Toowoomba parents start catcher bib business Chundee after messy car ride

One stressful road trip with a violently ill toddler later, these Aussie parents think they’ve got the answer to all your messy car woes.

Toowoomba parents Daniel and Karmyn Roberts have created a unique solution to messy car rides after driving three hours with a sick toddler. Picture: Chundee/ Amy Philp Photography

Two clever Toowoomba parents are hoping to save parents buckets of stress with their solution to messy family road trips.

It’s a parent’s worst nightmare: a three-hour drive home with a sick toddler in the back, but for Toowoomba parents Karmyn and Daniel Roberts it was the start of something great.

“At that time we had three car seats in the back and so I couldn’t even sit back there with a bucket,” Mrs Roberts.

“It was just fingers and toes crossed all the way home to Toowoomba.”

Toowoomba parents Daniel and Karmyn Roberts have created a unique solution to messy car rides after driving three hours with a sick toddler. Picture: Chundee/ Amy Philp Photography

Following the disastrous drive, the inventive couple then began work on their Chundee bucket bib, designed to capture little ones’ vomit at a moment’s notice with a large silicone bucket and splashback trim attached to their chest at all times.

“There’s been other times we’ve been stuck and haven’t had anything in the car and we were like ‘other parents must have this problem’,” Mrs Roberts said.

“In a lot of cases, it’s too late by the time you realise what’s happening.

“Especially for the little ones who can’t be like ‘oh mum can I have a bucket’.

“So we thought from chunder to Chundee.”

Toowoomba parents Daniel and Karmyn Roberts have created a unique solution to messy car rides after driving three hours with a sick toddler. Picture: Chundee/ Amy Philp Photography

With no background in manufacturing or business, the Roberts used what they had to make the dream a reality.

Mrs Roberts said their design evolved from ice cream buckets to eventually a silicone bib.

“We knew we wanted it to be silicone so it’s reusable and sturdy,” Mrs Roberts said.

“But it took us about a year to get the exact product down pat.”

After only three weeks on the market, the couple are already being noticed by thankful mums and dads.

“We’ve had a good response, people saying ‘so clever’, ‘such a good idea’ … it’s just getting the word out there,” she said.

“Other small businesses have been really supportive as well.

“We’re a family, we’ve never been in business before, we just came up with this idea and thought, ‘let’s just give it a go’.”

Chundee bucket bibs and wet bags are available on their website: chundee.com.au.