Life

These Unique Toddler Halloween Costumes Are For Trendsetting Trick-Or-Treaters

When we had our first child, Halloween was the holiday I was most excited to spend with him. At four months old, I figured he would be the perfect size to wrap up in one of those cute little baby bunting costumes and parade around our neighborhood. He was such a sweet little pea pod, but twenty minutes in the South Florida heat was all he could take. Little did I know, it's not until your kid is out of the baby phase that Halloween gets really good — and coming up with unique toddler Halloween costume ideas is one of the best parts.

Interestingly enough, toddlers themselves often prefer traditional outfits. Katherine Cullen, the National Retail Federation's Director of Industry and Consumer Insights, tells Romper that when little ones start choosing their Halloween costumes, they tend to stick to the classic princesses and superheroes that have floated at the top of trend lists for many, many years.

"The top costumes have been pretty consistent year over year, and until 2016, princesses had an eleven year reign for kids' costumes," Cullen says.

However, millennials are die-hard Halloween revelers, she continued, and tend toward costume choices inspired by pop culture, Pinterest and Youtube.

"We have seen that social media is playing a growing role and there are some gender differences. Men are much more likely to look on YouTube and women are more likely to look on Pinterest," Cullen says. "We do ask people if pop culture inspires their costume and it can vary from year to year. This year it's at 16 percent."

So if you're the millennial parent of a toddler, now is the time to impose your quirky sensibilities on your child. It will only be another year or two before you're down in in the Iron Man or Elsa trenches with the rest of us.

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