Making kids' bath time tear-free
Justine Ciesinski, then 5, of Northport, wears the L'iL Rinser device invented by her father, Marty Ciesinski. Credit: Handout
The Ciesinskis of Northport and Dowhies of West Hampton, friends and business partners for years, had the same problem when bathing their young children.
Shampoo and water would get into the children's eyes, nose and ears.
"The kids were extremely stressed out when you washed their hair," said Marty Ciesinski. He and his wife, Donna Ciesinski, struggled through the baths. "I loved everything about motherhood except washing my kids' hair," she said.
So Marty Ciesinski came up with Lil Rinser, a plastic device that wraps around a child's head and funnels the water away from his or her eyes, nose and ears. The device has a rubberized gasket that acts like a second skin, creating a watertight seal allowing the water to be deflected. Lil Rinser sells for $9.99.
The Ciesinskis and parents Pat and Chris Dowhie were granted a U.S. patent for Lil Rinser in 2007. The product is in Bed Bath & Beyond and other stores. About 100,000 have been sold.
Now they are trying for the equivalent of the jackpot in the lottery: the shelves of the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart.
They have submitted Lil Rinser to a Wal-Mart contest, Get On The Shelf. The retailer has received more than 4,000 submissions, everything from electronic gadgets to toys and housewares, since the competition began late last year. All the contestants posted videos on GetOnTheShelf.com, and the public will choose the winners. Ten finalists are to be selected sometime next week. The top three will be chosen at the end of April, when Wal-Mart will announce a grand winner.
Wal-Mart spokesman Ravi Jariwala said the contest is the first of its kind by a major retailer in the United States.
The Ciesinski kids, Jaime and Justine, now 12 and 10 respectively, and the Dowhie children, Emma and Lyla, now 12 and 11, are well beyond Lil Rinser. Pat Dowhie says winning the Wal-Mart contest would be "huge." But it would also provide some relief for other young parents.
"Giving the kids a bath was a nightmare," she said. "It was something you dreaded."
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