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An expensive tool that some parents swear saved their lives and sanity in the first months postpartum. The real question before you drop $1700 on this glorified mechanical bassinet is, is it worth it?
History & Philosophy
The Snoo was designed by Dr. Harvey Karp, celebrity pediatrician and author of The Happiest Baby on the Block (2002), along with some MIT engineers, and released in 2016. His origin story is that he was presenting about how the infant mortality rate in the U.S. hasn't gone down in over 20 years, and someone from the audience shouted out that he should do something about that. The Snoo is his answer.
He argues that ideally, babies should be in the womb for 12 months, but that then they wouldn't fit in our birth canals. So, for the first three months of a baby's life, you want to mimic the experience of the womb as much as possible. In his book, he outlines five strategies for soothing a baby that he is famous for: swaddle, side-lying, such, sway, and shhh. Before we get into the Snoo and what it can do for you, let's define those 5 Ss.
Swaddle
Wrapping your baby with their arms down by their sides, and their legs free, allows them to sleep without accidentally waking themself from their own startle reflex (which eventually fades and disappears). Some parents struggle with swaddling because they feel that it is a "straight jacket" for their baby. Others find that it soothes their baby better than anything else.
Side-lying (never unattended)
Suck
Sway
Shhhh
The Snoo does some of the 5 Ss for you: it includes a built in swaddle, makes white noise, and actually sways the baby on 3 different settings, depending on how much movement it detects from your baby as they stir. The Snoo needs to be plugged in and is connected to an app. Your baby must be attached in the swaddle, essentially holding them immobile on their back, in order for the Snoo to work.
When on, it will provide 3/5s of the Ss: swaddle, sway, and shh. In other words, the Snoo does what parents have been doing for time immemorial: rock and soothe their babies to sleep. This device is not revolutionary in its function.
What are the benefits of using a Snoo?
The Snoo sways and settles the baby so that you don't have to spend as much time transitioning the baby from your arms to their bassinet. For the uninitiated, often babies will happily fall asleep in your arms, but then the moment that you put them down they wake up and fuss. "Transferring" you baby from your arms to a bassinet is a skill that many parents need to learn on the job. Sometimes you might transfer your baby 3, 4, 5 times before they manage to fall asleep on their own. The Snoo significantly lessens the time it takes to transfer by taking over that movement for you, potentially saving you 20-30 minutes every 2-4 hours when you put baby down.
Babies also have trouble connecting their sleep cycles, meaning that they may rouse when a single cycle is complete, and those cycles are already shorter than our adult ones. The Snoo can help them "connect" their cycles by soothing them back to sleep in between cycles, providing a longer overall stretch of sleep. The app tracks your baby's sleep over the course of the day and provides a visual display. If you are a numbers and data person, seeing the overview of your baby's night might be really helpful. Then again, if you tend toward anxiety, it might actually make things worse. Know thyself.
People who experience postpartum anxiety share that knowing for sure their baby could not roll over and accidentally smother themself was crucial for them getting their own sleep, since the built-in swaddle holds the baby on their back. Having your baby safely clipped in on their back might be just enough reassurance for you to fall asleep in the early days of overwhelming (biologically programmed) fear for baby's safety during sleep.
Parents also report that they like the modern and sleek design. You can certainly find other beautiful bassinets for less money, but if you're already considering the Snoo, the design can be a nice bonus.
Bottom line: if it works for you and your baby, it means more sleep for you.
What are the downsides of a Snoo?
Works too well
I know I probably sound like I work for Dr. Karp at this point, but I promise I don't get any kick backs. Really what I'm saying is that some babies will sleep in the Snoo for MANY hours. A newborn needs to wake up every 2-4 hours to eat. It is easy to accidentally let your baby sleep much longer, and to just experience the temptation to leave them so you can rest, too. As long as your baby is gaining weight and growing, you don't have to worry, but longer stretches can jeopardize a nursing relationship.
Baby can't move
Weaning can be tough
It's 38 pounds, so you're not traveling with it
There are some babies who just aren't happy unless they are sleeping on their parent for the first several weeks of life, and that is normal. Babies are evolutionarily programmed to want to be held because they are helpless. If no one is near them, they could be eaten by a hawk! You try explaining to a newborn who craves physical proximity that their bassinet is safe and there are no birds of prey around. Not happening. Children vary in their desire for physical touch, just like everything. When you have a Velcro Baby who wants to be with you 24/7, baby wearing is a life-saver. Sometimes the Snoo just doesn't cut it.
Cost
The Snoo is the priciest bassinet you can buy, coming in at $1700 brand new. That is a lot of money for something you will likely only use for 5-6 months, but you have many options to bring that price down:
Snoo typically marks them down 30% during every major holiday / sale event, bringing the cost down to under $1200
You can buy a certified pre-used Snoo for $1200
Renting a Snoo costs $159/month, so if you use it for 6 months it would be about $1100
Facebook Marketplace is filled with secondhand Snoos sold by other parents: expect to pay around $500-800 and to be able to turn around and sell your Snoo when you're done for a similar amount of money
In an effort to get the resale market under control, Happiest Baby (maker of the Snoo) now has a "premium" version of their app which only comes with authorized purchases and rentals. However, you can still download the basic app for free - or pay for a premium subscription.
People Didn't Have Snoos in Caves and they Survived!
It's true! Those parents also didn't have pain killers, penicillin, pacifiers, filtered water, formula, and a whole host of other things we use now. Some people just generally don't like technology and are turned off by the thought of a "robot" soothing their baby.
If you are a paper-and-pen kinda guy, and using something mechanical to rock your baby bums you out, no judgement from me. I will say, as a doula, I see many parents grappling with what they theoretically believed to be true about themselves and their parenting style versus their practical survival in the early days of infancy. Just know, its ok if you change your mind.
And some babies are just a little better at going to sleep on their own from the get-go. You won't really know what kind of sleeper your baby is until they are born. I sometimes recommend that parents wait to see what kind of sleeper their kid is before making this purchase, but know that if you do get one before baby, the resale value is very good and you might even be able to sell a used one for the same price you bought it for. There are also options to rent, and often Snoos are sold through the Happy Baby website for a good discount during holidays.
Snoos are a godsend for single parents, and I would not hesitate to recommend getting a Snoo for anyone who is parenting alone. When you don't have a second pair of arms to help you rock your babe to sleep, a Snoo is a great alternative.
The Snoo team says that you can expect an additional 1-2 hours of sleep, so as a parent, you'll need to decide if that extra sleep is worth it to you. If you still aren't sure if the Snoo is right for you, I'd recommend reading the book Happiest Baby on the Block as a solid next step. My doula bestie, Carly Ann Braun, says:
The Snoo is a capitalist solution to a capitalist problem.
You need to sleep because you need to work. In a different world, people might have a year off of work for parental leave. Family and friends would take care of food and all household tasks. Your whole job would be to rest and sleep and cuddle your sweet baby. But we don't live in that world. We live in the U.S. in 2024, and if your family would benefit from a robot crib, I say do it.
Just like every other parenting decision, there is no right answer. You will find sleep experts who swear the Snoo will ruin your baby's sleep habits, new parents who swear they would have died without the Snoo, and everything in between. Part of being a parent is weighing the pros and cons of a decision and then making the one that is in alignment with your family values. In other words: Do you boo.
Still feel lost? A doula can help you plan for postpartum.
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