EXHIBIT 31.1

                CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO 18 U.S.C. SECTION 1350
                       AS ADOPTED PURSUANT TO SECTION 302
                        OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002


I, Alfred E. Brennan, Jr., certify that:

         1.  I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Young
             Innovations, Inc.;

         2.  Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any
             untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material
             fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the
             circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading
             with respect to the period covered by this quarterly report;

         3.  Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other
             financial information included in this quarterly report, fairly
             present in all material respects the financial condition, results
             of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the
             periods presented in this quarterly report;

         4.  The registrant's other certifying officer and I are responsible for
             establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
             defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the
             registrant and we have:

                  a) designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
                     such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed
                     under our supervision, to ensure that material information
                     relating to the registrant, including its consolidated
                     subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those
                     entities, particularly during the period in which this
                     quarterly report is being prepared;

                  b) evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
                     controls and procedures and presented in this report our
                     conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure
                     controls and procedures, as of the end of the period
                     covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

                  c) disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
                     internal control over financial reporting that occurred
                     during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter that has
                     materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
                     affect, the registrant's internal control over financial
                     reporting; and

         5.  The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed,
             based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over
             financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit
             committee of registrant's board of directors:

                  a) all significant deficiencies in the design or operation of
                     internal control over financial reporting which are
                     reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's
                     ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
                     information; and

                  b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves
                     management or other employees who have a significant role
                     in the registrant's internal control over financial
                     reporting.


Date:  August 8, 2003
                                                      /s/ Alfred E. Brennan, Jr.
                                                      --------------------------
                                                      Alfred E. Brennan, Jr.
                                                      Chief Executive Officer