One Mom’s Honest Review of the SNOO Smart Sleeper Bassinet
In a nutshell:
The SNOO Smart Sleeper Bassinet is a game-changer for new parents. With an average test score of 4.3 out of 5 from The Bump, it boasts a sleek, effective design you can count on to calm baby—but as our product tester and survey respondents warn, these high-quality features come with a high price tag.
The early days of parenthood require a lot of baby gear, including a few furniture items you’ve probably never shopped for before—like a bassinet. Considering that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends room-sharing for the first six months (at least) of your child’s life, a bassinet offers a more compact, newborn-friendly sleep space for little ones. Whether you’re after a traditional option, a bedside style or a smart design, one name always seems to rise to the top every time: The SNOO Smart Sleeper Bassinet.
This smart bassinet has earned high praise from new and seasoned parents alike; many even credit it as the reason they’re sleeping an extra hour or two every night. And it’s a hit with us at The Bump as well; it even earned a Best of The Bump award in 2023.
Curious about whether it actually gets the job done? To get the lowdown on how it really works for families, we asked the parent of a newborn to try the SNOO out in her home and tell us what she thought. Below, find her honest SNOO bassinet review—including pros and cons to consider, technical specs and additional input from members of The Bump community.
About the SNOO
- Compatible app makes sense of baby’s sleep patterns
- Comes with an organic cotton sheet and a mattress cover
- Weaning feature helps transition to a crib
- Heavy; not very portable
- High price point
- Can’t turn off white noise
So, what’s so special about the SNOO Smart Sleeper Bassinet from Happiest Baby? Developed by renowned pediatrician and infant sleep expert Harvey Karp, this smart bassinet is designed to automatically soothe baby when they start to fuss at night, helping to put them back to sleep without you having to get out of bed! The SNOO will respond to crying or fussing by increasing its gentle rocking motion and white noise sound to calm them; in fact, the SNOO claims to reduce crying in less than a minute. As a result, the SNOO claims to help parents and baby get an extra hour or two of sleep a night, which is a real game-changer for those early stages of parenthood.
But that’s not all—the SNOO is also the first and only bassinet to be approved by the FDA as a medical device that helps keep infants under 6 months old safely sleeping on their backs, thanks to the bassinet’s swaddle attachment, thereby reducing the risk of SIDS or SUID. It also features mesh walls to allow for airflow and a compatible app that sends daily sleep reports and helpful tips to new parents.
Perhaps the biggest drawback of the SNOO Smart Sleeper Bassinet is its high price point. Looking for ways to save? Fortunately, Happiest Baby offers Certified Pre-loved SNOO options. Each of these previously owned products undergoes a five-step refresh and reconditioning process to ensure they meet rigorous safety, cleanliness and quality standards. You can also rent the SNOO on a monthly basis directly from Happiest Baby. And if you use the code BUMPBIE at checkout, you can add a complimentary SNOObie Smart Soother to your order—a $69.95 value.
Dimensions: 35.8" (L) x 19" (W) x 31" (H) | Weight: 38 lbs. | Weight capacity: 33 lbs. | Age rating: Up to 6 months
To figure out whether the SNOO is truly at the top of its class, we:
- Enlisted the help of Caitlin, an independent product tester and mom of three, including a one-month-old. She used this smart bassinet in her own home—for naps and nighttime sleep—and reviewed it for ease of assembly, features, effectiveness, smart functionality, portability, style and design and value for money.
- Asked Caitlin to rate the SNOO for each of these categories on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best. Combined with our own editorial team’s extensive research, her ratings informed the comprehensive product review that you’ll find below.
- Surveyed over 300 members of The Bump community in May of 2023, and asked them to tell us about their favorite bassinets. Several comments from parents who used the SNOO are included alongside Caitlin’s review.
Editorial integrity is at the heart of everything we publish. Read about how The Bump develops and reviews all articles, including product reviews.
After using the SNOO with her newborn, our product tester, Caitlin, evaluated the SNOO based on five specific categories: Ease of assembly, features, effectiveness, smart functionality, portability, style and design, and value for money. Here’s what she found.
