The number one piece of advice people offered me when I was pregnant was to, ‘Enjoy sleep while you still have it!’ Now, this is a very good piece of advice, but one thing I have that they likely did not have is the SNOO, by Happiest Baby. The SNOO was recently invented by Dr. Harvey Karp, the author of bestseller Happiest Baby on the Block. This was one of the first books I read during my pregnancy with Nico, and it provided an excellent backbone to infant care and educated me on Karp’s ever popular 5 S’s. The 5 S’s are the essential tools for parents to use to calm their babies. The 5 S’s are Swaddle, Side or Stomach position, Shushing, Swing and Suck. I’ve found the 5 S’s work wonders for Nico. Nick especially loves to use all 5 S’s to calm Nico.
While these tools work very well during the day, at night, the SNOO is our best friend. The SNOO is the world’s first smart sleep that boosts baby’s sleep by imitating the rhythmic sensations they feel in the womb. It is truly an amazing invention! The goal of the SNOO is to solve the number one complaint of new parents: lack of sleep. The SNOO works to soothe a fussy baby by using a good swaddle, rocking motion and white noise. It is engineered to increase rocking and noise as the baby’s cry increases. Our baby is not super fussy, but we quickly noticed the benefits of the SNOO with Nico. At night, after I’ve fed Nico, burped him and changed his diaper, I put him in the SNOO sack (the swaddle built into the SNOO). I turn it on and it starts to play white noise and rock. Nico loves the movement and it helps him go to sleep faster. I want Nico to get all the sleep he can get because that is when infants do most of their growing. If Nico falls asleep, then wakes within the hour before he needs to feed again, he will naturally fuss a bit. If this happens, the SNOO reactivates and starts to rock him again and increases the white noise. The white noise, rocking and swaddle mimic the way he felt in the womb creates a calm and sleepy baby Nico.
The SNOO is also safe! It comes with a built-in swaddle that doesn’t allow the baby to turn from his back onto his stomach, a fear many parents have with a traditional swaddle. Because the SNOO is only used until the baby is 6 months old or can roll over, the swaddle is built for babies to sleep on their backs only. We use the SNOO as a co-sleeper, and it is stationed right next to our bed. While I’d love for Nico to sleep on my chest all night (I frequently let him nap here, never overnight, however), I prefer to have him sleep in a crib, like the SNOO, while I am sleeping. When he is in there, I can rest peacefully knowing he is swaddled up and in his own bed, whereas something could happen to him on my bed.
While I still do get up 3-4 times a night to feed him, my sleep is maximized because I do not spend much time soothing him before he gets to sleep or worrying whether he is comforted or not. I know the rocking, white noise and swaddle make him feel secure, so I am a happy camper, who can get back to sleep! Thanks to the SNOO, I am not suffering from sleep deprivation. I usually arise rested, and if I need a nap during the day, Nico goes into the SNOO and I go on my bed while he naps! Check out this video all about SNOO, or read more on their site.
xoxo, Laurel
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