Mom Fights SIDS by Helping Parents Position Infants Properly
As a neonatal nurse practitioner, Beth Rumack frequently taught parents to position their infants in car seats using rolled up blankets and towels. But these impromptu solutions were flawed -- the supports could roll out of position and were hard to maintain over time, and the babies’ heads could slump, constricting their airway and causing a SIDS risk.
In 2004, after Beth’s daughter was born, she finally decided that she needed to design a product that would help all parents keep their infants properly positioned in their car seats.
Beth formed an LLC and took on investors, and over the course of five years, she developed the Snuggin Go, investing about $150,000 in the process. The product has only been on the market for a year, and it will be launching in major retailers this spring.
This mom of two still works full time, caring for infants with severe heart defects at the Eller Congenital Heart Center in Phoenix. The hospital is even testing Snuggin Go in their neonatal ICU.
Beth shared with us how she developed her product and brought it to market…
Mom Invented®: Why did you start this company and when?
Beth Rumack: There is a real risk of SIDS in infant seating products due to inadequate support. No baby should ever have SIDS in a car seat or any other seating product due to airway narrowing because the manufacturer did not put in support where babies need it most.
In 2004, when my daughter was born weighing only 6 pounds, I took it upon myself to design the Snuggin Go to correctly and easily position premature and term newborns in their seats. It was designed to provide full head and body support for infants in seating products.
Constructed of memory foam, which displaces with just four pounds of pressure, the shoulder bar crosses behind baby's shoulder blades and gently pushes the chest forward, opening the airway. The base bar cradles baby's bottom, reducing slouching, and the side bars support the shoulders to prevent rolling. The shoulder bar adjusts up and down for a custom fit so baby rides happy and breathing right.
What were your initial goals?
My initial goal is to educate and bring awareness to the risk of SIDS in seating products. Snuggin Go helps with reflux, preventing flat spots on heads, and is great for infants with Down syndrome and other issues that may cause delayed muscle tone. I also wanted to provide a quality product that parents could trust and believe in.
How did you determine your product's marketability?
First, from practical experience from watching NICU infants go home in car seats with rolled up towels. Second, by having parents request the Snuggin Go for full-term infants because parents know it is not ok for their infants of any size to have their heads slumped forward or to the side. Third, parents can see results immediately using the Snuggin Go.
How did you find a manufacturer for your product?
My partner manufactures aftermarket seats for motorcycles and he already used the same materials as Snuggin Go. It was a perfect fit.
Then we did extensive car safety testing to show that Snuggin Go is a baby safe product to use in car seats. It does not impact or change the crash safety aspects of a car seat but adds incredible benefits by keeping the airway properly positioned.
What was the biggest learning curve in terms of developing your product?
How to reach more parents -- especially new parents. There are so many products on the market and I think it is very overwhelming to new parents. How do new parents know what are must-have products and not based on fashion?
What kind of support system do you have in place personally and professionally?
My whole family is very supportive. Many of my family members have invested financially even if they don’t have much because they believe in me.
Professionally, I am part of a remarkable team that consistently goes above and beyond to take care of families with children afflicted by congenital heart defects.
Who has been your biggest source of inspiration? What keeps you going?
My mother. She came from a family of 12 and they were very poor. She raised me as single parent and made sure I had a good education. I was the first to graduate from college in my family.
What advice would you offer other moms developing their products?
Life is full of opportunities and anyone can turn their dream into reality. Don't shy away from opportunities because you’re afraid of failure. Success is measured by more than financial rewards. Also make sure to get a good patent attorney.
Thanks for sharing your story, Beth! You can learn more about the Snuggin Go at SnugginGo.com. And if you have a great story about your business or product, we’d love to hear it!
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I absolutely LOVE the snuggin go! I have turned many of my friends onto it. It is a must. Especially when in the car seat. They can breath and sleep so much better. No head hanging down over their chest! I also love that you can put a baby in a jogging stroller with it. I used to have to wait for babiesl to be much older before I could use joggers and swings. It is perfect!
Hello Beth Rumack - Memory Foam is made from chemicals, so how can your memory foam be chemical free? Is it a new kind of foam or do you mean there are no added chemicals to the chemical memory foam you are using in your products designed for small children? Do you mind sharing the raw data in the safety tests you said you had? You implied those safety tests covered the memory foam, do they in fact include testing of the memory foam with children and the potential respiratory and fire hazards they can cause? ?
