Edina startup meets need by selling sheets for hard-to-fit pack-and-plays

The fitted sheet is one of laundry's most vexing inventions.

For laundry-doers, folding them is a dreaded task with no clear solution. But for many parents and child-care workers, it's a much more critical conundrum that Jennifer O'Malley wants to solve.

Linen & Leah, her Edina-based startup, sells a fitted sheet for portable cribs — sometimes called pack-and-plays or playards — that she says are superior to anything else currently on the market. Like many inventions, her sheet comes from her own experience as a former child-care provider frustrated by what was available.

Pediatricians say infants should sleep on a tightly fitted bed sheet with no excess material or bunching that could create an unsafe sleep environment. O'Malley, who spent 10 years as a licensed day-care provider, said she struggled to find a sheet that fit tightly enough over the portable crib's mattress.

Every year, the Minnesota Department of Health would visit to re-license her in-home day care, and every year, her inspector said she needed a snugger sheet.

"They would always tell me that my pack-and-play sheets need to fit better, and I should be able to drop a penny on [the mattress] and it should bounce," O'Malley said. "So I got my scissors out and starting sewing."

O'Malley's modifications made use of the existing loops and straps of the most popular playards. The sheets, which retail for $35, include Velcro strips that secure the edges to one another beneath the mattress.

"The sheet requires a little bit of education to use, so if you've never used a pack-and-play, it may not make sense right away," she said.

That may be why the product is resonating most with child-care providers who are managing a merry-go-round of babies through their homes while maintaining the cleanest environment as possible.

Minnesota Department of Health data show about 50 unexpected infant deaths occur every year in the state with unsafe sleep environments accounting for nearly all of them. The greatest risk factors include loose objects such as pillows, blankets or a top sheet getting wrapped around a child, the child not being placed on a firm surface or being placed on their side or belly rather than on their back. About half of the deaths were babies sharing a sleep surface — such as a bed, sofa or recliner — with another person.

Dr. Elizabeth Murray, a pediatrician and spokeswoman for the American Academy of Pediatrics, said the best mantra is "boring is best."

"If there's too much material underneath that thin [pack-and-play] mattress, it can make the surface unstable, which puts the baby at risk. The angle could make them slouch down or get pushed up against something. It could bring the sheet edge up and allow for wedging or entrapment," Murray said. "Grandmothers make us feel bad looking at an empty, bare crib, but boring is best. The babies aren't going to remember that you didn't have cute little blankets and stuffed animals in there, they are just going to know you kept them safe."

"Finally, after the seventh call, I looked at my fiancé and said, 'We need to make these sheets,' " O'Malley said.

She officially launched Linen & Leah last November, selling directly to consumers through the website, Amazon or at child-care provider conferences. The startup has five full-time employees and has sold about 5,000 sheets since launch.

The sheet fits 90% of the pack-and-plays on the market, she said, but she encourages customers to return them for a full refund if they don't fit right.

"I just want to make parents aware. I just tell parents that if they use a sheet, make sure it fits," O'Malley said. "It's better to use no sheet than a sheet that fits poorly. Bare is best. No stuffed animals, no pillows, no soft bedding."

Unsafe sleep deaths are not the same as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), a condition that cannot be explained. Linen & Leah donates 15% of its sales revenue to the American SIDS Institute for further research.

"Being a parent is exhausting and it is the hardest task we will ever take on in our lives," Murray said. "It has such a huge emotional toll wondering 'What if?' What we know is the safest thing for her is to be on her back, in her crib, by herself."

Kristen Leigh Painter • 612-673-4767