Should I buy a SNOO- A Sleep Consultant’s Perspective

To SNOO or not to SNOO? That is the question. Should you buy a SNOO? Let’s start out by explaining what the SNOO is.

What is the SNOO?

The SNOO is essentially a smart bassinet created by Harvey Karp of Happiest Baby on the Block. It “listens” to your baby’s fusses or cries and turns up sound and motion to soothe them back to sleep.

If your baby continues to fuss it will raise the sound and the wiggling intensity until a certain time as to when the app will alert the parent. [usually a few minutes or when it hits a certain level of intensity].

You can keep the motion on all night, or use the SNOO in “weaning mode” and it will only begin motion when your baby fusses.

Pros of the SNOO

• The swaddle attaches baby to the bassinet so there is no chance that the baby can roll in the swaddle. It also has a unique design where nothing can come loose or unraveled in the night to pose any suffocation risk.
• It’s a well made bassinet. It’s a simple but beautiful and well-built design that has an EMF shield built in. Which is important to many parents when it comes to technology near their baby. The entire product is chemical free and hypoallergenic and the sheets and swaddles are available in organic materials.
• It may get your baby to sleep longer stretches. New parents have to wake up every 2-3 hours to wake their baby. That doesn’t include the times in between that babies wake up for comfort. Even if the SNOO helped a baby fall back asleep 1-2x a night that could significantly improve a parent’s health and well-being. Sleep is vital, and not every parent has outside support.
• It uses sleep elements that we use as well! Both sound and movement are parts of our soothing steps that we know are effective in getting babies back to sleep.
• Safety. They claim to be SIDS reducing and have had no reported deaths as of 2022 [which is statistically impressive.]

Cons of the SNOO

• The swaddle attaches baby to the bassinet so there is no chance that the baby can roll in the swaddle. Yes I realize that is also listed as a pro. But some parents may continue to swaddle their baby past when they see signs of rolling because of this safety net. Once a baby begins to show signs of rolling they should stop being swaddled. They also need to move and stretch their bodies. For this reason many Occupational and Physical Therapists are against the SNOO.
• It’s expensive. It’s definitely not a necessary baby item or something that low-middle income families should break the bank trying to purchase. For parents with the means, that’s a different story.
• We’ve found the SNOO leads to many frustrated parents. Happiest Baby claims that it’s easy to wean off and that babies are great sleepers afterwards. We’ve found this isn’t the case. The reliance on motion is a difficult transition, especially since many parents keep the motion on until 4+ months of age. [The transition can be made especially hard because SNOO recommends that you use it in the “on” mode and use it consistently so the baby gets used to it.]
• There is no pause. The first step to our soothing steps is to pause and assess and give the baby a moment to work it out independently. If this pause is skipped then the baby begins to rely on immediate motion/support. In our opinion this is the opposite of teaching self soothing.
• It’s not a human. It doesn’t know if your baby is hungry or has a dirty diaper. If they have a fever or if the room is too hot or cold. Some babies are easily soothed and can be encouraged back to sleep even if something is not right.
• It’s not a caregiver. The SNOO cannot give human touch, love and empathy. It could potentially affect the parent’s learning curve for soothing their baby.

Tips for the SNOO

If you are going to buy a SNOO, here are some things that we recommend as sleep consultants.

• Use it on weaning mode only.
• Use it as a tool. The first few weeks home, when you need a shower, when you’re exhausted etc.
• Begin weaning off using the motion around 6-8 weeks. You can still use the bassinet but use it as a bassinet only.
• Stop using the swaddle when your baby begins showing signs of rolling. Don’t strap them down. Once a baby is rolling it is completely safe for them to sleep on their side or their belly. This is a natural progression of sleep.