About Us

I founded Mini Ducklings™ in January 2021 to pursue a lifelong entrepreneurial dream to start my own business and create products that combine my expertise as a pediatrician with my love and experience as a mom of 3 amazing children. My goal is to provide simple, fun, playful, and effective products that provide comfort to both parents and their children during the early years.

The name Mini Ducklings was inspired by the knowledge that ducklings imprint strongly and create a tight bond with their mom from birth. Within minutes after hatching, ducklings know their mother and follow her around in a little line because she provides comfort and support. Our family joke was always that our 3 children would follow me around the house just like “mini ducklings” so it was a natural choice for my company name, and my logo represents my 3 children. (I should have added in my 3 dogs as well because my kids are older now and don’t follow me around as much but the dogs still do!)

I also love that the initials for Mini Ducklings are M.D. reflecting my medical degree. My dream is for my products to bring bonding and love to parents and their children for years to come.

Creator & Pediatrician, Dr. Sarah Donahue

I'm thrilled to announce my first two products — Soothie Sleeve™ which uses a parent's own scent to comfort their baby. Scientific studies have shown for years that babies exposed to their mom's scent experience less fear and anxiety, cry less, and feed better. Soothie Sleeve is a practical solution to easily bring these calming effects to parents and babies everywhere. A parent wears a sleeve to absorb their scent; the sleeve is then placed on the coordinating plush animal as a t-shirt, and is offered to the child for comfort whenever needed because it smells like the parent.

My second product, Soothie Sounds™ uses familiar white noise sounds in fun characters shaped like the sound they make. White noise is scientifically supported to help babies cry less and sleep better.

Author, Ellie Donahue

I'm also honored to introduce my daughter, Ellie Donahue, who wrote the book My Soothie Sleeve- Close at Heart, which explains the many ways in which Soothie Sleeve can comfort your child. Ellie is a high schooler who loves children, acting, writing, volunteering, and spending time with her family, friends, and dogs (we really love our dogs!).

Meet Our Soothies