You Won’t Believe What These Dads Invented to Make Life Better for Their Kids

Necessity may be the mother of invention—but change the word “mother” to “father” here, because these amazing dads saw a need based on their life with kids and invented a solution to share with the world.

Ray Phillips and Alvin Uy—SoapSox: Turning the anxiety of bath time into calm, fun time

Ray Phillips and Alvin Uy/SoapSox

Phillips and Uy are the co-creators of SoapSox, a line of 2-in-1 plush animals that double as washcloths and bath time toys. Phillips and Uy, both fathers to two young boys, brought together their unique career backgrounds to create this brilliant product that finally lets kids bring their stuffed animals into the tub. Phillips, founder and CEO, worked as a Program Director at a residential treatment facility with children who have experienced trauma. He found that bathing was the most challenging time of the day because the children would argue, cry, and even hide just to avoid taking a bath. After repeated struggles with one particular child who could not part with his favorite stuffed animal to bathe, Phillips came up with the idea of modifying it to hold soap—and when the child was presented with the prototype, he agreed to bathe. Phillips continued to use this strategy over the years with the children, realizing that no product like it existed on the market. Through his network of friends, he reached out to Uy, a former toy designer for Disney, Hasbro, and Mattel, to help him create this innovative product, and SoapSox was born. SoapSox sell for $12.99–$14.99 and have helped numerous kids turn anxiety over bath time into fun.

Asaf Kehat and Ayal Lanternari—nanobébé: Bottles that moms can pump directly into that preserve breastmilk nutrients

Ayal-Lanternari and Asaf Kehat/nanobebe

Asaf Kehat and Ayal Lanternari have been best friends since age five. They grew up surfing together, joined the military together, and even became bio-medical engineers together. They were basically inseparable. Fast forward to marriage and kids, and both men became equally frustrated by the challenges they experienced when helping their wives pump breastmilk to feed their babies. This is how their company nanobébé began. Kehat and Lanternari created the first baby bottle designed to preserve essential breastmilk nutrients by enabling rapid heating and cooling through an innovative geometric bottle design—the perfect invention for two bio-medical engineer dads! Thanks to its unique geometry and increased surface area, the bottle cools quickly, reducing bacterial growth, and warms quickly at safe temperatures, so you can promptly feed your hungry baby without exposing breastmilk to nutrient-damaging temperatures. The nanobébé bottle retails for $10.99 and warms up two to three times faster than standard bottles. And the included breast-pump adaptor means you can express breastmilk directly into the bottle, and then store it in the freezer or fridge. Kehat and Lanternari achieved their goal of helping parents adhere to the highest standards of health and safety, without sacrificing convenience and style. Instead of complimenting inventive dads like these on their creations, try one of these 13 compliments that parents love to hear.