Parenting Trends: What Parents Will Be Embracing, Doing & Talking About In 2017

There's plenty of optimism with each New Year as people look forward to the possibilities of great things unfolding. Among parents, the biggest excitement in 2017 could be in discovering new tools and gadgets for parents and kids, but there are other things to look forward to as well. What will parents be embracing, doing and talking about in 2017?

Technology to aid parents will have a wider reach in 2017. More parenting and children's apps and gadgets will be developed to streamline tasks, or make a parent's job easier, or help children learn and develop.

Along with this, safety use and activities using tech tools will be a common discussion among parents. In fact, the parent tech community in Britain is already thriving with parents and tech developers keen on sharing products and the knowledge from using different technological tools, according to The Memo. The U.S. should be not far behind with this trend as well.

Virtual reality (VR) toys could see a rise in demand this year as the technology begins to become more popular in the mainstream. She Knows notes that there actually has been a 65 percent increase in interest about VR on Pinterest.

Pinterest reveals that this very cool thing is going to be the number one parenting trend of 2017 https://t.co/BIARYW6hHF pic.twitter.com/nUVBUfhsno

— HelloGiggles.com (@hellogiggles) December 14, 2016

VR will not be limited to gaming or fun and play as it can also be used for education and therapy in children. Huffington Post has guides and tips for parents who might be wary of the emerging technology's effects on kids, especially when it comes to behavior.

With the rising cost of education and childcare, homeschooling will continue to be a topic of interest for parents. But unlike previous years when the concept was still met with some resistance, the conversation this time around will be on networking and developing more engaging activities among homeschooling families.

Mannies, also known as male nannies, and childminders will become more accepted and more normalized in 2017. Parents will be more open to seeing men becoming the carers for their children and there will be an increased interest in childminders instead of daycare or nursery settings.

Fatherhood will be in the forefront of the parenting trend for this year. More dads will shun myths on parental alienation and become receptive to co-parenting duties. There will also be more father-centered advertisements that will depict dads as the nurturers, according to another Huffington Post post. Check out how this change is already starting in the video below.