The Snoo: A Game-Changer for New Parents?

As a new parent, one of the most pressing concerns is getting enough sleep. Sleep deprivation can be one of the toughest aspects of parenting, and it’s no wonder that many parents are willing to shell out thousands of dollars for a solution. Enter the Snoo, a $2000 piece of baby tech that promises to soothe your baby to sleep by imitating the calming sensations of the womb.

Sleeping like a baby

The Snoo is a smart bassinet that can listen for when your baby is fussing or crying and gently rock them, claiming to often calm crying in less than a minute. It’s like an extra set of arms for new parents – if that set of arms also had in-built Wi-Fi, microphones, white noise speakers, and a motor.

But does it live up to its promises? Our experience, two months in, has been pretty remarkable. It’s no silver bullet by any means: our baby can often wake up at random times as all babies do, and sometimes won’t settle in the Snoo at all. But there have been plenty of moments of calm in what can otherwise be a chaotic, stressful, and intense time.

One stand-out feature is that the Snoo automatically ramps its rocking speed up or down depending on if the baby is crying or settled, and often it works. It’s not a cure-all for a crying or fussing baby, but at the same time, it’s hard to put a dollar value on a decent night’s sleep.

A baby in the Snoo

Of course, not everyone is convinced. Critics say technology such as the Snoo could potentially negatively affect baby bonding, and that it can create bad habits by making the baby too reliant on rocking or white noise. Australian pediatrician Dr. Daniel Golshevsky, better known as Dr. Golly, says in a blog post: “I remain somewhat reluctant to have so much gadgetry around a newborn baby.”

But for us, the Snoo has been the most useful, high-impact gadget we’ve used in a long time. And we’ve been having an increasing number of decent nights’ sleep. It’s not for everyone, but it’s definitely worth considering.

What Else Did We Try?

We also tried the Tweetycam baby monitor, which really impressed us. The monitor doesn’t use Wi-Fi – meaning no real security concerns – instead relying on a technology called FHHS to send the signal from the camera to the monitor. The Tweetydreams nightlight and sound machine is also strongly worth considering, and at $120 is good value.

Tweetycam baby monitor

Other things to consider include the Snotty Boss nasal aspirator, which has been a godsend, and is superior (and decidedly less gross) to the manual method of sucking snot from baby’s nose.

In conclusion, technology is no replacement for human interaction. Parenting is a messy, tricky, and intense thing, but no amount of technology will substitute for spending time with your little one. There are just some things that can make it that little bit easier.