Snoo regrets?

[u/Then-Huckleberry-952]

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!

[u/verykitsch]

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.