I knew being a new parent meant sacrificing sleep, but when our newborn son was waking up every hour...on the hour...every night...for six weeks...I realized I was walking a very fine line when it came to my mental health. I needed to sleep, or I was about to lose it.
One day my friend - who also had a baby the same age as my Ozzy - texted me to see how we were doing. I guess my despair was so evident from just reading my responses that she suggested that we immediately get the Snoo. She told us it was going to change our lives. And so we did, because we desperately needed a change.
It arrived promptly, and we were so excited to try this magic bassinet which was created by doctor Harvey Karp, the pediatrician behind best selling books like “The Happiest Baby on the Block” and “The Happiest Toddler on the Block”. Putting it together was fairly simple, and within minutes, we were ready to tuck Ozzy in it and see what happened.
The Snoo is a bassinet that includes motion and sound detection, so if your baby starts crying or fussing, the bassinet will gently rock him back to sleep as it plays white noise. If your baby gets crankier, the Snoo steps up to the next level of motion and sound—it has five of them—until your baby is back asleep. If your baby really needs you, because it has a wet diaper or it’s hungry, the Snoo will stop rocking after hitting the highest level and send you a push notification to your phone to let you know you should check on your baby. The Snoo is also made for the safest sleep possible: It has a flat surface to which you clip on the Snoo’s sleepsack to avoid your baby rolling to his sides or belly, and the sides are made of breathable mesh to mitigate any blocked airways .
After a week of tweaking and adjusting, because no baby is the same, the Snoo finally started working on Ozzy, and he began sleeping five hours straight. After another week, we were up to seven hours. And before he was even three months old he was *gasp* sleeping through the night, something I never thought I’d be able to say about my baby.
I’m sure you are wondering about life after the Snoo, because I know I was too. Dr. Karp has thought of everything, and the bassinet comes with a wean mode for when your baby is five months old and ready to start the process of transitioning into a regular crib. I was a bit skeptical of this mode, which basically only plays white noise and does not rock your baby at all unless it fusses. I thought Ozzy was already so used to being rocked constantly that there was no way he was going to be ok with being still and eventually moved to a regular crib. Well, I was wrong again. The wean mode does work if used as suggested (not too early and, and for about week), we had zero issues with the transition, and he has been sleeping 12 hours straight ever since.
The Snoo doesn’t come cheap at $1,295. But, when you break it down and think about it, it’s not that much more expensive than most baby things. You get three different sized sleep sacks (the two biggest sizes allow your baby to keep his arms out when he gets tired of being all tucked it), a noise machine with five different sounds, a crib sheet and a crib. Also, if you compare it to a service like a night nurse, the Snoo is way cheaper, and helps your baby learn how to sleep through the night without having to cry it out. They are also currently testing out a rental program for those who can’t afford the bassinet upfront.
As a new and clueless parent, I would recommend this bassinet to everyone and anyone who is having a baby, regardless whether it is the first or fourth child in the family.