In celebration of Mother’s Day this month we thought we would celebrate some Mom Inventors! These Moms all invented a product for their own kids or kids in general. They say necessity is the mother of invention, and moms solve problems every day.

Adeline Dutton Train Whitney was an American poet and writer of books for girls. Adeline patented a set of alphabet blocks for children. She also wrote books mostly for young girls.

Jane Wells invented the baby jumper, a hanging canvas swing for babies to bounce in place. She was granted patent number 130,397 for "improvement in baby jumpers." “This machine may be operated by an infant from the time it can sit until it walks,” said Wells in her patent application, “giving it the ability to dance, swing and turn itself in any direction, affording it healthy and safe amusement and relieving parents and nurses from much care and labor.” Her invention not only benefited parents but also the women who had the rare opportunity in the 1870s to work at the factory where the jumpers were made.

Barney, the purple dinosaur was created by mother and former teacher Sheryl Leach. Originally, the star was going to be a bear, but since her son liked dinosaurs, the character became a dinosaur. She began the popularity of Barney by creating a series of home videos which eventually were sold to the public. In October of that 1992, production started for a TV Show.

Marion Donovan had an inventive spirit at a young age. She came from a family of inventors. Marion became a housewife and a mother of two when she was frustrated by changing her youngest child’s cloth diapers, bed sheets and clothing. She came up with a solution to her frustration. She decided to invent a diaper cover to keep her baby and the surrounding area dry. She made her invention with a shower curtain and used her sewing machine. She then had come up with a waterproof diaper cover. Marion decided to improve her invention when she came up with the idea of adding snap fasteners in place of safety pins. She named her diaper cover the “Boater” because she thought it looked like a boat. Eventually she set out and made a full disposable diaper. A decade later, in 1961, Victor Mills drew upon Donovan’s vision to create Pampers®.
 

Ruth Handler invented the Barbie doll in 1959 by the name of her own daughter who was called Barbara. Ruth learned from her daughter, Barbara who played with paper dolls, that girls use dolls to act out the future. “I believed it was important to a little girl’s self-esteem,” Ruth Handler said when she made a three dimensional doll so girls could play out their future. The doll was made to be a teenage fashion doll.

Ann Moore and her mother Lucy Aukerman came up with their invention together. Ann had a baby and wanted to create comfort and convenience for holding her baby on her back. At this point Ann turned to her mother for help who came up with a cloth baby carrier that was functional and easy to wear. Ann and her mother began selling the baby carriers at a quick pace. They called their invention the Snugli.