Getting a good night’s rest is something many new parents would beg for. This is why so many are drawn to the SNOO Smart Sleeper bassinet which promises a slightly longer night for parents. Slightly?! You say?? Yes, literally ANY extra sleep you can get as a new parent is pure GOLD.

I used the SNOO extensively with my daughter when she was a baby and will do a full review here. I have also talked to dozens of parents who have also used it to get their feedback. Overall it’s pretty great but I have a couple of disclaimers below.

Product Features

• Price: $1495 to buy or $129/month to rent

• Included with the SNOO is 2 100% organic cotton white SNOO Sacks (Swaddles) (Sizes Small & Medium), 1 100% organic cotton fitted sheet, and one 1 Mattress and water resistant-cover

• The bassinet gently sways your baby to help them fall asleep independently. This feature is luckily not very loud and is a soft, gentle noise.

• It plays white noise while your baby sleeps, this noise changes to a louder vacuum/hairdryer type noise when it escalates to comfort the baby.

• It hears when your baby cries and increases the rocking and white noise to comfort baby

• The SNOO Sack is a special swaddle that keeps babies snug and secure so they cannot rollover (extra peace of mind for parents who are terrified of SIDS) - as your baby ages, there is an arms-out option for this as well so they can use their hands to self-soothe. The bassinet will not work without the sack securely fastened.

• You can control the SNOO with the app, the app tracks when your baby is calm and being comforted, and you can create the right settings for the SNOO.

• You can set the bassinet to “Weaning” mode so that it does not sway all the time but instead only starts to move when the baby cries. This is good for parents who are worried about their baby developing a dependency on the bassinet or parents who are ready to start getting the baby ready to transition to a crib.

• Recommended usage is about 6 months.

• There are lifts that you can use to lightly prop up one side if your baby has reflux

• Lastly, it’s really beautifully designed

Is it worth the price?

The short answer is YES. With the rental option available, we think it is worth it. We highly value sleep in our households and think that anything that can help to naturally and safely soothe your baby to sleep better is worth it. Unless $1495 is not a high price for you, we think it’s only worth it to rent - that’s just a lot of money for something you won’t need in 6 months.

If you live in a house with lots of people that are willing and able to help comfort and soothe your baby, then this may not be worth it. But the reality is that many of us are mostly on our own as parents these days and no longer live in multi-generational households with lots of hands to help. So the SNOO is like having an extra pair of hands.

Some disclaimers & criticisms:

• The SNOO only comforts your baby when they only need comfort. Meaning that if your baby is crying for other reasons: they are hungry, have reflux, etc. - the SNOO comfort feature will not comfort them. So if it’s time for your baby’s regular feeding, the comfort feature will not work to get them to settle. HOWEVER, it will give you a couple of extra minutes of time to get ready to feed your baby, knowing it’s trying to comfort the baby. So think of it like handing your baby off to your sister while you get a bottle ready. At least you know it’s trying. But don’t expect it to be some silver bullet nanny robot that can always make your baby happy.

• Not all babies like the SNOO. For some babies, the rocking motion is overstimulating or upsetting. It may take some time for your baby to get used to it, but some find that even after trying it for the recommended period of time (their website says it can take 3-7 days of using it consistently for most nights and naps for a baby to get used to it). This is another reason we recommend the rental option. If you try it consistently for a week or so and it just doesn’t work for you then you have only dropped $129 instead of $1495.

• There isn’t an option to turn off the sound. I found this really annoying because I really didn’t like the sounds it made - when it comforts your baby it changes to a loud vacuum/hairdryer type sound and it really grated on my ears. So I turned it down as quiet as it would go (which is not very quiet) and used our own white noise machine in addition to the SNOO.

Competitor Comparison

There are 2 products on the market that claim to compete with the SNOO.

4Moms Mamaroo Bassinet

• If you’ve heard of their Mamaroo product, it’s basically the same device but in bassinet form.

  • How it’s similar to the SNOO:

    • It has a soothing motion to help your baby with movement to sleep better

    • It has a white noise machine built-in

    • It has an app to control it

  • How it’s different from the SNOO:

    • It does not prevent your baby from rolling over

    • It does not have the “smart” comforting feature that hears when your baby cries and changes the motion to comfort them. However, you could manually change which motion it is using from the app.

  • We have not tested this product but here’s what reviews online say:

    • Overall rating is 3.9

    • Some parents have had technical issues with it

    • Some say the white noise is not great

    • Some say the movement mechanism is loud

Cradlewise Smart Crib - $1399-1799

This is a true competitor to the SNOO and has a lot of cool features, and is also really beautiful.

• How it’s similar to the SNOO:

  • It has a soothing motion to help your baby fall asleep

  • It can also comfort your baby back to sleep (claims to know when your baby starts to wake up BEFORE they start crying)

  • It also has white noise

  • It has an app to control it

• How it’s different from the SNOO:

  • It has options for different sounds - white noise, ocean waves, music, etc.

  • You can better control the volume of the sound

  • Your baby can use it for up to 24 months - so it is a full crib, not just a bassinet (something to consider with the price - you may be able to skip a crib altogether and save $$)

  • The comforting feature claims to know when your baby starts to wake up and comforts before your baby starts to cry (so cool!)

  • It has a monitor built-in so you can also SEE your baby from the app (so consider that with the price since a monitor runs around $150+)

  • It does not have a secure swaddle technology to prevent your baby from rolling over

  • It does not have a rental option unfortunately

Overall the SNOO is a great bassinet and we encourage you to try it with the rental option. Nevertheless, it is not a MUST have and you will do fine with a regular bassinet or crib as well. We look forward to previewing the SNOO competitors and to gathering feedback from other parents as our clients start to try out these new products! If the Cradlewise Crib turns out to execute well on all its promises it could end up being a true competitor to the SNOO and maybe even a better option over the SNOO, especially if they introduce a rental option.