Latest juvenile products designed with baby (and parent) in mind

ORLANDO —As the $7.3 billion juvenile products industry continues to grow, so do the core products offered by major manufacturers. At the Juvenile Products Manufacturer’s Association show this year, companies branched out from their traditional offerings into new ones. The latest baby items also tended to reflect a more modern take on color and design, appealing more toward the parents’ sense of style.

For Skip*Hop, a New York company known for its convertible diaper bag designs, this meant jumping into the play space with the debut of a foam tile mat called the Playspot.

“We’re a company that’s devoted to designing great products for parents,” said Susan Gerson, a spokeswoman for the company. “The Playspot is just another way we keep doing that—continued new product introductions is important to us.”

While the Playspot is designed to give a smooth, cushy surface for the baby to play on, it’s also designed with the parents’ benefit in mind. The foam tile design comes in more modern color palettes such as pink and brown or gold and blue, to fit in with “any home’s decor.”

Banana Fish, a children’s bedding company recently acquired by the Betesh Group, debuted redesigned upscale bedding sets and diaper bags in grown-up designs, with more mature names such as “Moda” and “Cocoa.” The bedding sets, which retail for anywhere from $150 to $300, are “driven by color and pattern…rather than traditional juvenile products,” according to the Betesh Group. The Betesh Group also owns Baby Boom, which has more licensed-driven, juvenile bedding, from properties such as Dora the Explorer and Care Bears.

Medela, a company whose heritage is in breast-feeding pumps and bras, is also hopping on the style bandwagon. The brand is introducing a limited-edition fashionable tote bag in taupe and chocolate brown with mulberry trim, which comes with coordinated nursing accessories and the company’s double-electric “pumpin-style” advanced breast pump.

“Moms told us what they wanted in a breast pump bag—carrying handles to pull it in and out of a car, pockets on the sides for easier access to a water bottle or cell phone and a discrete but chic design,” said Tim Killinger, senior industrial designer at Medela. “We married these requirements with the results of our research about the latest fashion.”

Fisher-Price is also bringing some products to market in 2008 and beyond that target a slightly new audience, which the company calls its “Zen” moms. These products, which compose an entire collection, include items such as car seats, baby papasans and walkers, in a sleek design and with a neutral color scheme in brown and green. Pricing for these items hasn’t been set, but they should launch in primarily specialty stores.

“Zen moms are a little more trend-oriented, and they don’t mind spending a little extra money on their babies,” said Lauren Fagan, a Fisher-Price spokeswoman.

In addition to targeting a slightly more sophisticated mommy, Fisher-Price is also making headway with a launch into an entirely new product category: baby carriers. While brands such as BabyBjorn and Jeep own most of the market share in this category currently, Fisher-Price has come up with a new design that it believes might change that.

Fisher-Price’s infant carrier has two separate harnesses, one for the parent, and one for the child, to make it easier for parents to get their babies in and out of the carriers. The parent harness includes three different latch points which help distribute the baby’s weight more evenly on the parent’s body, away from the waist and further down toward the hips. The carrier, which retails for $59.99 and will land in stores in December, also includes more storage for small items like pacifiers and keys.

Fisher-Price is also innovating in a category it already owns: baby monitors. This July, the company will introduce the “Ready2Wear” monitor, which is designed for parents on the go. These parents can wear their monitor as a watch, armband or clip and be connected to their child up to 800 feet away from the baby’s room.

Finally, rounding out new product extensions for the more modern set, British stroller company Maclaren is offering a personal care product line for babies and mothers called Beginning. The line, which is holistic and all natural, comes in travel kits, which sell for $25, as well as full-size gift sets for $50. The majority of the line is also certified organic.

Maclaren is also extending its designer strollers with new product designed by Lulu Guinness, which hits stores in May. Maclaren has previously done designer strollers with handbag designer Kate Spade and industrial designer Philippe Starck.