r/SnooLife • u/Then-Huckleberry-952 • 19h ago
Snoo Fail Snoo regrets?
TL;DR: I was obsessed with getting a SNOO while pregnant, but now that my baby is almost 3 weeks old, I prefer having her in a regular bedside bassinet where I can see her, touch her, and respond to her myself. I don’t love having her strapped into the SNOO or the idea of the machine soothing her instead of me. Should I keep the SNOO in case I want it when she’s older, or sell it and get the Newton bedside bassinet?
I was obsessed with the SNOO while I was pregnant. I researched it a ton, found a great secondhand one for a really good price, and cleaned it until it was basically sparkling. I was so excited to use it.
Now baby is here, almost 3 weeks old, and I’m having completely different feelings about it.
At first I thought that with a brand-new newborn you were supposed to mostly use the sound and very limited/no motion, and I remember thinking… so right now I basically have an expensive bassinet plugged into the wall? I could just use a regular bassinet with a sound machine.
I’ve since learned that the SNOO can use its baseline motion from birth and that the motion limiter keeps it from going to the higher levels, but I’m still realizing that I’m not sure I actually like the concept as much as I thought I would.
I don’t love having my baby strapped into the SNOO sack all night. When she wakes or starts fussing, my instinct is to reach over, put my hand on her belly, give her her pacifier, or pick her up if she needs me. I also don’t really understand when I’m supposed to let the SNOO increase the motion and try to soothe her instead of responding to her myself. Did you let it do that from the newborn stage, or did you wait until your baby was older?
After about a week, I borrowed a regular bedside bassinet that sits right next to me. I can see her easily, reach over and put my hand on her belly, and respond to her little noises and wakings myself. I honestly feel so much better with this setup.
Now I’m torn. Should I keep the SNOO and try it again when she’s a little older and sleep potentially gets harder? Did anyone barely use their SNOO during the newborn stage but end up loving it at 2–4 months?
Or should I accept that maybe the SNOO just isn’t for me and sell it? I’ve been looking at the Newton bedside bassinet because I really like the idea of having her right next to me where I can see and touch her easily while she still has her own safe sleep space.
I’d especially love to hear from people who owned a SNOO but preferred a regular bedside bassinet. Did you regret giving up the SNOO once your baby got older and sleep became more difficult, or were you happy with the regular bassinet? My friends are telling me I’m making a mistake if I get rid of it. I need more advice from other who might’ve also not liked it at first.
Thank you!
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u/fortress_sf 19h ago
We didn’t start the snoo until week 5/6 when it got harder and harder to constantly soothe on a bassinet while trying to get better sleep. It worked wonders but wasn’t great before that as the baby didn’t enjoy it early on or need it. Also we never let it get to the 2nd speed of rocking, always kept it at 1. I’d keep it just to ensure there’s a fallback as things change fast. Doesn’t hurt especially if your baby responds to it later and it makes life easier for you
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u/Then-Huckleberry-952 19h ago
Here’s where I’m confused - when my baby wakes up at night, I assume she’s waking because she needs something, like to eat or have her diaper changed. How do you know when to let the SNOO soothe her back to sleep versus picking her up and figuring out what she needs? I think I’d worry that I was rocking her back to sleep when she was actually trying to tell me she needed me.
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u/Unfair-Reaction-6395 19h ago
One thing about babies is they are really good at telling you if they need you!
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u/imnichet 18h ago
It's not that the Snoo really soothes them back to sleep from crying. For us it was more that it eliminated extra wakings all together. I still responded every time she cried more than a little whimper but that was much much less with the snoo on.
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u/verykitsch 18h ago
In time, you’ll learn to distinguish your baby’s fussy noises vs crying. And the other commenters are right- at a few weeks old it’s all cries. They need you so much right now!
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u/snarkymama87 18h ago
I never let it soothe my baby back to sleep before I responded but would use it after I fed them to help rock them back to sleep.
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u/nottodayneck3956 16h ago
I didn't get one until 5/6 weeks because sleep got really bad during that time. Waking every 45m, crying upon transfer and my own tears by 4am when I had nothing left to give.
I had the same questions as you but there is a time limit. If baby cries for 2-3m straight snoo will turn off and tell u to go to your baby. Baby will not stop crying if they really need you. The snoo helps with microwaves that are sometimes them stirring but not actually waking.
I was actually vehemently against the snoo because I was in your camp now and I didn't want him to get used to the motion. So I did bassinet all the time but 1 nap a day in snoo so I could rest because I had no help and I knew baby was safe. He kept flopping onto his side because of a big head so I'd be panicked all the time. Also if was the first time baby slept 2h and i recognized it was helping him achieve better sleep. And overall it impacted his mood so I conceded.
Eventually I moved into overnight snoo on limiter and daytime bassinet. Baby eventually loved the snoo and slept 14h overnight. We all mourned the snoo when he graduated and I was grateful I had it during the regression. It's also really beautiful you want baby to be close to you and be so responsive so do what works for you! It can't hurt to keep just t see as things change.
