HOW IDEAS ARE BORN PARENTS TURN CHILD-REARING SECRETS INTO PRODUCTS THAT COULD MAKE THEM RICH.Byline: Nancy Dillon Staff Writer Diapers, blankets and dry ice. Lots of dry ice. Roxanna Bina had a curious packing list when it came to preparing her 9-month-old son, Felix, for his first trip outside the U.S. Then again, the Santa Barbara Santa Barbara (săn'tə bär`brə, –bərə), city (1990 pop. 85,571), seat of Santa Barbara co., S Calif., on the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1850. mom is far from ordinary. A foodie who had sworn off jarred baby food, Bina cooked and pureed gourmet organic dishes for her infant son nearly every day, including his favorite, Provence Chicken, made with premium butter, rosemary, sage and thyme. The trip in question was to Bermuda in March 2006. Bina's movie-producer husband, Emmanuel Itier, was a juror juror n. any person who actually serves on a jury. Lists of potential jurors are chosen from various sources such as registered voters, automobile registration or telephone directories. at the Bermuda International Film Festival, and Bina was determined to travel as a family. Still, she worried about the spicy restaurant food she would find and its effect on Felix's sensitive palette. "I wasn't sure we should even go. Then I figured, well, why not make a bunch of meals, freeze them and ship them with dry ice to meet us at the hotel?" Bina, 29, said. "It worked for 10 days, and it was perfect. From then on, I thought I could make a business." Like lots of parent inventors, Bina developed her product out of desperation. The same goes for Eagle Rock dad Livio Scagliotti Jr., who invented a vibrating vibrating, v using quivering hand motions made across the client's body for therapeutic purposes. teething teething /teeth·ing/ (teth´ing) the entire process resulting in eruption of the teeth. teeth·ing n. The eruption or cutting of the teeth. ring, and Los Gatos Los Gatos (lôs gä`tōs, lŏs, găt`əs), city (1990 pop. 27,357), Santa Clara co., W Calif.; inc. 1887. It is an affluent residential community and health resort. mom Claire Eukeland, who invented a fashionable nursing coverlet called the Hooter Hider. "Nobody does a better job of figuring out what parents need than those who are with their kids on a daily basis," says Laine Caspi, owner of Granada Hills-based Parents of Invention, a company founded in 2002 to help parent inventors get their ideas to market (www.parentsofinvention.com). Caspi, a stay-at-home mom, says most of the submissions on her Web site aren't viable. Take the strap-on pacifier or the high-chair straitjacket straitjacket /strait·jack·et/ (strat´jak?et) informal name for camisole. strait·jack·et or straight·jack·et n. . But every once in a while an idea hits, like her company's Teeny Teeny 1/16 or 0.0625 of one full point in price. Steenth. Towels product, a key-chain dispenser filled with anti-bacterial towelettes. A veteran entrepreneur, Bina didn't need the help of a start-up service. Instead, she used the $50,000 she made selling a bed and breakfast in Providence, R.I., as seed money for Fifibear's Brasserie bras·se·rie n. A restaurant serving alcoholic beverages, especially beer, as well as food. [French, from brasser, to malt, brew, from Old French bracier, from Vulgar Latin (Felix's nickname is Fifi-bear). After acquiring the necessary licenses, certifications and approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, she began selling her 4.5-ounce twist-cap tubs of frozen organic baby food both online and at shops such as Erewhon Natural Foods in West Hollywood West Hollywood A community of southern California northeast of Beverly Hills. It is mainly residential. Population: 36,600. . Bina says all her fresh ingredients are purchased from the Santa Barbara certified organic farmers market. And Fifibear also claims to be the only baby food that adds ground flaxseed flaxseed /flax·seed/ (flak´sed) linseed. -- a source of Omega-3 fatty acids This is a list of omega-3 fatty acids. Common name Lipid name Chemical name α-Linolenic acid (ALA) 18:3 (n-3) octadeca-9,12,15-trienoic acid Stearidonic acid 18:4 (n-3) octadeca-6,9,12,15-tetraenoic acid -- to every meal. Livio Scagliotti Jr. invented his teething ring back in 1991. He got the idea after noticing that his vibrating pager was the only thing that seemed to comfort his teething son, Jeremiah. Scagliotti, a professional handyman, said Jeremiah would put the bulky pager in his mouth and find relief in the gentle massage and white noise. "But I knew most parents wouldn't feel comfortable putting electronics in their kids' mouths, so I sat down to design something safe," he said. His first plexiglass prototype of the Je Je Teether teeth·er n. An object or device, such as a teething ring, for a baby to bite on during teething. was cumbersome at 8 inches wide. A subsequent model was smaller and used a child-safety cap from a Tylenol bottle to enclose the electronics. Scagliotti, now 40, eventually shared the product with childhood friend Mario Gonzalez of Canoga Park. A quadriplegic quadriplegic /quad·ri·ple·gic/ (-ple´jik) 1. of, pertaining to, or characterized by quadriplegia. 