The Mom Invented website is not a good place to give such “political” and quite frankly absurd answers. The readers here are moms and innovative business women that know how to research. I apologize implicitly if you are using new natural chemical free foam (I didn't know it existed). I am a product designer and mom myself and understand and applaud what your product Snuggin Go accomplishes by helping keep the airway open, just like similar products such as the Kiddopotamus Snuzzler, but keeping an airway open to potentially breath in chemical out gassing could be harmful and potentially deadly; it does not matter if you are within your right to mfg based on arbitrary regulations and laws. It is an ethical issue, not a legal issue since children’s lives and health may be affected by it.
For me, it would be damage control from here on out. Furthermore, according to the Memory Foam Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) http://memoryfoamreviews.com/private/memory-foam-material-safety-data-sheet-msds/ which starts out “PRODUCT INFORMATION Chemical Family: Flexible Polyurethane Foam” The ignition temperature of polyurethane foam will vary depending on the product chemical formulation, but all polyurethane foams are combustible and can create a fire risk. Flexible polyurethane foams, once ignited, may degrade and melt to a combustible liquid, which may add to the fire involvement.”
A car accident can turn that foam into a combustible liquid and burn your baby, so it is probably not safe in that respect either; not sure what laws apply to car seats and accessories. Of course treating this already chemical material with a chemical fire retardant would increase the ignition temperature, but here we are back to more chemicals. I trust you will consider the information that is available, especially since your product is being advertised as something that might help save lives. I am sorry Beth, but this just reminds me of how doctors and nurses vaccinate brand new babies with a Hep B vaccine before they leave the hospital even though according to the NVIC http://www.nvic.org/nvic-archives/newsletter/untoldstory.aspx “Hep B Vaccine Infant Deaths Reported In VAERS - Even though fewer than 10 percent of all doctors report health problems following vaccination, there are more than 16,000 reports of hospitalizations, injuries and deaths following hepatitis B vaccination that have been reported to the U.S. government Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) since July 1990. There are reports of deaths in infants under one month of age following hepatitis B vaccination in VAERS, with most of the deaths being classified as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), even though SIDS is not historically recognized in the medical literature as occurring in babies under two months of age.”
This may also be an accepted practice for people who don’t do their own research (I have 6-years of vaccine safety research under my belt) and simply listen to the "experts" that are trained in part by the pharmaceutical companies, but common sense tells us that it is just not a good idea when the risks and benefits are truly weighed. Here is some additional information for your research on memory foam. Good luck!
“Memory foam is polyurethane with additional chemicals increasing its viscosity and density. It is often referred to as visco-elastic polyurethane foam... When new, some memory foams give off a distinct chemical odor, which many people find unpleasant and some say is akin to the smell of paint. This odor decreases with airing, but some remain sensitive. Emissions from memory foam mattresses may cause more respiratory irritation than other mattresses.” Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_foam
“Memory Foam Mattresses are the worst threat to your health. Memory foam is essentially polyurethane foam, made from chemicals including polyhydroxy polyol and toluene di-isocyanate, a registered carcinogen. Boric acid, known as roach killer, and other chemicals never tested on humans are now being used as fire retardants. Chemicals used to make memory foam are essentially by-products of petroleum.
While commercial mattress manufacturers tell us their product is safe and non-toxic, why are the chemicals used in their production being found in women's breast milk and the umbilical cord blood of newborn babies? (www.ewg.org )” Source: http://nt1.adventuresports.com/product/backbody/organicmattresses.html
Thank you Tamara for the opportunity to discuss this important subject. I love this country and I love your website!
Sorry, I forgot to mention that all materials we use are free of chemicals and tested by an outside lab. We follow all regulations & guidelines. Plus as medical professional and a mother, I ensure you my product is safe and very beneficial.
This is a slight variation of the flexible foam U shaped insert that's been sold for 20 years. The only difference is that it is memory foam and may have a more formed base. Perhaps it is the same price..in that case it is worthy. But for the few months an infant uses it, I'm not sure of the difference. Has she compared hers with the classic infant U pillow inserts.
PS. Why is 6 pounds "only". 5.5 is a healthy send home that day baby. They say the bigger the baby, the more chance for future obesity. A 6 lbs baby is perfect. "Big" is not always better.
That is true about the baby's weight, 6 pounds is perfect. The misinformation moms are given about every aspect of their pregnancy and birth is astounding. I was lucky enough to have my baby with a midwife at a birthing center all naturally - no doctors. “My doctor said it was best” is NO excuse for ignorance. Become an informed parent and research everything. When we know better, we do better.
