5 Parenting Trends That Will Be Huge in 2024

As we look ahead to a new year, we’re excited that flattering and feel-good trends like dawn dating, cozy cardio, shirt waist dresses and choppy bobs are all in store. But when it comes to raising tiny humans, what kind of fads can we expect to see all over the playground (and our Instagram feeds) next year? From inchstones to benign neglect, here are five parenting trends that are going to be huge in 2024.

You know all about honoring big milestones like birthdays and graduations, but according to Pinterest’s 2024 report, parents are taking things to new heights next year by celebrating all the mini achievements that happen in child rearing. “In 2024, tiny triumphs will make the heart grow fonder as parents sprinkle party vibes on their kids’ not-so-grand moments. Baby’s first tooth? Here’s a cupcake. Potty training success? Extra sprinkles, please,” Pinterest reports. Not convinced? Pinterest looked at real search data from users and has noted an increase in the following searches: end of school year party ideas (increased by 90 percent), monthly milestone ideas (up 90 percent), baby naming ceremony (increased by 35 percent), potty training rewards ideas (rose by 100 percent), my first tooth party (up 40 percent) and my first viral TikTok party. OK, we made that last one up, but we wouldn’t be surprised if that becomes a trend in 2025. (You heard it here first.)

The patient parenting philosophy de jour is a hot topic, but whether you subscribe to it or not, you’re bound to see its effects on baby names in 2024. According to baby name website Nameberry, this calm and sympathetic parenting style is influencing how parents name their kids. “We're seeing a direct correlation with gentle, soft-sounding names,” the name experts say in their 2024 trend report. “Parents are favoring names with calm auras and mellow sounds. Vowels feature prominently in these names, along with fluid consonants like C, F, L, and S. Girl names that end with A are both popular and gentle.” Some gentle parenting names to look out for in the new year? Alba, Ellis, Faye, Alfie, Oona, Willa and Asa.

The perils of sharenting—a term used to describe when parents overuse social media to share content related to their children—have been written about for years. But recently, high profile parenting experts and content creators like Big Little Feelings’ Kristin Gallant and Annalee Grace have spoken out about removing their kids’ images from their social media accounts. This combined with growing concerns about AI-generated imagery, as well as facial recognition and the commercial use of personal data, mean that we’ll likely see fewer kids’ images on social media in the new year. As Leah Plunkett, the author of ‘Sharenthood’ recently told NewsNation Live: “...existing generative AI tools and emerging ones are remarkably sophisticated at producing realistic images based on photographs of real children. So a step that parents as well as grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, coaches and other trusted adults can take now is to limit or stop sharenting.

Hovering over your child’s every move is a millennial parenting habit that’s begging to be broken. That’s why next year we’re channeling actress and super mom Jennifer Garner, who told NBC’s “Today”: “I want to be around. But I also think it’s OK if they suffer from a little bit of benign neglect.” Does that mean ignoring your kids completely? Of course not. But it does mean taking a step back from intensive parenting styles and letting your kids, well, be kids. So go ahead and let them be bored in the car instead of reaching for the tablet or—gasp—let them fail a class instead of doing their homework for them. “Their lives are their own,” Garner added. “I’m not trying to live their life, and I don’t mind that they see that I love mine.” Hear, hear.

Vintage, retro, old-school… call it what you want, but the past is back and it’s cooler than ever. Case in point: The yearbook trend—an app that let users imagine how they'd look if they graduated from high school in the 90s—was one of the was one of the top trending Google searches of 2023. And according to Instagram’s 2024 Trend report, Gen Z are most likely to buy fewer new clothes, repeat outfits and shop locally with “thrifting, vintage and heirloom” noted as one of the top fashion trends for the new year. “When I was growing up, it was all about the new [Air] Jordans. But my four kids just cannot wait to get into a secondhand clothes bin,” actor David Oyelowo told the New York Times in its 2024 cultural trends forecast. So for cool mom points, skip gifting your teen a new sweater this holiday season and take them to the local thrift shop instead.