This review of the Snoo Smart Sleeper System is written by Emily Fette – a real life Gugu Guru registrant and new mom to Mallary.
When I was pregnant, I cross referenced all baby registry items with countless girlfriends and close cousins, as well as Amazon, Consumer Reports and online reviews. However, I couldn’t find enough feedback on the Snoo. Prior to baby Mallary being born, my husband and I were a little concerned about getting enough sleep especially when we both have to go back to work, so we thought spending a little extra money for a crib promoted as the “Snoo Smart Sleeper System” had to be worth something more. We also rationalized paying more for a crib that would be used for 6 months if we were happier parents with the Snoo Smart Sleeper System especially since the majority of cribs out there were the same price and lower quality.
Fortunately, after the first night home and my milk supply came in, Mallary has been a wonderful sleeper. We have to attribute at least some of this to the Snoo Smart Sleeper System. My husband and I regularly have white noise for us at night so listening to the crib’s gentle rain noise at the first level is perfect. In general, we think the five S’s of shushing, swaddling, swinging, (sucking, side position, not specifically applicable to the Snoo Smart Sleeper System) have really helped her.
While we haven’t had another basis of comparison, it’s very nice that once our baby’s needs (food, diaper and comfort) have been met that we can rely on the Snoo Smart Sleeper System over three quarters of the time to soothe her to sleep. When she is fussy, the Snoo progresses through more soothing noises and steadily more rocking motion, if the baby remains upset. She routinely loves the third or fourth stage that sounds like a submarine and quiets very quickly. However, if she isn’t asleep within five minutes, we know that she needs more comfort from her parents or another diaper change. Per Dr Harvey Karp, “In The Happiest Baby on the Block, I describe the motion to soothe crying as the “Jell-O head jiggle” because babies need a very fine, fast jiggle to calm. That motion actually activates the balance center of the brain where the reflex gets turned on.
The Snoo platform only moves ½ an inch – back and forth – which is enough to soothe most babies, imitating what it was like in mom’s belly. That amount of motion is perfectly safe and very different form baby “shaking.”’
We also really like the Snoo zippered swaddle sack that keeps her safe on her back. (It’s way easier than regular swaddle for a first time parent too!) She’s immediately comforted by the Velcro strap inside and the zippered swaddle before we even turn the rocking motion on! It really only takes 5 seconds like the website reports, too!
Our baby loves her hands that we sometimes leave the zipper a little undone for her to have them up next to her face. This usually happens if she stretches in her sleep:
I highly recommend this Snoo Smart Sleeper robo crib to anyone, especially if you’re concerned about SIDS, swaddling, rocking, or your sleep!
**EDITED TO INCLUDE THIS RESPONSE FROM THE TEAM AT SNOO: Thank you so much for your wonderful review of SNOO! We are so happy to hear that it helped you and your little girl get more sleep! We just wanted to share that we recommend that parents keep their baby’s arms down and not let them sneak out b/c this will become more important in the next 1-2 months as she starts accidentally whacking herself and waking herself up more often. If you think that swaddling with her arms down makes her unhappy, you can advance the speed of SNOO’s jiggle 1-2 levels to get her to fall asleep or lock it on purple or green all night. Thank you again for taking the time to write this review and please don’t hesitate to reach out to our customer care team if you have any questions about SNOO!**
Check out these other posts from Gugu Guru on sleep essentials:
Sleep Must Have: Weighted Blankets for Babies and Parents
Colgate Crib Mattress: The Best Investment A Parent Can Make
I’m Emily Fette, born and raised in Seattle. I met my husband, Rusty, the first month of college and since then we’ve traveled all over the US and Europe together! Mallary Lyra Fette joined us last month on August 18th, just after our 9th wedding anniversary. We hope she loves to swim in Puget Sound as much as we do, however we’ll start her in warmer water, when we go to Maui this winter!
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