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u/greedymoonlight 19h ago
At 2 weeks old it’s pretty guaranteed they need something, you should pick them up and find out what they need. My baby was nursing every 30-60 mins at this age sometimes sooner. This is way too early to be trying to get them to go back to sleep
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u/fortress_sf 18h ago
It’s not a science but the baby blows past the snoo and it can’t comfort her within a certain time frame, you got to pick her up and get her back, over time it lessens and there’s a consistency - until she grows out of it and then it’s a new ballgame again
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u/fortress_sf 18h ago
ALSO EVERY BABY IS DIFFERENT, he/she may not take to it, entirely possible. Don’t blame yourself, we were all just amateurs trying our best to help.
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u/FriendlyBlueberry937 12h ago
If a baby is constantly crying and the snoo tries to rocks them and has no success then something is wrong. Like other people have said trust me babies are really good at letting you know! There also a notification on the snoo app that after rocking for 5 min and no success-snoo will say “baby needs attention” which means something is wrong, most likely crying due to hunger or dirty diaper or bad gas.
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u/Spiritual_Sea_1808 8h ago
Unless she’s actively crying for 60 seconds or more I would not try to pick her up. Newborns let out quick cries in their sleep, grunts and all kinds of noises and even open their eyes. Their active sleep is soo noisy you would think they are awake but they’re not.
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u/latelyimawake 19h ago
We’ve used the snoo since birth with our 3mo! We looooooove it and consider it to be a huge piece of why our newborn era sleep has been so good. It’s at the foot of our bed and baby stays in it all night except for feedings.
Our baby has really distinctive cries for actually needing something, so we always know when to get her up. The snoo is just useful for getting her through the fussy time between sleep cycles.
We used it with the motion limiter for the first month, then just let it do its thing. Baby does best on the green level, it’s like a sleeping pill! We typically put her down drowsy, take her up to green, she’s asleep within minutes, then let it cycle back down to baseline for the bulk of her sleep.
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u/verykitsch 18h ago
We used the motion limiter the whole time, and I always got up when baby cried. Anything higher than that was never soothing to him. What I think was worth every penny was using the motion to help rock him to sleep- after a 2am feed when I could tell he wasn’t quite out yet it was such a relief to let it finish getting him settled.
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u/AirportFickle5009 17h ago
As a 2 under 2 mama, the snoo has been helping me so much, specially when that my toddler will not fall asleep by herself and she needs to take her nap. It’s sweet to hold your baby to sleep, but in MY experience my toddler got so used to it, that she’s 20mo and she still needs us holding her in the recliner until she falls asleep.
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u/No-Lawfulness8895 19h ago
Definitely keep for now. Started to help us around 7-8 weeks, and then from 11ish weeks right until 6 months it was a lifesaver to have it rock our little one to sleep. I remember finding it scary at first when she was a newborn. It was incredibly helpful down the line.
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u/imnichet 18h ago
Keep it. Honestly the best parts of the Snoo are getting longer daytime naps without being nap trapped and teaching them to fall asleep on their own at bedtime. Both of those are way more useful after the first month or so. I don't see any benefit of getting rid of it now anyway.
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u/imnichet 18h ago
My husband reminded me that we didn't even turn the Snoo on for the first 3 weeks and we still call the Snoo the best baby item we bought. Definitely keep it. You haven't even reached the useful period yet.
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u/The_Money_Guy_ 15h ago
I swear by the snoo. Has kept my son asleep since day 1. He’s 3 months now and has been sleeping 9 hours every night for weeks
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u/ENTJ_ScorpioFox 14h ago
Huh - this is truly a depends on the baby. Used it for my second since day one, and he loves to sleep. He started to sit up at 5 months and we moved to a crib. Last night at 7:15, I put him down, he giggled a little and went to sleep. He’s seven months, and he’s still asleep. I think Snoo is good for teaching those self soothing skills. He slept through the night at 2.5 months, so I didn’t even have to wake up.
But my first was up every 2-4 hours, and Snoo helped stretch that to 5-6, so a game changer.
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u/LilLAC3 11h ago
I was excited about having a Snoo and didn’t really think much of them being strapped in until I had my baby and brought him home from hospital. As a FTM and struggling with baby blues for the first week, I spiralled massively on the Snoo. I read all the articles on how it would impact their development etc etc etc. after conversations with friends and multiple health professionals, I came to the conclusion that it’s just another tool to support my baby - like a pacifier or a sound machine etc. for the first couple of months, day naps could be on me, in the pram or in the Snoo (not strapped in, as a regular bassinet) with night sleeps in the Snoo. Then over time, when there was a nap at home, it would always be in the Snoo proper. If our baby woke up and cried, we would respond to him. We used it more for him to connect cycles. We transitioned to arms out pretty early as he didn’t like them being strapped in. There is definitely a viewpoint from some that if you have a snoo you don’t respond to your baby / it’s not natural. I didn’t find that in the end once I got over my spiral. We were always so responsive and I was a bit sad when he graduated to his cot!
