I Used a Snoo For My Second Baby and Postpartum Life Was So Much Sweeter

My quest for better sleep lead me to a product called the Snoo Smart Sleeper. The Snoo was created by pediatrician and child development expert Dr. Harvey Karp. It's a smart bassinet that is designed to soothe a baby in less than a minute by recreating womb-like sounds and motions, which adjust in response to your baby. Unlike most other newborn bassinets, it can also be used for babies up to 6 months old (or when the baby is able to get up on his hands and knees). After studying thousands of infants who slept in a Snoo, Dr. Harvey Karp and his team at Happiest Baby discovered that most of those babies slept an extra hour, if not more. By 3 months old, they were also regularly sleeping over nine hours each night.

It sounded like a miracle product — a robotic night nurse that could also stick around during the day for naps? Yes, please! While it's certainly more affordable than hiring help, it's still a huge investment at $1,295. For parents who are on the fence about whether or not to make the financial commitment, Happiest Baby offers a Snoo rental alternative that's less than $5 a day. I was fortunate enough to be able to test one out for review purposes, and honestly, it would have been worth every penny.

During the first couple of weeks when feeding every few hours around the clock is necessary, I was able to put him back to sleep quickly by just placing him into the Snoo, pushing the power button, and letting it do the work of lulling him to sleep. There was no middle of the night pacing, shushing, and rocking, which shortened my wake windows for each feeding.

At bedtime or naptime, I would put him in the Snoo drowsy but awake, and if he fussed, the Snoo would respond by gradually increasing the sound and changing up the motion until he fell asleep. My mom and sister would marvel as they watched the cell phone videos I'd captured of him transitioning from fussing to sleeping before their eyes.

If he was resisting sleep, the motion switched from slow swaying to quick, rhythmic movements that made his little head jiggle like a bobble head, which was usually all it took. If he fussed for more than a couple of minutes before I intervened, the Snoo would turn off automatically and the app would alert me. When this happened, it usually meant he needed to be fed or have his diaper changed. I found that squeezing in as many good feedings as I could during the day (every two to three hours) and giving him one last dream feed before I went to bed between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. also helped him sleep better at night.

Aside from lulling babies to sleep, the Snoo is also designed to help babies sleep safely. The Snoo comes with organic cotton swaddle sacks that secure babies to the bassinet, keeping them on their backs while they sleep. In fact, the US Food and Drug Administration has expedited the evaluation of the Snoo as a potentially life-saving medical device capable of reducing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, since it prevents babies from rolling onto their stomachs. It's also the first device ever presented to the FDA that the Agency feels may be able to prove a clear reduction in SIDS/SUID. If deemed a potentially life-saving device by the government agency, it may become a free benefit provided by many health insurance programs, much like breast pumps are now.

By 2 months old, he was sleeping nine hours with one middle-of-the-night feeding in between (usually around 3 a.m.), and by 3 months, he was sleeping about nine hours without the middle-of-the-night feeding. While Dr. Harvey Karp recommends keeping babies in the Snoo for five or six months (or until baby can push up on hands and knees), at almost four months, I began putting him down for some of his day naps in his crib. Since he would be napping in a crib at my mom's house when I returned to work, I wanted him to get used to sleeping in one at least part of the time.

Like a lot of parents, I was worried that he would get too dependent on the Snoo's constant motion, but thankfully, that hasn't been an issue. When it's time for him to nap in a crib, I've found that playing a white noise machine, swaddling him, and placing my hand on his chest to rock him in his crib has helped with the Snoo to crib transition. Snoo also has a weaning setting that parents can use when they're ready to transition their baby to a crib full-time. This setting turns the white noise on in the Snoo but turns off the constant motion. The motion will still kick in if your baby cries.

While I think there were multiple factors that contributed to me having a more positive experience after the birth of my second baby, I also believe that having the Snoo was one of the biggest. A lack of sleep is more than just an annoying, new parent struggle. Poor sleep quality can trigger or intensify feelings of postpartum depression, affect breastfeeding success, increase your chance of developing mastitis, and so much more.

When I think about my postpartum self after the birth of my first baby — from my emotional state to my breastfeeding struggle, which included a painful mastitis infection — it makes me wonder how much, if any of it, would have been different had I used a Snoo. I think it's impossible to say for sure, but I do know that the days and nights I cared for my second baby without my husband, even with an early rising, potty-training toddler, I felt more centered and energized using the Snoo than I did during my first postpartum experience.

If you're not sure whether or not the Snoo is a good fit for your family, I highly recommend either renting it for a time period that works for your budget or taking advantage of the 30-day trial period after purchase to see for yourself.