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When Monica Jones spotted a Facebook post about a mum who was struggling to take away her child’s dummy, she was shocked.
Not because she thought it wasn’t a challenge, but because in the 14 years since she’d had the problem herself, there still wasn’t an obvious solution.
It was 2023, and Monica’s kids were all teenagers. Feeling overwhelmed with their problems and wishing someone could give her a handbook on how to deal with them, she realised perhaps she could be that person for those still in the fog of the toddler years.
“I come from a background of medical research,” Monica, 44, from Adelaide, tells WHO. “When I saw that Facebook post, I stayed up until 3am researching what options were out there, but there was nothing – globally.”
How to ditch the dummy for children
Determined the dummy problem was not unsolvable, Monica’s research started in earnest.
She interviewed psychologists, childcare workers, and sleep and parenting consultants, and it culminated in the idea of a pack that included a teddy bear and a storybook featuring him.
“The toddler is guided through the transition with encouragement, routine and pride,” Monica says, explaining that the dummy eventually goes in a lockable pouch in the bear.
There are also reward stickers and a guidebook for parents.
Soft-launching the brand, My Binkie Bear, in January 2024, Monica didn’t expect much, but early sales were wild.
“I couldn’t believe the response,” she says. “I ordered more and more, and the US quickly became my biggest segment.”
Even more exciting for Monica were the reviews from parents saying how well the pack worked.
Where can I buy Binkie Bear?
“I wanted the system to work for neurodivergent kids. In theory it did, but when I got messages from parents of autistic kids who loved it, that was amazing,” she says.
By August that year, Monica had quit her full-time job.
“I knew the only way to scale was to put in the time,” she says.
When, a few months later, she started getting requests to translate the book into German and Spanish, she knew she’d made the right decision.
“Since June this year, our sales volume has tripled month on month,” Monica says. “It’s still all direct to consumer with me and the kids packing boxes, but we’re about to start working with some retailers in the US.”
Baby Bunting in Australia has also come on board for My Binkie Bear’s latest product, which is the recently launched toilet training pack.
How to toilet train toddlers
“It was the other toddler milestone parents were asking for help with,” Monica explains. “There’s so much information out there, it’s no wonder parents are overwhelmed. I wanted to create something easy to follow to provide clarity.”
The storybook featuring Binkie – which comes with charts that reward kids for effort not just outcome, as well as Wizzle Fizzles, which are like bath bombs for the potty – is already gaining traction.
“A lot of the early sales have been from parents who used the pacifier set and the US is a big market again,” Monica says.
Looking ahead, there are other milestones that Monica would like to help find solutions to – but, for now, her focus is on consolidating her exisiting products and growth, especially in the US.
“It’s all about how to get attention [online] and then get the perception change so people try the product,” she says.
