Baby Bjorn
It all started with a bouncer! Babysitting can have unexpected consequences for a young student. In Björn Jakobson’s case, it became the impetus for his life’s work, the company BabyBjörn AB. During a trip to the USA in the beginning of the 1960s, a bouncer caught Björn’s eye and he brought it back for his nephew, Nils, who he often babysat. Nils immediately liked the bouncer. So much so, that he actually used it until he was a year old.
Since bouncers could not be purchased in Sweden at the time, Björn started a company with his sister-in-law Elsa (Nils's mom) to manufacture a Swedish equivalent. In Gnosjö, he found a supplier who could make the frame, while the seat was made from store-bought scraps of fabric. Production began, but sales were pitiful. Reviews were very positive, however, which resulted in several articles in Swedish dailies. Finally, demand picked up.
The bouncer became a hit in Sweden, as well as in the rest of Europe. In time, it also became a bestseller in the USA. Close to the heart – the first baby carrier The next big step in the company’s history came at the beginning of the 1970s.
New research from Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, showed tha early attachment and closeness to their parents plays a vital role for the continued development of newborns. Pediatricians all over the world quickly adopted this idea. At Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Dr. John Lind was one of the first to inform new parents how important physical contact is for creating an emotional bond between babies and their parents.
Björn Jakobson, who now had three small children of his own, was inspired by pediatricians’ hopes that parents would carry their children close to their bodies. He developed a baby carrier that made it possible for parents to have this important physical contact with their babies and their hands free at the same time. The baby carrier, which was called "Hjärtenära", was tested with great success on the Jakobson family’s fourth child.
Since then, tens of millions of babies have been carried close to their parents during the first important months of their lives. And over the years we have never stopped working to improve our baby carriers, always in close collaboration with medical experts and the parents of small children. This has resulted in the unique design that makes today’s models so comfortable and easy to use, with clean, classic lines.