It was exciting to attend the 2022 ABC Kids Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center this year. Hundreds of mom, baby and kid product creators were gathered to unveil new and creative items and improve on old ones.
We arrived for the New Product Showcase where brands had submitted their most innovated products of 2022 to be eligible for the ABC New Product 2022 Award of Distinction.
We found a lot of creative products in the showcase like the wearable Mommy Wrap that can be worn like a cardigan but also wraps (carries) your baby. It isn’t a baby carrier, strictly speaking, but serves the same purpose.
There was a play mat that folds in the middle. So when baby is old enough to be able to sit up, the mat bends 90 degrees and she can sit up with her back resting against that and continue to play with the same mobile toys that are attached to the mat.
There was a double pacifier with two different shapes and sizes for different ages. That’s not for me since I loose passies every two weeks if not sooner.
The main event featured three days on the exhibit floor where big and small, new and old brands were standing ready to explain their wares and take orders!
ABC (All Baby and Child) Kids Expo is a business to business marketplace event. Experienced Mommy was invited on a press badge, but the importance of the event is in the relationships between sellers and retailers, both physical and digital.
We didn’t see any official numbers but someone in the know mentioned that registrations were up this year from last year, totaling around 2,000 attendees.
Brixy, a network of independently owned and operated baby stores, had a big presence at ABC. Brixy store owners can buy collectively from manufacturers to muster larger order sizes and lower prices.
Manufacturers often create exclusive products or products with exclusive styles for Brixy stores. They’ve often found success with exclusive products by attracting to customers who might otherwise shop on Amazon or in big box stores.
Experienced Mommy was interested in seeing what new ideas brands had to offer in some of the larger baby product categories like car seats and strollers, and we weren’t disappointed.
In convertible car seats we found Diono offering the Monterey XT high back booster with side wing protection that expands outward. Manufacturers often rate high-back boosters for kids up to 120 pounds, but many kids that size don’t actually fit well in seats that are “one width fits all”. Diono’s car seat is the first that opens up for kids with wider shoulders or torsos.
Maxi Cosi’s engineers noted that although every manufacturer has a product that accommodates vertical growth, the side protection doesn’t move up with the child’s upper body, only the harness and back move up. In their next-generation Magellan XP car seat the side protection also moves up so that heads and upper torsos are protected in the same way irrespective of the height of the child.
Clek’s liing infant car seat features a “load leg”. This is standard in European car seats but unique in the USA. The load leg is positioned between the back of the car seat and the floor of the car to remove most of the motion that an infant would experience in a front end collision. The feature transfers the energy in a crash to the frame of the car seat and reduces the tendency for the child to slide up against their harness.
Hope to see you next year at ABC!