Ease of assembly
It was a very easy assembly job that only took one person to put together! We were able to use the written instructions that came with the product and they were very clear and straightforward. We didn’t need to use any videos, as the written instructions were very clear.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Features
The bassinet had so many desirable features! It lays flat and you can attach a swaddle to the sides so you’re confident baby is laying on their back, and is safe. The rocking feature was very smooth, and we loved how you can change the intensity of the rocking. We also love how the bassinet detects baby’s crying, and the rocking automatically starts to soothe him back to sleep. The app that comes with the bassinet is also very useful in tracking sleep and tracking when baby needs soothing the most. We also love that there’s a feature to gradually help baby adjust to no motion if needed before transitioning to a crib.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Effectiveness
The SNOO bassinet is very effective at calming down our baby. Especially in the middle of the night when he eats and doesn’t want to go back to sleep, the gentle rocking motion is very effective in putting him back to sleep, which allows us to get more sleep! It was sometimes difficult to get the swaddle as tight as we would like, but our baby adjusted quickly. The size is perfect and he still can grow a lot and have plenty of room.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Smart functionality
We loved all the smart functions that this bassinet offered. It’s easy to track baby’s sleep and when increased white noise or motion is necessary. We also loved the weaning feature, and how you get a daily log of baby’s sleep that you can analyze. The app is very easy to use, and we had no difficulty. I used the SNOO bassinet tracking features on the app in order to better understand my baby’s sleep patterns: I noticed some nights he could sleep until 3 a.m., but some nights he was waking up around 12:30 a.m. and whining. As a mom it’s sometimes hard to know when to let your baby cry a couple of seconds and when to jump up and get them immediately. The tracking features reassured me that he could sleep longer stretches of time and he was often easily soothed back to sleep by the SNOO if he woke up at 12:30 a.m.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Portability
The bassinet isn’t super portable, but it is easy to move around in the same room. We tried the bassinet in a couple different locations, and you only need one person to move it. You can easily move it if you need to without much hassle.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Style and design
The bassinet is very sleek and appealing to the eye, yet feels sturdy—I’m never worried about my baby not being safe. It’s small enough to fit in our bedroom without taking up too much space, but big enough that our baby will have plenty of room to grow in it. The legs are directly under the bassinet, so they don’t take up extra space.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Value for money
This bassinet is very pricey. I would say that’s the biggest downside of the product. However, I think if you use it from when your child is a newborn, or if you plan on having multiple kids use it, it can definitely be worth the money. There’s no price you can put on getting a good night’s sleep!
Rating: 3 out of 5
Summary
I would recommend this bassinet, because getting sleep as a new parent is so important! The bassinet helps me have peace of mind, and the app functions help me analyze when my baby is waking, and when he needs extra soothing. The bassinet also helps the baby get down for naps, so I can have a free hand while he’s soothed by the calming rocking and white noise!
Average rating: 4.3 out of 5
In addition to Cailtlin’s review, we received feedback from other members of The Bump community about the SNOO Smart Sleeper Bassinet. Like our independent product tester, they all have firsthand experience with the product. They shared what they loved about the SNOO—plus, what could be improved. Here’s what they said:
Pros
"This SNOO is worth every penny … the technology has helped my baby sleep. The swaddle inserts are amazing designs that are quality and comfortable. It’s got a very easy-to-use app with great tips as well." – Leah
“I like that it has the safety straps to keep baby from rolling over too early. I also like the ease of the SNOO sack and the cry detection feature.” – Michelle*
"I'm a fan of the quality product and I like that [baby] couldn't roll over with the onesie strapped in." – Alice*
"I appreciated the safety features, ease of setting up, ease of use and quality. It's worth its price. Love it!" – Violet*
"Extremely easy to set up and take down for trips; understated look; baby slept great. (Don't know how well she would have slept in anything else though, so hard to tell if it 'worked.') – Grace*
Cons
"The SNOO is limited in size so the baby may end up touching the sides once their arms are out. You also have to buy accessories to change the height." – Leah
“I hate that you can’t turn the white noise off. It would be great to choose when you want the feature on or off.” – Michelle*
"I ended up renting because it was so expensive and didn't use a lot of the high-tech functions. I wouldn't use it again." – Alice*
"The mesh can't be taken off and washed from what I can tell, and it gets quickly damaged from the Velcro on the swaddles." – Grace*
*Note: Some names have been changed due to privacy requests
Plus, more from The Bump:
Healthy Children (AAP), How to Keep Your Sleeping Baby Safe: AAP Policy Explained, October 2023
The Bump survey of 300 parents and parents-to-be, May 2023
Learn how we keep our content accurate and up-to-date by reading our medical review and editorial process.
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