I solved my toddler’s toilet training problem and now make $80K a month

A Melbourne mum knew there had to be a better way to manage day and night time toilet training. Her solution is now raking in the big bucks.

A clever solution to a common parenting problem. Images: Supplied

When Pauline was struggling with toilet training her first child, Christien, while caring for a newborn, she knew there had to be ways to make the process - and the clean up - easier. 

At the time, the Melbourne mum had taken over her in-laws' business, which supplied incontinence products for healthcare facilities. 

“It was operating at a loss and only had $1.50 in the bank account, but I thought there was this huge gap in the market for kids’ continence products,” the 44-year-old tells Kidspot. 

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A clever solution to a common parenting problem. Images: Supplied

Taking a risk to solve a common problem 

To create Stay Dry, a specialised children’s line of leak-proof products, Pauline took the risk and redrew an eye-watering $200,000 from the family mortgage 10 years ago - all while their home was being renovated and she was on maternity leave with two toddlers. 

“It was a very crazy time,” the former chartered accountant says. 

“I was very nervous and it was a big leap of faith.” 

To test her first products - discreet toilet training underwear (which feel like regular underwear but hold leaks) and fun-designed bed pads - Pauline used Christien’s journey to perfect her designs to make sure they were up to the task. 

Then, when second son, William, started toilet training two years later, Pauline realised just how much of a difference her newly launched items would make. 

“It changed my life because I had this product that I knew worked,” she says.  

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The clever business is taking off. Images: Supplied

As Pauline talked to more and more parents at expos, she realised there was so much more she could do to make life easier for families dealing with continence issues. 

“I made it my mission to create something that looked great but was functional as well,” she says.

“My ethos is that your bedroom doesn’t need to look like you’ve got an incontinence problem. Everyone is entitled to a beautiful bedroom, whatever their needs are.” 

The entrepreneur says she was the first in Australia to come up with water, stain and odour resistant doona covers. 

“We knew how hard it was washing bedding every time there’s an accident, and this eliminates that need,” she explains. 

“You can just wipe it down and keep using it.”  

She also created water and stain resistant pillowcase covers.

“Kids dribble and sweat and we want to protect their pillows to give them longevity.”

RELATED: ‘My child is angry I told people she wets the bed’

The bed linen all parents should have

Pauline’s most recent product launch is a waterproof fitted sheet, which both her boys, now aged 13 and 11, currently have on their beds.  

“It eliminates the need for a waterproof mattress protector and fitted sheet,” she says. 

“It’s a bamboo sheet that’s still soft and breathable but protects the mattress from liquids. The boys don’t have any incontinence issues, but it’s just the best way we can protect their mattress.”  

From selling just a few pairs of toilet training underwear a week, Stay Dry is now a booming business, with sales of more than $80,000 a month. Yes, that’s a month! 

“It wasn’t an overnight success,” Pauline says humbly. 

“It’s taken years of hard work to get where we are now. There have been many times I’ve worked seven days a week and I’m always thinking about the business. To think about where we started, it’s phenomenal. It’s a testament to how much these products help families, and I’m really proud of how far we’ve come. Ultimately, I really want to make my husband and boys proud of me.” 

Originally published as I solved my toddler’s toilet training problem and now make $80K a month