family-baby-costs/