We all love spas, don’t we? But while you ladies go to your spas, you can’t keep your babies hanging at home all alone. You wished babies had a spa too, right? Well, a Certified Instructor of Infant Massage, Kristi Ison, pitched Float Baby, also called a Spa for babies, on Shark Tank.
The newborns are suspended in the water with the ingenious donut-shaped ring as they float and romp with their parents. After 20-30 minutes of floating and splashing, the babies are covered in a damp, warm towel, followed by a brief massage!n
Float Baby is a spa for infants as young as two weeks old that’s located in Texas. Children wear flotation devices to stay afloat in warm, relaxing water.
The newborns float in sterilized tubs, which can increase bone strength, give a stronger respiratory system, improve blood circulation to the heart, and promote cognitive development. Many studies have shown that neonates benefit from early water exposure. Ison suggests that newborns should take a weekly session for the most overall advantages. Each group session costs $50, whereas individual sessions cost $160.
Float Baby was available in Houston when Ison introduced the business at Shark Tank and was most likely looking forward to growing into new areas.
Kristi pitched her company for $150K in exchange for 20% ownership, saying, “We know that those who exercise weekly have better physical strength and cognitive development and that frequent massage enhances blood flow. Here is the first baby facility that offers both fitness and massage.”
The Sharks were apprehensive about the concept of a baby spa. They didn’t think it had high business potential, mainly because it costs parents well over $50 to take their newborns to the spa. The Sharks were also concerned about Ison’s perceived lack of hustle.
While Kristi couldn’t do well on Shark Tank, she got exposure and promoted herself to many customers. She is pretty active on social media and still running her business.
Our Review of the Float Baby
As we watch the episode of Float Baby — Kristi switches on the monitor behind her, which displays a video of a baby having a massage from Float Baby. The mother is holding the infant with a flotation device around its head, making the Sharks chuckle. The babies float around, wondering what to do, until the image shifts to a baby getting a body massage.
The Sharks laugh and can’t believe what they’ve seen, but Kristi is deadly serious. She informs the Sharks that the notion of “floating infants” has been tested 1,000 times.
Shark guest Chris Sacca, an investor in firms like LinkedIn and Twitter, questions who has proven this, and even Mark agrees because Christie made a lot of promises. Christie adds that seven other nations have corroborated this data, but Mark dismisses this as an explanation since it signifies nothing. Chris requests a study on where newborns who float have superior health outcomes, including the cognitive result described by Kristi earlier.
With a lack of scientific grounds, how uncomfortable the baby looked in that floatation device, and most importantly, service charges as high as $55, there was nothing Sharks could get out of this idea.
When Mark inquired about the sales numbers, Kristi stated that she made $84,000 in the initial years, and they are aiming to make $60,000. Mark asks whether she is selling out all of her time slots, which Christie confirms and says is her second problem – Mark corrects her and says it is her first obstacle, as one must always be running at total capacity before growing.
If she sells enough, Kristi will have enough money for her tub, and Daymond suggests that this is a different topic – things need to become viral.
Kristi left the Shark Tank almost empty-handed, but she got some audience and was able to get some customers out of it.
Pros of Float Baby
- A good time passes for parents, and they’re newborns.
- While there is some scientific relevance for physical strength and cognitive development related to swimming and early exposure to water, infants can get friendlier with water and learn how to swim.
- Babies get a massage which is great for muscle strength and mobility.
Cons of Float Baby
- It can be dangerous for newborns as young as six months and make babies uncomfortable and cranky with the donut flotation device.
- The cost per session is relatively high for the service offered.
Who Is the Float Baby Service For?
Float Baby is a baby hydrotherapy and massage service. Babies as little as two weeks old can participate in the water activities and massage. According to their website, this can “increase muscular tone, give digestion and constipation relief, boost water familiarity, and aid left/right brain development.” The cost of the one-hour session is $55.
Are There Any Alternatives?
There aren’t any alternatives for the services that Float Baby Offers, as Kirsti claimed in the Shark Tank that her’s is the first baby facility that offers both massage and exercise.
While Kristi is no retailer yet, these baby floatation devices can be bought and used at home if you wish to give your baby an early exposure to water, followed by a massage that you might be doing every day.
Our Final Thoughts
Despite her terrible performance in the Shark Tank, Ms. Ison is still committed to delivering float and massage treatments at her spa in Houston. Her Facebook page is still up, but now she’s promoting a $5 per session price increase, as well as gift card offers at the current price of $55 per appointment, or $198 for every group session, which would cover four newborns.
Although her business has not taken off well, she has a small but loyal local clientele. It’s possible that Float Baby’s reputation in the local market would be enough to keep her floating, even if she never oversteps the small pool for swimming with the Sharks. Her vision did not align with the Sharks’ long-term house and retail sales aims. Therefore she will swim with the smaller fishes for now.
