Sleep. It’s amazing when you discover how little sleep you need to function. This is something that you learn as a new parent. During the first few weeks of parenthood, we googled sleep tips for baby and came across the happiest baby, tips from Dr. Harvey Karp about his theory on the 4th trimester and what we as parents could do to help comfort our newborn. I highly suggest you read all about the 5 S’s in his book, “Happiest Baby on the Block“, as those tips were so vital to us in comforting Brooklyn and getting her to sleep those first few months.
This post may contain affiliate links. All thoughts and opinions are, as always, honest and my own.
Here’s a video of Brooklyn after sleeping for 6 hours straight at 5 weeks.
Our original plan for sleep was to place B in the napper of her Pack and Play. Or to have her sleep in a Rock N Play, the popular item my friends and other momma’s raved about. But the pediatrician was recommending a flat, firm surface was best for baby, and neither one of those options were that. My anxiety was getting the best of me every night we laid her to sleep for three weeks, so I decided enough was enough, it was time to buy a bassinet.
Soon I discovered Dr. Harvey Karp invented a smart bassinet, the Snoo, that incorporated the 5 S’s to help babe and parents get more, quality sleep. The Snoo gently rocks babe side to side (or swing, an S), in a safe swaddle (an S); all while playing white noise (an S).
I was a believer in the 5 S’s. I was exhausted and was treating B as a ticking time bomb every time we lay her down to sleep.
Would she wake up?
Was she safe?
My hesitation? The price tag. At over $1200, the bassinet is definitely an investment. A new feature that wasn’t around when I was shopping is the ability to rent the the Snoo, only $4.90 a day, so for 6 whole months you are looking at just under $900. At the time of our purchase, there were $400 off promotions, which it doesn’t look like they offer anymore. Both promotions are backed with free shipping and a 30 day guarantee so you can’t lose. You can decide which option is best for you, rent or buy, but kept Brooklyn in the Snoo for a full 6 months and will use it should we have more children so I feel that purchasing ours was our best option.
Features: So the Snoo rocks, plays white noise, and has an amazing 5 second swaddle that clips babe in. I talk about the Snoo Sleep Sack (goes in the Snoo) and it’s non-Snoo counterpart the Sleepea in my 8 Must Haves for Newborns.
The swaddle takes literally 5 seconds to swaddle baby and clips into the Snoo. It’s 100% organic cotton and breathable with open mesh. It’s also SAFE. If baby somehow knocks the swaddle off the clip, the Snoo automatically stops.
The rocking is a side to side movement that continuously moves babe through the night. There are 4 levels of speed (starting at a baseline), with each level increasing the motion and volume of the white noise. The amazing thing about the Snoo is that it can detect when baby is cries, so the Snoo itself will increase the levels until enough time has passed when the baby has stopped crying.
Here’s an IG clip of her in the Snoo, a little older with her arms free and at a faster speed. We customized the Snoo to start at level 1 vs the baseline as she got older since Brooklyn was such an active sleeper.
I was originally afraid of the 4th level as I thought it would be too fast for Brooklyn, but Snoo’s movements are safe and just quick enough to comfort baby without hurting her. You can also set limits on the app and so the Snoo will never exceed level 2. There are other personalized options on the app, which I loved, like response sensitivity, and level start preference. Each baby is different and so you should be able to customize your babe’s experience. You can also manually increase levels by holding the power button on the Snoo.
Brooklyn LOVED the Snoo and quickly, everyone in the house was able to get more sleep. By 6 weeks, Brooklyn was sleeping through the night. As she grew older, we were able to adapt and transition her from swaddled to arms free, using the shoulder/arm buttons on the larger swaddle sides. As well as wean her from the motion with the WEAN mode on the app.
Overall, I would highly recommend the Snoo! I consider it literally the best purchase we’ve made for babe and even included it in my absolute MUST HAVE list for newborns.
Get the Snoo here and read more about the “Happiest Baby on the Block“.
What are your thoughts on the Snoo? How did your baby sleep their first few months?
X – B