Beth Rumack is the Phoenix inventor of the Snuggin Go supporting infant positioner and a full-time neonatal nurse practitioner. 

How did Snuggin Go come to life?

I started BGR Juvenile Products, LLC and we make the Snuggin Go. We put it on the market at the end of 2008. I started developing the product about five years ago, using prototypes with my daughter and some of my NICU babies. The goal was to provide proper airway positioning but it was designed so that you don’t just buy it and use it for a month; it grows with your baby.

Things are just starting to take off this year. What I’m really trying to do is bring awareness to proper infant positioning and how important it is that [babies] have head support. When we let their heads fall forward and to the side there is increased risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). A malpositioned 1-month-old infant passed away recently. It’s just heartbreaking.

I know I am always concerned about my kids’ heads hanging at awkward angles but I’ve heard it’s not safe to add attachments to carseats.

There are no federal safety guidelines for aftermarket products like this. We didn’t have to do crash-safety testing but we put the finances into doing [it] before putting Snuggin Go on the market to make sure we weren’t impacting the safety of the carseat. That’s part of what took so long. [Parents] are taught not to add things to carseats, so that’s been big hurdle but we’re trying to do a lot of education about the safety of the product. It doesn’t change the function of the carseat, it just allows baby’s head to rest in neutral position.

Besides being crash-safety tested, what else sets your product apart from other infant seat positioners on the market?

The other products that are on the market are not really designed with a baby's anatomy in mind. The reason the Snuggin Go is designed this way is because the backs of babies’ heads are so large that they kind of stick out until they’re about 1 year of age. At that angle, the carseat allows the head to be pushed forward. If it was me or you it wouldn’t matter but a baby’s airway at birth is about the size of a pencil. Too much movement forward or to the side cuts off the airway. Breathing become shallow and babies will even stop breathing for short period of time, which drops the oxygen saturation of their blood. After about 30 minutes they can suffer significant problems that can even be life-threatening. Really, educating parents and bringing awareness to the problem is my goal.

In addition to the business, you also have a full time job?

I am a neonatal nurse practitioner. So I’ve worked as a nurse for about nine years and the last four and a half  as a nurse practitioner. Time flies! It seems like just yesterday I was getting started. I love it!

How many hours do you put in as a nurse?

I work full-time. Way more than 40 hours per week. I manage high-risk pregnancies where the babies will be born with significant heart problems and such. Most of these babies will fall under my care after birth. Most of them have such profound problems and I will be on call and I see these kids through this really rough course ahead of them. A lot of these babies require surgery within their first week of life. The first in usually a series of surgeries. It definitely takes its toll on families. The team I work with is very integrated in every aspect of this time and we are dedicated to seeing these babies through and re-plumbing their hearts, so to speak. It’s very rewarding.

How do you manage a more than full-time job, a business and a family?

It’s crazy but we figure it out. My husband has been pretty much a stay-at-home dad since last October when he was laid off by US Airways. They laid off about 300 pilots. So he just took a contract job with the government where he takes the forestry department up to scout where the wildfires are. He’s in Alaska right now but we’re hoping to get to go up to see him in the next couple of weeks. It’s hard but he needs to stay current and we need it to relieve some of the financial burden. It’s just a summer contract. And we have lots of great friends and family around us here to help out. We do everything we can to just take each day at a time. Some days I’ll just let the kids stay up late. The other day we picked apples off the apple trees and made apple pie.

Your life just sounds exhausting! Do you manage to make any time for yourself?

It is tiring. Lately there’s no "me time" but that’s okay. It’s a little crazy with my husband gone but when he comes back things will get back to normal a little bit. He always takes good care of me. I’ll get to take a spa day and make up for it.

What do your kids think about your product?

My son grew up with it. He had the real thing. My daughter had a prototype. As they’ve gotten bigger they’ve told me, “We want a bigger one!” Also, I was getting emails from parents asking if we would make one for older kids so we just came out with Snuggin Go TOO on Aug. 1. We just did a photo shoot and they took pictures of our kids.

Their friends get in our car and they want one of those too! They’re really into it.

It’s really neat to be starting kind of a family business. My family has another business so it’s really cool for me to be starting my own with my kids. Hopefully someday they’ll be in charge of it.

What advice do you have for the mom with the next great idea?

There are so many opportunities out there, don’t let them pass you by. Just take it and do it. Even if Snuggin Go isn’t a success and we’re not around in five years, I can say I did it. I put myself out there and tried this. No matter what, you always learn from something.

Find Snuggin Go online at snuggingo.com or locally at Moonbeams, USA Baby Phoenix and Mother's Milk Boutique.