After six days in Vegas (3 days beyond the USDA recommendation), you’d think I would have learned a few things. And, yes I have. Some are mega trends, some are minor trends, but here are five things you couldn’t avoid noticing at this year’s big baby and kids show.

1. The first major observation was the effect of the economy. This is certainly not news, but was felt more subtly than I expected. I was thinking there would be fewer attendees and fewer booths, but it seemed like the same crowd size. However, I noticed more system products that are meant to grow with baby through the toddler stage or meant to work for two children at the same time.

2. A major casualty of the economy was innovation. I judged the JPMA Innovation Awards and, while we thought there were innovative products, none were revolutionary. There were no no new major product introductions that caught the buzz of the crowd. This was not a year for revolutionary product designs that set individual categories on fire with discussion. If anything, this was more a year of intense copying of things that have worked well in the marketplace already.

3. The year of the dad was felt throughout the show. In years past, I’ve had to explain what a dad-oriented parenting site is, but this year, many people knew GreatDad and certainly were hip to dads’ changing role in the home. On booth after booth, I saw smiling dads holding little babies, where previously you saw only moms.

4. New side impact car seat designs were on display by no fewer than three manufacturers, as they try to find ways to cut infant and child deaths in side impact collisions. The Latch system is now ubiquitous giving manufacturers new ways to address how to use the Latches to make them easier and safer to use. From what I saw, Clek is still the only carseat manufacturer to latch the backless booster, which can become a projectile for the driver and passengers from an unoccupied booster seat. I’m surprised this has not been a more widely discussed risk.

5. Finally, cribs with moving parts exist no more. All the cribs I saw had stationary sides after even one too many kids’ heads were stuck in a descending gate. This is a good thing, but will put the strain back on moms’ and dads’ backs.

That’s it. Nothing major or surprising, kind of like this year’s show. I’m happy to be going home so I can play with my own kids, rather than standing around imagining whether products would be successful for other dad’s babies and families.