Designing luxurious sheepskin baby products is a far cry from Helen Clayton’s previous role as a teacher, but as her gorgeous Baa Baby range continues to expand, so does her passion for being in the baby business. We caught up with Helen to find out more.

 “I worked for over 20 years in SEN and managed a school for pupils who had been excluded from mainstream education and left my career 5 years ago to throw myself into Baa Baby. My own children had grown so I could take the risk of not having a regular income and  I wanted a complete change, a fresh start but something that still had children and families at the heart.  What started out as selling New Zealand handcrafted booties on a small scale turning into designing and hand cutting pram liners in my home.  I bought numerous prams, worked with lots of different styles and designs and eventually came up with the Baa Baby Pram Style and Buggy Style Liners.”

How has your range expanded since you first launched the business?

“After many changes,  we have now perfected two pram liner designs which will fit every pram.  These are now available in a wide range of colours incorporating some soft neutrals –  milk, honey and latte.  We have long haired versions of our pram liners and have also introduced a special edition leopard print sheepskin liner.

Two years ago we introduced our own Baa Baby sheepskin puddy mittens, Baa Baby sheepskin trapper hats and sheepskin bobble hats.

One of our most recent best sellers is our magnetic keepsake boxes to gift our products in for baby showers and which are perfect for keeping hold of precious memories

We are also about to launch our first Baa Baby footmuff this winter which is a fully lined sheepskin pram footmuff.”

Why should a retailer stock Baa Baby products?

“Baa Baby is a premium brand with quality and luxury at the heart.  We pride ourselves in sourcing the best in baby safe sheepskin and our independent reviews consistently refer to the quality and care they receive from the brand. The brand is synonymous with care and kindness – we work with Rays of Sunshine Childrens Charity and donate £1 from every pram liner to children with life threatening illnesses.

Our packaging is premium and reusable all our booties and mittens are in cloth drawstring bags and our pram liners and rugs are presented gift ready in premium jute shoppers.”

What sets Baa Baby apart from its competitors?

“As a brand we set ourselves apart by :-

• Cutting our pram liners from a single sheepskin – all our competitors use stitching and seams but Baa Baby does not use any patchwork in their liners
• Our pram liners are all natural and neutral – no stripes, no unnatural colours or patterns, sheepskin only as nature intended
• Our pram liners are presented in premium Jute bags, sturdy re-usable and the result of feedback from customers
• We have independent reviews on Trustpilot and Reviews.io and we plant a tree for every review a customer leaves
• We are now phasing in OEKO-TEX 100 certification on all our pram liners, it is currently available on our bassinet liners and most of our buggy liners, this is a certification that none of our competitors have sought and will bring the highest of standards of safety”

How do Baa Baby products meet the needs of today’s parents who seek sustainable, ethical products for their babies?

“All of the sheepskin we source is from free roaming flock and is a by-product of the meat industry which would otherwise be destroyed.  Sheepskin, if well cared for, will last for many years – pram liners can be re-used as seat covers or pet beds and should you ever wish to throw away sheepskin it takes less than a year to decompose. 

All our packaging bags are reusable and of high quality – jute or cotton bags and craft keepsake boxes.”

How do you support retailers wishing to stock BaaBaby products (through in-store marketing etc)? 

“We have high quality images of our products for marketing purposes.  All our products are beautifully and naturally packaged.  We are happy to offer direct assistance in store at the start and promote across our own platforms with giveaways.”

What do you enjoy about being in the baby business? 

“It’s a business that isn’t just about products, it really does come from the heart and I enjoy the ‘feel good’ factor of working with new mums and sourcing the best we possibly can for parents.  It’s about making the right choices and perhaps because my background isn’t business, I look at things differently but I like to think that the baby business is driven by genuine care and kindness.” 

What 3 words would you use to describe BaaBaby?

“Natural, Honest, Trusted.” 

Can you share any specific plans or developments for Baa Baby for the year ahead?

“We have a new design footmuff in production, some Baa Baby pram handwarmers for parents and our own range of neutral merino blankets.

We are continuing to phase in OEKO-TEX 100 certification across our range of sheepskin over the coming year and once this is complete we will be the only independent baby sheepskin brand to have invested in this.”

Contact details for retailers to find out more

Website: www.baababy.co.uk

Email address: helen@baababy.co.uk

Facebook: @baababyuk

Instagram: @baababy