I understand Graco's point of view, and to be fair to new parents, it's the moms who feel like crap after pregnancy and childbirth. Sometimes you want that extra something pretty to make you feel good like the right pair of flattering jeans. What's so horrible about that? A lot of moms feel fat and frumpy. I don't begrudge their wanting to be more stylish.

[if only there were an entire industry oriented to cater to their insecurities. And a website or two for moms to kibbitz. I'm not calling anyone frumpy or begrudging any moms anything; I'm pointing out the ingrained bias of the marketing paradigms of multi-billion-dollar companies. If I'm just pissing into the wind on this, well, I piss standing up, so it's a risk I have to live with. -ed.]

In the birth biz we call these "primips" (prym-ips). Most of the time it refers directly to the mother, as it is a med term describing a pregnant woman who has never been pregnant before. But, for those of us whose work involved more than just the medical care of mom, we use the term to describe the first time mother-father dyad.

One thing I've learned when dealing with selling to primips is that you have to engage dad. Often times I see that mom clearly rules the roost and makes the bulk of all decisions related to baby-related expenditures, but if you can capture dad's imagination, even just engage him a little bit, you've almost always made your sale.

But, I think the problem is two way. Retailers must work harder to engage men, but men must work harder at being willing to be engaged. I can't tell you how many times I've sat down with couples and had the men instantly glaze over and remain remote for the entire process - and then, after I'm hired, many don't care to participate (fully or sometimes at all) in preparation classes or meetings.

I get pretty excited when dads come to the table genuinely excited about having a baby and wanting to talk about their own point of view for the process of becoming a parent but it is a rare case.

Yes, it's ingrained, but it's because the mom is the one who goes through it and can feel like a trainwreck (I know, because I did feel like I got hit by a car). So yeah, the marketing goes toward moms. By the way, in San Francisco, this type of postpartum catering IS a business, and I know someone who does this kind of stylist business for moms only. She even runs seminars and such for moms' groups.

[forget I mentioned it. parents ARE moms. from now on, we'll just shut up, do the dishes once in a while, and babysit the kids on Saturday. -ed.]

This is a very good observation: the idea that larger companies have (as they should if they are doing their job correctly) specified markets, then distinguished these markets as "new" and then "experienced". Style trends, in all things, will always play an important role in the decision making process for new parents, both men and women. This is where larger companies should take note and develop products that are BOTH stylish AND durable/functional. In the industry, the rise of bugaboo's is a perfect example: what has become a status symbol of sorts still remains one of the most durable, long-lasting stroller lines of its kind. Not the ONLY stroller of this kind: but one that caters to both style and function/durability. In the last few years, BOB has begun releasing more color choices for their extremely durable and well-engineered products to cater to these trends, and has clearly expanded their market (how many of those do we see out and about?). And then the release of the Orbit, etc., etc. If these trends continue - and are learned from, companies are better off re-designing now in order to stay ahead of the pack instead of trying to create over-styled (let's be honest - Graco is not on the cutting edge of fashion trends) gear.

www.StrollerInfo.com