Nichol-
I am glad you are one of the lucky ones whose child didn't come out with unexplained pulmonary hypertension, underdevelopped lungs (even though full term), or with a severe heart defect that was not detected in ultrasound. Becasue you are right, birthing centers are best for you if you don't rupture your placenta during labor and begin to bleed to death, or suffer pregnancy induced stroke during labor. I am so glad for you. But if you truly cared about your baby, you wold deliver in a setting were the child would have the best chance at life given an unexpected/adverse issue at birth. You can tell the hospital what you do and don't want done to your child (hep B vaccine). Some opinions are best kept to yourself.
Thanks
It is TOTALLY different than the U-shaped. Nothing like it. It doesn't go over the head. This product is more H-shaped. The support goes under the babies shoulders to slightly support and extend the head and airway. And the sides help the baby to feel snuggled! My baby was the most relaxed when he was placed in his snuggin-go!
Memory Foam and other mattress-type materials have been linked to SIDS. Fire retardant(s) called PDBE, which have been banned in the US and Europe for the most part, are especially toxic and other replacements are not much better. I trust you have done your research on this subject and the manufacturing of your product; especially if it is mfg outside these areas. When a product has an odor to it, it is probably not a good idea to get it near your baby. Vaccinations have also been strongly linked to SIDS and the researchers that compiled the stats on the fact that babies' breathing changes and includes dangerous breathing patterns for up to 30-days following a vaccine should prompt new moms to do some research on the matter. Their study also showed that these babies were dying in their sleep within 30-days after getting vaccinated. There is a video I can share if you would like to email me. Toxins are very dangerous to a small baby and between epidurals, early cord-clamping, vaccinations, out of control c-sections, misinformed doctors and nurses, not receiving natural breast milk and sleeping on materials that are potentially toxic increase the chances of your baby not waking up. Moms need to wake up and protect their children from the conventional medical community, hospitals, and toxic products. Being pregnant and having a baby is not a disease, it is a natural process. Also, please keep in mind that we are probably the only "animals" that would even think of putting our babys into a "box" crib and put into another room; please consider keeping your baby in bed with you or right next to your bed at all times. My brother died the day after his DPT vaccine and it was listed as a case of SIDS. My better half has an informed childcare page on his business website http://www.lowcostlawncare.com if you would like to read more on how to keep your baby safe by getting informed, please visit so you can click on some great links.
Sorry, I hate to be Debbie downer, but this subject is so important and to see a product that states it may actually help prevent the very problem it causes is just too much to be quiet about.
I wanted to introduce myself. I am the inventor of Snuggin Go & a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner. I'm excited to see a very healthy conversation occurring. It is very important to me to see your feedback and open up a conversation about the topic.
I wanted to address you concerns and work with on how we as parents and as health care professionals can help educate and keep our children safe. I designed the Snuggin Go to prevent narrowing of an infant's upper airway when they are in a sitting position. SIDS reducing in terms of Snuggin Go only applies to airway narrowing in infants less than six months in seating products. There is a significant body of medical research that shows when infants less than six months of age seat in seating products longer than 20 to 30 minutes then we see changes in there heart rates, oxygen saturations, & longer periods apnea or periodic breathing. I apologize in SIDS reducing is confusing, it is not intended to apply to SIDS that occurs in infants while sleeping outside of seating products & as you explained there are many issues that can lead to SIDS in those cases. We are solely referring to upper airway narrowing that can occur in infants in seating products when their anatomy is not supported properly.
The design of Snuggin Go is very important to an infant's anatomy. An infant's head is much larger in the back or occipital area which causes the infant's head to be push forward in seating products that sit at a 30-45 degree angle. This leads to narrowing of there upper airway which can cause them to stop breathing potentially. Snuggin Go has a very special design that supports the infant's anatomy. The shoulder bar sits at the base of their neck allowing the baby's airway to open thus letting the baby's large head sit in a neutral position with their seating product. The side support keeps the baby's head from falling to the side & the bottom cradles their butt to prevent slouching. The "U" shaped head supports fail to give babies support where they need it most which is their neck & shoulder area.
Snuggin Go is designed for infants a minimum of 4lbs (for preterm & term infants) from birth to one year of year. I designed so that it grows with the baby through the 1st year of life (it is adjustable). It also allows parents to use strollers & swings much earlier & the babies are fully supported properly. Snuggin Go has many benefits and I look forward to your feedback. Thanks, Beth