Baby girl transitioned out of the SNOO bassinet almost a couple months ago, so I wanted to write my honest thoughts about it. My coworker purchased it, then passed it on to another coworker, who lent it to us when his baby outgrew it, and I just returned it to him as they’re expecting another child! It’s been the parenthood of the traveling SNOO and I’m so grateful for their generosity!
What is the SNOO?
The SNOO is a $1,700 smart bassinet that sways and soothes the baby as they sleep, and is responsive with increasing motion and sound if the baby needs further soothing. If Gray fussed or cried, the SNOO would sway more and the noise machine would intensify from Levels 1-4, which often calmed her back to sleep. It does cap at Level 4, so the SNOO will completely stop and alert you that your baby needs your attention. It’s been recently approved by the FDA for helping babies sleep on their backs, as baby is clipped into the bassinet with the specific SNOO sleep sack.
Pros
Good Sleep: This is our first baby so we have no idea how Gray would have slept without the SNOO, but as first-time parents, we were so thankful for this bassinet because it really seemed like it helped her sleep well! In the middle of the night, you’d try anything to make sure your baby gets good sleep haha. Of course G had her share of short naps and disturbed sleep, but she’s overall a really good sleeper. We always felt relief having the SNOO — it’s just another tool in your toolbox, along with contact naps, babywearing, etc. That reassurance is so vital, especially early on in parenthood when you’re not sure what to do.
The App: You can monitor on the app how long the baby sleeps and how often they needed soothing. It also lets you know when the baby needs your attention.
Safety: The specific SNOO sleep sacks clip in so you never have to worry about the baby being swaddled and rolling over.
Aesthetic: The design of the SNOO is sleek and beautiful. The height was perfect for us, so it was easy get baby or put her in.
Cons
Cost: The price is prohibitive for sure! You could rent the SNOO bassinet, though that’s still expensive, as you’d probably have to get additional SNOO sleep sacks, etc.
Not Always Smart: Sometimes G was babbling, but the SNOO would sense noise and think it was crying then kick into soothing mode. We’d have to go into the app and manually turn the soothing off.
Sleep Sacks: The sleep sacks have to slide into the clips in order to turn the SNOO on, and it takes getting used to. When Gray was a newborn, clipping it in sometimes jostled her awake. As she got older, this wasn’t an issue. Also, once she no longer needed to be swaddled, we let her arms out, but the arm holes don’t have any stretch so getting the sleep sack on and off was kind of a pain.
The app: The app sometimes wouldn’t connect. You also can’t remotely turn the SNOO back on. I get why they may want you to manually turn it back on, but sometimes when SNOO would mistake her babbling for crying, it’ll mistakenly turn off.
Design: The bassinet legs stick out a little so we’ve tripped over them a few times.
How was Weaning Off the SNOO?
We were nervous about transitioning baby girl from the SNOO to her crib but it was surprisingly easy!
The SNOO has a “Weaning” mode so we turned it on a month before the transition. “Weaning” mode turns off the SNOO motion when the baby is calm and only turns on when soothing is needed. There is still a soft shushing sound at the baseline of the “Weaning” mode even when there’s no motion.
She’d be able to fall sleep without any soothing, so that was reassuring. We also had the sound machine volume on “Very Low” and turned on “Motion Limiter”, which limits SNOO’s motion to only Level 2.
The first night in her crib, she slept really well. For naps the next day, she took a longer time falling asleep, but we expected that with a transition to a new bed and her room. In about a week she had totally adjusted.
The SNOO was totally worth it for us, but I say that having gotten to borrow it for free. I do think if we’re not able to borrow it again in the future, we would end up renting it if we had another child. Anyway, let me know if you have any questions in the comments and I’ll answer!
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