These mums and a dad turned their kid-related challenges into savvy business opportunities.
The horrific realisation that mould was growing inside her daughter’s favourite chew toy spurred Debbie Chia (pictured right) to create her own line of teethers.
Last December, the mother of two founded online store Annie + Alex (www.anniealex. com), which sells Scandinavian themed teethers and accessories she designs. They are made of non-toxic beech wood and food-grade silicone.
She is among a handful of local parents who have created commercial products in an attempt to find solutions to the problems they encountered during their parenting journey.
Debbie’s journey to becoming an entrepreneur started three years ago. Her daughter, Annabelle, then six months old, regularly sank her teeth into Sophie the Giraffe, a knobbly teething toy that is popular with parents across the world.
One day, her husband accidentally sat on the toy and a black, foul-smelling liquid squirted out of its air hole. The substance was mould.
“It was so disgusting. I could not believe it. I immediately threw it away,” says the 33-year-old.
She had cleaned the toy regularly before the incident, and suspects the mould is a result of moisture entering the toy from the air hole.
She then tried to look for other products in the market, but could not find any satisfactory alternatives and resorted to letting Annabelle gnaw on her pacifier whenever she was teething.
When her second child Alexander was born last year, she found teethers made of silicone beads being sold online. After including shipping costs, getting one of these sent from Australia would have cost her $60.
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