Is The Snoo Truly Worth The Price?

The Snoo is EVERYWHERE! You probably get a lot of ads for it. You see it on Pinterest all the time, your friends might be raving about it but you’re wondering, “Do I really NEED the Snoo?” Does my baby actually need this? Is it really going to deliver you the wonderful night of sleep it promises? As a pediatric sleep consultant today I’m going to give you my honest opinions, review, and share some other alternatives that might be a great idea for your family.

 

WHAT IS THE SNOO?

In case you don’t know what the Snoo is, this is the bassinet created by Dr. Harvey Karp. You know Dr. Karp for Happiest Baby on the Block, and the Five S’s. The Snoo is a bassinet that responds to your baby’s needs.

The idea is that if your baby is starting to cry it will start to sway the bassinet related to the crying intensity. The baby is also swaddled using their unique swaddle that is also attached to the sides. So the bassinet uses the Five S’s premise to help calm your baby so that you maybe don’t have to get up and go assist them.

And that can be great, right? If your newborn is in the middle of a sleep cycle transition and they don’t need a feed the bassinet calms them back to sleep. So in essence, the Snoo is a super fancy bassinet that offers your baby comfort in the night should they need it.

 

Issues With The Snoo

I take three issues with the Snoo from my experience working with families and as a consumer looking from the outside in.

1. Pushy Marketing

My first issue with it is that they are really, really, really pushing their product on sleep-deprived parents. It’s frustrating that they are pushing an expensive product hailed as THE ANSWER to sleep.

(Hint-hint….it’s not!)

I admit that I have no personal experience with the Snoo. It wasn’t really a thing 5 years ago! So if that deters you away from this blog, that’s okay. But I have worked with many families who were trying to get OUT of the Snoo.

When I work with clients for 2 weeks of sleep training focus we are able to remove props easily and teach baby to sleep through the night within this time frame. But the Snoo? It usually took 4-6 weeks of work with these clients to make sleep a thing! We had to un-do a lot of habits that the baby had become dependent on for 6-9 months!

The parents initially purchased the Snoo in hopes that their child sleeps great. It was fine for a few months and then it all turned south around 6 months when it was time to get out.

2. Relying On Props

The second reason I’m not a fan of the Snoo is that I believe it’s teaching parents to lean too heavily on props.

Yes, the Snoo comes with weaning modes to give you guidance on how to transition baby out of the swaddle and motion.

But it’s, it’s kind of hard to go into the weaning mode when what you have is working!

So in my experience, the many clients that I’ve worked with, they’re not using the weaning mode. Whatever they’re doing with the swaddling and the motion, it’s kind of working and they just keep going…until baby is far too old for all these props!

If you have a Snoo or will be using one I think that if you’re using this with the weaning modes and with the intention to get your baby into the crib, you know, inline with what the directions say, then it could be fine.

But I take issue with the fact that it allows parents to lean away too heavily on these prompts. You guys know I’m big about props. Sleep props can be good. (More here!) Sleep props can cause your baby to lean on “extras” a lot longer than needed.

So I really just want to put this out there that if you are interested in this new, please follow the weaning guidelines, make sure you’re taking those steps to unsaddle when we need to and stop using the motion and all these things that we can be ready for that crib transition. It’s just that, honestly, in my experience with families, they’re not using that.

3. The Price Tag

As you probably already guessed, the biggest reason I’m not a Snoo fan is the price tag!!! $1,395 PLUS $10 for the leg lifters!

You could say that Becca Campbell does not spend a lot of money on baby things… So when I look at the Snoo and its giant price tag, I just don’t see a reason that that’s a necessity in a baby’s life.

You can only use it for the first few months anyway.

So I would much rather you take that money. If you have it budgeted out, go put it in a savings account!!  Save it for baby for college, for their future!

But I do understand maybe you’re renting it. Maybe someone’s giving it to you. That’s a little bit different, but the overall price tag on this baby is just kind of crazy.

Alternatives To The Snoo

So I want to give you some alternatives instead of Snoo. My favorite favorite one is by Fisher-Price. Fisher-Price makes a swaying bassinet that’s firm and flat. Remember everything that babies sleep on should be flat surfaces. Nothing elevated or cushioned.

So Fisher-Price created the Soothing Motions Bassinet that’s firm and flat AND allows the bassinet to sway. So it gives you all the good stuff! We used a similar model by Summer Infant (no longer sold) and LOVED it for the girls! The best part? It’s $139!

You can absolutely use this for the first few months of life when baby is in your room or near-by, and then transition to the crib.

Conclusion

Overall, I just want to put it out there that if you are thinking about the Snoo please don’t take this as, “Oh, Becca Campbell has not put her stamp of approval on it.”

Yeah, it’s not my favorite. I don’t really think we need to be buying it.

But if you want to use the Snoo just make sure you’re not using these props too long, make sure you are using education to also create knowledge of your child’s sleep habits.

For a fraction of the cost ($50!) my Newborn Sleep Course is designed so that you understand your baby’s needs and cues.

Most of all I just want you to be so educated on how to respond to your baby’s needs. If you’re interested in that, definitely you guys check out our newborn sleep course.

I’ll give you all of the tools to understand your baby’s wake times their naps, how to get them down for naps, how to help them get drowsy and sleepy what to do in the middle of the night, all the things.

I’d love to know your story! Do you have personal experience with the Snoo? Do you love it? Was it your worst nightmare? Tell us below this is a place where I just want to hear from you.

*ALL SNOO IMAGES  FROM HAPPIEST BABY WEBSITE*