When Claire Hausler and her husband had their first child, she struggled to find babywear and sleep products that were made out of Merino wool.
And having grown up on a wool growing farm at Minhamite, Vic, and understanding all of the benefits of the natural fibre, she knew that was what she wanted to dress her baby in.
So rather than waiting for someone else to do it, she decided to do it herself and started her own business selling baby products made out of Merino wool - named Merineo, a play on the words Merino and neonate.
"I knew that soft to touch Merino wool existed, but following the birth of my child Jack, I struggled to find babywear and sleep products made using wool suitable for babies," Ms Hausler said.
"I had also noticed many cotton and synthetic baby sleeping bags in shops, but none using wool.
"Knowing about wool's health benefits, and the research showing it aids sleep, and understanding personally how important sleep is to newborn parents, I began thinking about how I could educate parents about using wool on their babies to help the baby sleep better."
She said these thoughts led to conversations with a private hospital in Melbourne who wanted a unique and useful Australian-made sleep product to give to their newborn babies in their branding as a keepsake.
"With the midwives' input, I developed the 'Merineo', a world-first design of a swaddle sewn into a sleeping bag, designed to swaddle babies and keep them snug to help them settle faster," she said.
"From there the Merineo was successfully trialed at the hospital, leading to all newborn babies born at the hospital receiving a Merineo as a gift from the hospital.
"As part of the initiative with the hospital, I attended their birth education classes and presented to participants on the research showing the benefits of using wool on babies."
Ms Hausler said this idea first came in 2015, but it took a year to develop the product, source and test suitable wool fabric and find local makers.
"Now, the product range has increased from the Merineo swaddling bag to include sleeping bags for up to two year-olds, blankets, baby and child singlets for up to seven year-olds, long-sleeved tops with mitten hands and baby leggings with turnover cuffs to encase baby's feet," she said.
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She said currently all of her products were made from 100 per cent 17.5 micron superfine Merino wool, with a high comfort factor.
The wool is sourced from a mill in Italy where her family sells wool to.
"It makes them lovely and soft and perfect to use on babies' delicate skin," she said.
"The quality of the fabric differentiates Merineo from other brands who use 18.5-21 micron wool; I constantly receive feedback about how soft the product feels."
Ms Hausler said recently, the fact that the business' products were all made locally in Australia had helped with its online sales.
She said obstetricians had also shown an interest in Merineo's products as gifts to give to their mothers because they were Australian-made.
"I am hoping the world's talk about sustainability will convert into people buying sustainable clothing, like wool garments rather than synthetics," she said.
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