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.

We’ve been using these

Planet Wise wet bags for about a year to tote wet bathing suits around after every swimming lesson or pool event. The voting is unanimous. My wife, who usually doesn’t like more “stuff” thinks they are great. They are reusable and long lasting, and come in 14 color styles

Since these came out, there are many other companies getting into the game, all with fashion forward colors and designs, which make this item a good gift and accessory. I just got an 11X14 bag from Itzy Ritzy which is big enough to handle my suit and sun shirt.

There are now a lot of manufacturers making these, but these are two we’ve used and they are worth the $12-15 for storing wet suits, diapers, even leaky food items.

Both of these are well-made with PVC-free waterproof liners and locking zippers. I even saw a demo with the Planet Wise filled with water and it didn’t even leak through the zipper.

Wellington crib from Delta has hardware for crib, child bed, day bed and single bed. At $169 for ahigh quality bed.

69.95 from Delta. I don’t know if you can tell from photo, but ramps are built into table and extend down past legs. This is a cool table for a little boy.

Tummy Tub is $45. Made out Polypropelyene. Slightly more narrow than Spa Baby and made in Belgium.

These new cribs are not different, but the price is for a crib, child bed and single size bed in one (not including single size mattress).

$329 from Summer Infant new this year.

Spa Baby European-style baby tub let’s you large baby in a natural way for the baby. Covers the baby with water rather than allowing baby to get cold while water is spread over baby.

$45 for translucent and new Eco version made out of recycled plastic.

Features fill line to control water level for baby.

I was skeptical about this category but after seeing this and Tummy Tub, this looks like a better alternative to the horizontal bath tub.

For new diaper bags in different styles. $118

Go Gaga bags available on Amazon.

Even with the anchor system mandated in 2002, it’s not always easy to make sure your baby seat is as secure as it needs to be. Seats need to be tightened down which often doesn’t happen especially when seats are frequently moving from car to car.

Surelatch from Evenflo is an invention introduced last year and expanding to Evenflo infant seats.

This small feature makes it very hard to install the baby seat incorrectly.

No data exists on stroller theft but anecdotally, it seems to be on the rise given reports on Google.

Buggyguard comes in 3 styles, each with a 4.5 foot metal chord. They cost $19-$25. They aren’t a guarantee against theft, but a good deterent to protect an expensive stroller.