Nora turned 6 months last week, and graduated from the SNOO to her crib a little over two weeks ago. It is now time for my full, honest, and unsponsored review!
When I was 5 months pregnant with Nora, I started to FREAK OUT about the possibility that her impending arrival may completely disrupt Nathan’s sleep schedule. Nathan has slept through the night since he was 2 months old. The LAST thing I needed was our new baby waking him up every couple hours. After a lot of research, I found the Happiest Baby SNOO. For those of you who don’t know about the SNOO, it is a smart sleeper bassinet created by Dr. Harvey Karp, author of The Happiest Baby On The Block. The book teaches you his method of soothing a baby with the 5 S’s – swaddle, side, swing, shush, suck. The SNOO embodies the power of this technique, minus the sucking.
Everyone seemed to rave about the SNOO. I was skeptical, especially since it costs a pretty penny (it currently retails for $1295). I followed the brand on Instagram and, anytime someone would post a review, I would read it. It popped up in my feed A LOT. After months and months of wavering back and forth as to whether or not to get it, I decided to finally buy it on Black Friday. They were offering a significant discount ($400 off), so the price was SLIGHTLY more palatable. I was able to convince E to try it. They offer a 30 day, no-risk free trial (from date of delivery). We thought that if it wasn’t working for us within the first couple weeks we could return it. No harm, no foul. I also figured that once we were done with it we would be able to sell it for most of what we paid for it (which was true, in the end).
The Happiest Baby SNOO is a beautiful modern bassinet that comes with its own special swaddle that attaches directly to the bassinet. The SNOO will not turn on unless the swaddle is hooked in. There is an app that you download to track your baby’s sleep and to control the motion. There are four levels of motion. The first is a gentle swinging motion with light white noise. If the baby wakes up and cries, the motion adjusts according to the level of crying and agitation. It senses everything!
Nora slept in the SNOO from DAY 1. The SNOO was actually delivered the day before we got home from the hospital. PERFECT TIMING. E was a little worried that it would be hard to put together, but he was pleasantly surprised that unpacking and assembly took all of about 10 minutes from start to finish.
The first night was a little rough. I didn’t fully understand the different levels of soothing and Nora didn’t seem to like the movement all that much. She woke up A LOT. That morning, I turned on the Motion Limiter function. With the Motion Limiter, the SNOO’s white noise will still increase to Level 4, but the motion won’t go higher than Level 2. I actually kept the Motion Limiter function on throughout the entire time we had the SNOO. Within a day or two, Nora was sleeping longer stretches, only waking once or twice a night to eat. She would then quickly drift back to sleep in the comfort of the SNOO. It was nice to be able to immediately go back to sleep myself after a feed. I didn’t have to worry about rocking her back to sleep! At about a month and a half she was sleeping 8 hours straight and, just before her 2 month birthday, she started sleeping through the night.
E and I were both so incredibly impressed with the SNOO. Nora was a sleep rockstar at a very young age and we attributed it all to the magic of the SNOO. Honestly, the money we spent on the SNOO was worth every penny because it allowed E and I to sleep more during those first crazy days, weeks, and months. As a new parent, you need all the sleep you can get. As a mom and dad of two kids under two years old, every minute of sleep is precious!
Would I buy it again? ABSOLUTELY. I sing its praises every chance I get. My only criticism of the SNOO (and honestly it isn’t a criticism of the SNOO so much as it is of the cost) is that because we spent so much on it, we wanted to use it for every last second. We started to wean Nora from the SNOO by letting one arm out, and then both arms out, and then using the wean function about a month before we transitioned her. We probably should have started the transition a few weeks earlier. She was ready, but we weren’t ready to lose the SNOO.
If the upfront cost of the SNOO is what is keeping you from it, you can now rent your SNOO for a few dollars a day! Had this option been available when I was looking at the SNOO, I probably would have rented it.
If you have any questions about my experience using the SNOO, please feel free to email me at whatsfordinneresq@gmail.com.
*This post is NOT sponsored by Happiest Baby. I paid full price for my SNOO.
