What would you pay for a few more hours of sleep for your newborn?
The new SNOO smart sleeper is putting that to the test!
Exhausted new parents are flocking to this new robot like bassinet promising to give you more sleep by soothing your newborn when they wake. Dr. Harvey Karp says “More than anything else Snoo is a 24/7 helper. It's like your older sister moved in with you.”
But is it worth it?
As a Certified Paediatric Sleep Consultant, here is my honest opinion.
Yes, if you can check off the list below I believe it can work for you.
Is it necessary?
NO. It’s not going to get you the hours upon hours of sleep you think it will (it’s not magic) and if you don’t use it properly it can cost you more than it’s worth.
So let’s talk about why I’m so torn on this product…
Firstly, what is the SNOO?
The SNOO bassinet is a smart sleeper designed by the famous Dr. Harvey Karp, Paediatrician and founder of the happiest baby series and company.
Dr. Karp knows about soothing newborns. He’s the author of the 5 S’s to calming a newborn - which I use in my practice with very fussy babies.
photo from https://www.crateandbarrel.ca
This device is essentially a bassinet that detects (through built in microphones) when your baby gets fussy and soothes them back to sleep by activating motion and sound. It increases the motion to match the cries of your baby and essentially lulls them back down to sleep.
It’s only for babies 0-6 months (although I think 6 months is WAY too old for it, i’ll explain below)
Why I like the SNOO:
It’s a SAFE option. Obviously, there is always a risk when using any product but I appreciate the safety built into this product. It really looks like they thought of everything.
I see so many parents resorting to unsafe sleep practices with newborns just to survive those first few months. It’s refreshing to see something on the market that provides an option with safety at the forefront.
In the SNOO baby is swaddled on their back (the swaddle is firmly strapped on so baby cannot rollover), and the bassinet has nothing but a sheet (please don’t ever place anything in it).
This is probably the BIGGEST reason why I like this product.
**on its website it talks about putting an lb bag of rice on a baby’s chest inside the swaddle to help them feel more snug. PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS. It’s dangerous to put any pressure on a baby’s chest. This is EXTREMELY unsafe.
It helps give parents an “extra pair of hands.” Newborn parents need extra support, writing this in the middle of a pandemic, newborn parents have less support than ever before. This is a tool that can help mom/dad keep a newborn calm without always having to have baby in arms…so they can meet their basic needs (shower, get dressed, and EAT).
Anything that can provide newborn mamas and parents a helping hand is great in my books!
The SNOO doesn’t promise to replace parental contact altogether. If your baby is crying for over a minute the SNOO senses that it could be hunger or something more and stops, prompting parents to come to get the baby and feed/change. This still allows for frequent feeds overnight.
Why I don’t like the SNOO:
It’s NOT magic. Parents have high expectations of the SNOO and because it’s quite pricey they think it will solve all of their problems. No. it won’t. You will still have to get up with a newborn multiple times overnight. Some babies will not respond at all to this kind of soothing and it might not work for your baby. That’s the truth. We are working with little humans and not all are the same.
I once spoke to a parent that told me that her little one slept great without it and she only liked the swaddle but was not fond of the giggling. So it became just a really expensive plain bassinet.
So hey it’s a beautiful product, but the reality is that if it doesn’t work for your baby, you will have a very expensive furniture piece that will likely hold your laundry.
but Lily WILL IT GET ME MORE SLEEP?!
It can…but what do you mean by more sleep? It’s likely to get you an extra 30 minutes here or there but you still have to feed your baby often so that depends on what “more sleep” means to you.
Most parents say that at 3 months it works great and baby starts sleeping long stretches “thanks to the SNOO”…well at 3 months we start to naturally see longer stretches develop, SNOO or no SNOO. Longer periods in deep sleep and fewer wake-ups…
At 4 months, however, is when the SNOO will be most helpful…but let’s talk about that…
That SNOO WILL create a dependency. The truth of the matter is the SNOO will create an association with movement period.
Not all associations are bad but consider baby not being able to sleep in any other way than with the movement of this device. Hard to pack it up and take it with you and HARD to wean.
All in all, babies at 4 months sometimes already have associations anyway, rocking, bouncing ect. so this is no different.
Where I feel the SNOO can make it harder is:
Few parents use the weaning features properly. At four months the SNOO will remind you to start weaning. It’s important to use this feature. This is key. Many parents don’t and getting a baby to sleep without movement or the swaddle is HARD. To be honest the swaddle is in my opinion harder. A baby at 4 months should be transitioning from the swaddle. The SNOO comes with inserts that allow you to let both arms out but parents often don’t use this because “it’s working great for them”….until it’s not.
A baby that is swaddled for that long can build a strong dependency on it. They are not able to practice having their hands free and please if your baby is rolling don’t ever have them in a swaddle, ever. The SNOO holds the baby in place but transitioning a baby that has not experienced life out of a swaddle at 6 months is going to prove difficult.
Movement NEEDS to be reduced. You will likely still need to sleep train with the transition as the baby is so used to sleeping with movement and teaching them to sleep independently will be important.
Many parents don’t start the transition until baby is busting out of the SNOO and moving them proves more difficult. Although it can be done and I work with families to get them through this transition.
So ultimately, should you invest in a SNOO?
Yes it’s an investment of $1400 USD for the possibility of a little extra sleep for 4 months.
This, in the end is up to each individual family. There is the opportunity to rent out the SNOO and for me that seems like the BEST option. Try it out first.
Also, the resale value of it is really high so you can also factor that in and get some of your money back after you are done with it.
DOWNLOAD FREE SLEEP SCHEDULES
As a recap…
I like the SNOO because:
-It’s safe- it prevents unsafe sleep and protects baby from SIDS. Swings, Sleepers, loungers and anything that keeps baby upright or has padding is NOT safe for sleep.
-It gives new parents some relief
-It creates an association that you can wean (but you NEED to work off of it and not put it off)
-You can keep the white noise association long after, it’s a great sleep association and can maintain consistency
-You can rent it or resell it so it brings the cost down
I don’t like the SNOO because:
-It’s not magic - doesn’t work for every baby
-Weaning it can be hard
-In my opinion, it should not be used after 4-5 months- 6 months is too old.
-No using it properly - arms out after 4 months and using the weaning mode can cause more sleepless nights in the long run.
-It’s a huge investment when there are other options.
My last piece of advice is DO WHAT IS BEST FOR YOUR FAMILY. If you want to try the SNOO, go for it!
I don’t necessarily think it’s bad, in fact, I think it can be a great tool but just that a TOOL. Not a miracle solution that replaces good sleep habits.
Reach out if you have any questions or are needing help weaning from the SNOO…I can guide you through it.
Lil xx
ps. Here are some alternatives to the SNOO that will likely work just as good and are a fraction of the price:
