Making Waves

>>A restaurant manager by night, Jeff Archambault minded his two baby daughters during the day when his ex-wife went to work, and he quickly found the task was literally a handful. He needed a way to free his hands while holding a baby, or holding a baby and a toddler simultaneously, or holding a baby and chasing a toddler. His children, Emma and Ryan, now 8 and 5 respectively, led to his invention of the Hands Free Bottle Holder. It became the foundation of his company, Baby Butler, and since his appearance on NBC’s Today Show in July, orders have been rolling in.

Staying home with the girls gave him "the opportunity to see what moms go through," he says, "and believe me, being the stay-at-home parent is the hardest job there is."

With the help of his then-sister-in-law and her sewing machine, he designed the Hands Free Bottle Holder, with a weighted pillow on one end and a Velcro strap to hold any size bottle. Made of organic cotton, it can be used as a burp cloth, pacifier holder, changing pad or for hands-free bottle feeding.

A patent attorney encouraged him to market his invention, and Archambault received a patent earlier this year. Throughout, the Edison Inventors club has been a source of support, he says.

He is now adding other products to sell under the Baby Butler name, including organic baby wipes, organic sunscreen wipes and alcohol-free, waterless hand sanitizers, and he’s visiting trade shows around the country.

The $7 billion baby-accessories industry is a good place to be, says Archambault. "People are waiting until later in life—ages 30 to 35—to have their first child. By that time, many of them do have disposable income, but they also have busy lives and careers; they need convenience, too."