2. an individual with quadriplegia. father of twins, Gonzalez was amazed at the ring's soothing powers. He put everything on the line, selling his home and moving in with his in-laws to finance professional development. Gonzalez and Scagliotti patented the design and received FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. clearance in November 2004. They produced about 25,000 here in California, but high costs put the retail price between $12 and $14. "I couldn't afford to get it into mass-market stores," Gonzalez said, explaining that retailers such as CVS (1) (Concurrent Versions System) A version control system for Unix that was initially developed as a series of shell scripts in the mid-1980s. CVS maintains the changes between one source code version and another and stores all the changes in one file. and Wal-Mart are ruthless at driving down prices. The pair finally gave up on local manufacturing, and Je Je now is produced in China. Soon its retail price will drop to $9.99, Gonzalez said. "Now we have two reps working to get us into CVS, Wal-Mart, Sears and Kmart," he added. A careful and meticulous ramp-up can have its downside, the pair learned. A company called First Years has since introduced its competing "Massaging Action Teether" for $7.95. Still, the local dads aren't deterred. "We're definitely ready to go to the big boys," Scagliotti says. "We've perfected our product over the last 17 years. It's built right, and it's built solid." Inventor Claire Eukeland thrives on competition, saying she entered the market for nursing coverlets after shopping for one and finding "horrid" designs that looked like "hospital X-ray vests." The mother of two young girls made her first Hooter Hider for herself in 2003, choosing a retro blue and yellow design and using the coverlet to breast-feed breast-feed v. To feed a baby mother's milk from the breast; suckle. daughter Ariana at her husband's professional soccer games. A former midfielder for the San Jose Earthquakes
"The thing that makes (a Hooter Hider) unique is that it has a rigid neckline neckline The line that connects the two lowest points on the intermediate declines of a head-and-shoulders chart pattern. In an inverted head-and-shoulders formation, the neckline connects the two intermediate tops. with some structured boning, so you can still maintain eye contact with your baby while nursing," Claire Eukeland, 33, says. "That's important because the baby might be fumbling around, trying to latch on, and that's stressful if you can't see what's going on What's Going On is a record by American soul singer Marvin Gaye. Released on May 21, 1971 (see 1971 in music), What's Going On reflected the beginning of a new trend in soul music. ." Now three years old, Bebe au Lait has seven employees, a manufacturing operation in Vietnam and sales accounts with more than 500 boutiques. "I get a lot of ideas for new inventions all the time, and I go off and do the research," Eukeland says. "Maybe when my girls get older, I'll start inventing things for teenagers." Nancy Dillon, (818) 713-3760 nancy.dillon@dailynews.com Buy from these mothers (and fathers) of invention JE JE TEETHER What: A vibrating, soft rubber teething ring with three spokes and a center hub that houses the battery-operated motor Inventor: Livio Scagliotti Jr., Eagle Rock Price: $12.95 Company: Baby Vibe, 8040 Remmet Ave., Canoga Park, (818) 703-6151 Buy online: www.jejeteether.com HOOTER HIDER What: A chic coverlet for breast-feeding breast-feeding /breast-feed·ing/ (brest´fed?ing) nursing; the feeding of an infant at the mother's breast. Inventor: Claire Eukeland, Los Gatos Price: $35 Company: Bebe au Lait, 400 Blossom Hill Road, Los Gatos, (408) 356-7850 Buy online: www.bebeaulait.com Stores: Mommy Zone, 18399 Ventura Blvd., Tarzana, (818) 345-6060 Bellies, Babies & Bosoms, 3461 N. Verdugo Road, Glendale, (818) 541-1200; www.bellies.biz FIFIBEAR'S BRASSERIE What: Frozen organic baby food in 4.5-ounce twist-top jars that are freezer and microwave safe Inventor: Roxanna Bina, Santa Barbara Price: $48 for a 12-pack Company: Fifibear's Brasserie, Santa Barbara, (805) 637-5234 Buy online: www.fifibearsbrasserie.com Stores: Erewhon Natural Foods Market, 7660-B Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 937-0777; www.erewhonmarket.com Beverly Glen Marketplace, 2964 Beverly Glen Circle, (just south of Mulholland Drive), Los Angeles, (310) 475-0829 -- N.D. CAPTION(S): 7 photos, box Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) The MOTHERS of INVENTION Parents turn ideas into products they hope will take kiddie kid·die or kid·dy n. pl. kid·dies Slang A small child. kiddie Noun Informal a child market by storm (2 -- color) Preparing her baby's meals for an international trip led Roxanna Bina to develop her own line of frozen organic baby food, which she sells and promotes at stores that include this Erewhon Natural Foods Market in Los Angeles. John McCoy/Staff Photographer (3 -- color) When Livio Scagliotti Jr.'s son enjoyed chewing on his vibrating pager, the professional handyman came up with the Je Je Teether, which vibrates via concealed electronics. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer (4 -- color) Claire Eukeland -- with husband Ronnie and daughters Ariana, 2, and Claudia, 6 -- invented the Hooter Hider so she could breast-feed Ariana at Ronnie's pro soccer games. (5 -- color) no caption (JE JE TEETHER) (6 -- color) no caption (HOOTER HIDER) (7 -- color) no caption (FIFIBEAR'S BRASSERIE) Box: Buy from these mothers (and fathers) of invention (see text) |
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