Quality family time, creative activities, motor skills: parents of children aged 0 to 3 know what matters. However, between lack of time, fatigue and contradictory injunctions, daily reality often moves away from these ideals. This is what reveals a new study carried out by Ifop for Pampers with 1,004 parents, the results of which paint a nuanced portrait of contemporary parenthood.
Benchmarks:
- 53% felt pressure to be a “perfect parent”;
- 98% believe that creative activities strengthen the parent-child bond;
- 66% have already favored a screen rather than a creative activity;
- 90% call for publicly revaluing the joy of the early years.
A shared vision, but a daily life under tension
Today’s parents have clear beliefs about what promotes the good development of their child. At the top of their priorities: quality time with family (68%), creative and educational activities (55%), and motor skills (49%). Strong values, but which clash with the harsh reality of everyday life.
Two thirds of parents (66%) admit that they have already substituted screen time for a creative activity. Not out of disinterest, but mainly due to lack of time (49%) or energy. This gap between ideal and practice is at the heart of a feeling of guilt that the study highlights: 53% of parents – including 58% of mothers – say they have already felt the pressure of being a “perfect parent”. And 85% of them have already felt judged in their choices for their baby.
Coloring and creativity, pillars of development according to parents
Far from being anecdotal, creative activities occupy a central place in parental representations. 98% of parents surveyed consider that they constitute an essential lever for strengthening the bond with their child, and as many believe that coloring plays a concrete role in the good development of the young child — cognitively, emotionally and relationally.
These moments of awakening are therefore not experienced as simple leisure activities. They participate, in the eyes of the parents, in the construction of the child. For these moments to take place in the best conditions, certain material elements also come into play: 95% of parents believe that a diaper that respects the skin and offers freedom of movement directly contributes to the baby’s physical and cognitive development. The diaper, far from its only technical function, becomes a base of comfort which leaves plenty of room for play and awakening.
Pampers and OMY: re-enchanting the ordinary through creativity
It is in this context that Pampers and the OMY creative studio have entered into an unprecedented collaboration. The principle: transform the paper packaging of the Harmonie range into a coloring universe, populated by four colorful mini-superheroes — Commander Popo, Pipiboy, Flash McCoeur and Captain Dry — whose adventures take place in varied French landscapes, available according to diaper sizes.
About OMY: founded in 2012 by two mothers, the Parisian creative studio colors the daily lives of families in 65 countries. Its philosophy – fulfillment comes through safety – resonates with the values held by Pampers, present in France for almost 50 years.
“Too often, parenthood is told through what it takes away. At Pampers, we believe that above all, it opens the door to a new adventure of wonder and first times.”
— Victoria Delhoume, Marketing Director of Pampers
An ambition shared by 83% of parents, who believe that brands have a role to play in baby’s development – particularly by helping families to simplify and re-enchant their daily lives. Faced with a climate of strong social pressure, the demand is unequivocal: 90% of parents want to see the joy and wonder of the first years more publicly valued.