Brooklyn-based industrial designer Scott Henderson, known for creating bestselling household products like the Moby Spout Cover and early OXO Kitchen Tools designs, has launched a new venture in the baby products market with Choo Choo the Seahorse, an innovative teething toy that addresses multiple parenting challenges through thoughtful design.

Henderson's latest creation tackles common frustrations parents face with teething babies, including constantly dropped toys that require frequent washing, products that fail to provide effective soothing, and the ongoing struggle to find items that satisfy both babies and their caregivers. The seahorse design features an integrated handle that forms part of the overall structure rather than being an add-on component, significantly reducing the likelihood of drops that plague traditional teething toys.

The product's functionality extends beyond basic teething relief through several innovative features. The seahorse includes a pacifier-shaped face that encourages babies to chew away from the wide, stable base, while a specialized "mane" serves as a built-in gum massager with carefully sculpted silicone prongs. A particularly clever design element is the prehensile tail that can wrap around objects or hang for air-drying after washing, addressing practical concerns about hygiene and storage.

The teething toy incorporates both hard and soft chewing zones throughout its structure, providing varied tactile textures to engage babies at different stages of teething. Henderson included a gentle squeaker that provides auditory stimulation without creating the loud, jarring sounds that often frustrate parents. The entire product is manufactured from food-grade silicone that meets safety standards while being hypoallergenic, odor-free, and fade-resistant.

Henderson's decision to design the toy as a seahorse reflects deeper considerations about infant psychology and comfort. "The ocean has an ancient, inherent calming effect—it's something we feel before we understand," Henderson explains. The character features a closed, peaceful eye specifically designed to signal emotional safety, a thoughtful detail rarely seen in mass-market baby products. This attention to psychological comfort demonstrates Henderson's integrated approach to product development.

Choo Choo the Seahorse represents the inaugural product from Henderson's new brand, Jay Street Baby, and marks the beginning of an ambitious character-driven intellectual property strategy. The teething toy will launch alongside an original storybook titled "Choo Choo the Seahorse's Big Adventure," which Henderson both wrote and illustrated. This approach creates a broader narrative universe around the character, extending beyond traditional product boundaries.

The designer is positioning Choo Choo and future products as components of a comprehensive character-driven franchise, with development plans including additional books, animated shorts, and expanded product lines. This strategy borrows from entertainment industry approaches, focusing on building immersive worlds around characters rather than creating isolated products. Henderson's vision encompasses multiple media formats that could extend the brand's reach across various platforms.

Whether parents will embrace this kind of comprehensive brand universe approach in the baby products market remains to be tested, as it represents a departure from traditional single-product marketing strategies. The success of this model could influence how other designers and companies approach product development in the children's market, potentially shifting toward more narrative-driven branding.

Choo Choo the Seahorse is currently available for preorder through the dedicated website choochootheseahorse.com, with shipping scheduled to begin this fall. Henderson's track record includes designing the Moby Spout Cover for Skip Hop in 2008, which became one of the best-selling baby items of all time, and his early contributions to OXO Kitchen Tools helped establish that brand's distinctive ergonomic identity. He also served as jury leader for the 2024 Core77 Design Awards Lifestyle Accessories category, demonstrating his continued influence in the industrial design community.