My Experience With The Snoo
Before Goldie was born, I had every intention of establishing a safe sleep routine for her, but, let’s face it...things change and what you had pictured in your mind doesn’t exactly come to complete fruition. Like many newborns, Goldie woke up every 2-2 1/2 hours for feeding and I was EXHAUSTED. We co-slept with her for 8 weeks until my anxiety got to me. I literally watched her as she slept and it was to the point where I felt like it was taking my sanity. I knew that it wasn’t the safest decision and while I don’t judge any parents for co-sleeping, it just wasn’t for me.
We were lucky enough to have friends who had a baby and were in the transition of sleep training their little one when they lent us their SNOO till they were ready for their next one.
SO…WHAT IS THE SNOO?
The SNOO is like a unicorn. It’s magical! Per the Happiest Baby website, the SNOO is a "responsive bassinet that boosts sleep for babies—and parents! Created by Dr. Harvey Karp (The 5 S's, Happiest Baby on the Block), SNOO improves sleep with the calming sensations of the womb. Its companion mobile App lets you adjust SNOO...to be perfect for your unique baby.” The site goes on to explain how the SNOO helps sleep train by assisting babies to learn to self soothe when they wake in the middle of the night. As the baby cries, the SNOO increases its sound and movement to soothe your little one.
Most importantly, the SNOO reinforces safe sleeping habits. While SIDS is a consistent fear for all parents, it is the reason for my postpartum anxiety. It literally scared me to death, how precious life can be taken away. SNOO was designed with breathable mesh material and a built in swaddle sack. The swaddle has straps which are used to attach to the bassinet. This feature ensures that your little one is on their back all while in the SNOO. The bassinet also doesn’t engage unless your little is strapped in the swaddle using the Velcro wraps and with clips attached. This was a huge sigh of relief for us knowing that Goldie was right beside me.
Another thing that we really enjoyed, was the fact that the SNOO has the ability to use Wi-Fi. There is also an app which can track sleep, increase or decrease motion and the ability to increase white noise. The app also helps track hours slept.
There are 5 levels of motion and sound that you can use to soothe him or her depending on how distressed they appear to be.
CONS
While there may appear to be many advantages to the SNOO there are a couple disadvantages I’d like to point out. My first con is the price. At the time we had Goldie, the SNOO was about $1200. For first time parents this isn’t always an option and for babies who sleep in the bassinet for about 6 months, some may say that the price isn’t worth it. Since then, Happiest Baby has come out with a rental program, which may be another option for parents who don’t want to fully invest in owning one.
Another disadvantage to the SNOO was that although the bassinet can monitor distressed behavior, it sometimes does not consistently catch it until they’re full blown crying…It’s only happened a handful of times but nonetheless less, the SNOO helped calm our little one’s nerves as she soothed herself back to sleep.
Last but not least, I felt like there wasn’t enough information on transitioning our little out of the SNOO. Although there is a “Weaning mode” there isn’t much information on how to transition your little to their crib. It felt like it was trial and error.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I had grown attached to this “Robo Mom.” It allowed my husband and I more sanity as we began to use it. It was our saving grace and gave us the ability to gain more sleep as Goldie began to sleep. In my opinion, the bassinet is definitely worth the investment.
First and foremost it practices safe sleeping habits and to know that my child is sleeping on her back was enough for me to recommend this bassinet to any expecting parent. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.