PLAY WITH YOUR DINNER: John Littleboy’s art helps make mealtime fun. Courtesy John Littleboy

While plenty of Stanford alumni are in the business of having babies, some are also making babies their business. Three hope their fledgling companies have developed products innovative enough to capture the hearts of parents.

Danielle Haas-Laursen, JD ’01, turned parental frustration into a product. When her eldest daughter was born, the number of lost baby socks around her Escondido Village apartment spurred her to action. She sewed elastic loops onto a pair of socks. The loops could be secured by the snaps on baby’s pant legs and Snapdragon Baby socks were born.

Joe Croft, ’92, had organization in mind. After developing outdoor and action sports gear, the father of four tried his hand in a market he believed lacked innovation. Ju-Ju-Be offers a line of high-tech diaper bags, complete with Teflon-coated exteriors, antimicrobial treatments and memory-foam changing pads.

Inky-Dinky, created by John Littleboy, ’79, targets kids a bit older. The company’s plates, placemats and accessories are illustrated with Littleboy’s colorful artwork, to encourage visual and verbal activity. He plans to expand the line to include children’s books.