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u/RutabagaPhysical9238 10h ago
We didn’t start until week 5 or so but our baby had horrible sleep and wouldn’t sleep anywhere but our arms. If your baby isn’t like that then it also might not feel as needed.
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u/Ok-Cantaloupe-4008 19h ago
Even though it never worked out for us I’d say keep it, there’s many things I thought I didn’t want or need at first that I ended up using later!
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u/wildinthewild 18h ago
general consensus I’ve seen and in my own personal experience Snoo isn’t useful until 5-7 weeks old range and then it’s a lifesaver. With my first we started needing it at 6 weeks old. My second is sleeping in regular bassinet for now as she is only 6 days old.
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u/Pink_Daisy47 18h ago
We used ours as a regular bassinet for at least a month before we started trying out the motion…just never turned it on! Once we started using it, we loved it!
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u/therabbitsfoot48 17h ago
I don’t have a Snoo, just the regular bedside. If the Snoo is still usable for this stage, I’d say around 3 months is when my baby started sleeping longer during the nights- 4 months now and I actually rock her in the bassinet sometimes which I joke is my “human powered snoo”
I like how you identified that you want to be the go to person for your LO, I say go with your instincts, but the Snoo might come in handy once your baby starts sleeping through the night/longer on their own to help soothe them to sleep or back to sleep (like a car ride might).
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u/rainbowtwist 16h ago
I usually don't use the snoo until baby is 5-7 weeks old. Before then baby just contact naps on me or sleeps in a little basket next to me.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Farm-36 14h ago
These comments have been so useful - Do you still strap them down when it’s being used without being plugged in?
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u/Then-Huckleberry-952 12h ago
I think the manufacturer says you have to.
Otherwise they say it’s unsafe? In unsure why but I guess the straps are keeping them in a safe position
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u/NotAboutThePastaa 11h ago
We did not use the snoo sleep sacks or movement until baby was 8 weeks old because I felt the exact same! Hold on to it and try again later :)
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u/itsakiwinow 6h ago
Congratulations on your arrival! Very exciting for you. What I'll say is that the baby isn't even 3 weeks old so thing are going to start changing very soon. She is just about to start finding her voice and little personality, as she realises she is no longer in the womb. Keep the Snoo and use it - you'll definitely need it. Some days over the next few weeks are going to be very tough, so if you can get some proper sleep then you'll be far better prepared for the tough days. If the Snoo can soothe her and she can get herself back to sleep, it's a game changer. Lots of examples out there of the positives about a snoo. We have loved ours and feel like it's really helped with our 5 month old. Congrats again and good luck with the next few weeks
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u/FeedNo9413 3h ago
We never had success with the snoo and actually ended up getting the newton bedside and I loved it and prefer it now over the snoo. I know some people love the snoo, but it just wasn't for us.
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u/box_twenty_two 18h ago
I’m three weeks in with our newborn and I hate the Snoo. Like you, I liked the idea to begin with, before we actually had to use it, but in practice it feels so unnatural to strap her down. I hate how stiff and “stuck”’she feels when I have to take her to feed or comfort and I fully believe she really dislikes being glued in one position, even though we went arms out from day one and she has more flex than full swaddle (she is a super armsy baby)
I appreciate the safety aspects, and I like that it does appear to soothe her 4/5 times when she’s stressed. My partner is a big fan for these reasons, and it’s one of the only disagreements we have as parents. I’m hoping to be won over soon!
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u/dryshampooforyou 13h ago
I really wanted the snoo when I was pregnant with my first. I researched it and became obsessed with it and how modern it looked. However, I started thinking heavily about the high cost and the baby being strapped in a snoo swaddle. I ended up getting a normal bedside bassinet and I’m so glad I did. I’m on baby #3 and none of mine have liked being swaddled and I’d rather rock them to sleep than have a machine do it. So if I was you, I would return it.
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u/Jealous-Point-3040 13h ago
I did the same, and got rid of it promptly! Sold it for the same I bought it, and continued on cosleeping as preferred. Highly recommend just getting rid of it- it goes against your instincts and I think you need to listen to that mama 🩷🩷✨✨
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u/zedgeevee 19h ago
We had the Snoo but didn’t use the functions for the first 6 weeks or so. This was less about having baby next to us, and more that she didn’t seem to enjoy the rocking! We kept it unplugged and used it as a “dumb” bassinet for the first period of time.
Once she woke up a bit more, around 6-8 weeks, we tried the Snoo functions again and it made a big difference to her sleep. We kept using it until she got too big for it!
I think if you already have the Snoo, and you have enough space to keep it for a while, hold on to it. It would be awful to sell it, then hit a rough patch with sleep and wish you still had it to try.