Top 5 Bassinets That Can Be The SNOO Alternative
The SNOO bassinet is one of the smartest and safest bassinets on the market. However, the price of the SNOO smart bassinet is quite high for most of the parents.
If you are looking for a high-technology bassinet beside the SNOO, you should read this article. We will provide you with brief reviews about the top five bassinets that can be the SNOO alternative so you can choose a good one for your baby.
The SNOO Bassinet - Short Review
The SNOO bassinet is an intelligent and safe crib that every parent wants. It was created by Dr. Harvey Karp - a pediatrician and author of the book “The Happiest Baby on the Block''.
The bassinet is smart because it can detect a baby's cry and fuss, then change the level of motion and sound to calm them down. It helps parents to soothe the baby back to sleep so they can sleep more and not wake up in the middle of the night.
However, some people think the SNOO bassinet is not worth its high price. Let's dive deeper into the reasons why people love and do not like the SNOO bassinet below.
Why do people love the SNOO?
There must be more than one reason why thousands of parents in the world loved the SNOO bassinet. The manufacturer promises not only more sleep, less crying, and extra hands, but also prevents rolling and sleep trains for the baby.
The first and most important reason people love the SNOO is it does so well in its major function - calm babies upset and put them back to sleep. It helps parents save countless hours of sleep and energy to wake up and put babies back to sleep every night.
To soothe the baby to sleep, the SNOO bassinet uses 5 levels of motion, vibration, and sounds. They will change automatically when the built-in microphones detect the baby's cries or fussing. The bassinet will go through and try to find the best setting to calm the baby to sleep again.
One pro of the bassinet is that you can connect and control it through an app on your phone. You can modify the level of sound and motion through the app and it will alarm you when the bassinet could not calm the baby. In addition, it will be easy for you to track your baby’s sleeping habits, trends, and development.
The design of the bassinet is simple but stunning that can fit any style of interior design in your nursing room. All the details of the SNOO are sturdy and work perfectly. The manufacturer focuses on every detail of the bassinet to maximize the customer experience.
To keep your baby sleeping in a safe environment, the bassinet goes with 100% cotton sheets and swaddles. The mesh side walls are available for the baby's breathability and parents' visibility.
Furthermore, the bassinet only operates after you swaddle your baby and put safety clips on. It helps your baby stay on their back and prevents rolling while sleeping.
In addition, the SNOO bassinet has a special feature the weaning mode. It is helpful for the baby to get used to sleeping without the motion so they can move to a normal crib when getting older.
Even though the price of this bassinet is high, you can consider it as a long-term investment if you plan to have more than one baby. In addition, there are rental services for the SNOO bassinet so you can rent it for use, or let other parents rent it from you.
Why do people not like the SNOO?
Some parents don't like the SNOO bassinet and think it is not worth the price of around $1500. After looking for parents’ reviews on the parenting forum, we collect some negative feedback about the SNOO as below.
One of the big reasons people don’t like the SNOO bassinet is it just does not work for their baby. The manufacturer does not guarantee the effect of the SNOO bassinet is similar for every infant. However, you already paid a high price for this bassinet so you may expect some magical effect on your baby.
To avoid this, you should observe your baby for a week before buying the SNOO bassinet to ensure they like being swaddled while sleeping. Or you can use the SNOO rental for the first month to check if it works for your baby before purchasing.
Even though the SNOO’s design is flawless, there is some negative feedback about it.
Some parents said that the SNOO bassinet is so inconvenient because it’s heavy and its height is non-adjustable. However, for the height, you absolutely can change it by purchasing leg lifters and a separate set of low legs.
The SNOO bassinet has a built-in white noise machine, which can only be turned off at the same time as the bassinet. It may be hard for the baby to hear their parents’ voices and learn how to fall asleep without the white noise later. You can fix this problem by reducing the intensity of the sound through the SNOO app.
Parents also said that the machine could not react slowly when the baby gave early cues of fussiness. It is too late when it starts to change the sound/motion, and the baby already gets angry.
However, the sensitivity of the SNOO bassinet can be changed through the SNOO app. You can read more about the instructions to increase or reduce the sensitivity here.
Many parents are disappointed that this expensive bassinet only has a 1-year limited warranty. If it has a problem when you use it for your future baby, that will cost you more to fix it.
What Bassinet Is Most Comparable To The SNOO?
The SNOO is a good smart bassinet but there are various products on the market that can be its alternative. We will introduce you to some other smart bassinets that come from well-known brands right below.
The Halo BassiNest Swivel Sleeper
The HALO BassiNest is a 360º swivel sleeper to keep the newborn close to mothers. Many breastfeeding and C-section moms love this bassinet because it allows them to care for babies from bed.
HALO BassiNest’s price is around 200$. It is not a cheap price, but very low compared with the price of the SNOO bassinet.
Similar to the SNOO bassinet, the HALO Bassinest calms the baby by providing 4 types of soothing sounds and 2 levels of gentle vibrations. However, it doesn’t have cry detection technology so you must turn it on and adjust it manually.
In addition, the HALO BassiNest doesn’t provide the motion feature as other bassinets on the market. Its vibration is quite loud, you can also feel it if the bassinet touches your bedside.
For easier access from your bedside and picking up your baby, the bassinet provides mesh walls that can be put down. In addition, it also offers two storage pockets for you to keep the baby's essential things like diapers, formula, etc close.
Don't forget to notice that its weight and age limit is 5 months, 20 lbs, lower than the SNOO. However, it is bigger than the SNOO bassinet so you should consider the space in your nursing room.
The Graco Sense2Snooze Bassinet
The Graco Sense2Snooze Bassinet has many similarities to the SNOO bassinet but at a lower price. The price of this bassinet is around $300, more affordable to many parents.
This bassinet also uses cry detection technology to recognize and respond to a baby's cries and fussing. It will automatically offer motions, vibrations, and sounds to soothe the baby back to sleep.
The Graco Sense2Snooze Bassinet has three levels of motion, which rocks back and forth continuously horizontally. It also offers two vibration speeds (low and high) to calm your baby.
This smart bassinet provides 10 sleepy songs and 10 soothing sounds. They will be changed automatically to respond to the baby's cries or fussing. Or you can also manually adjust them with 3 buttons on the front panel.
It also provides mesh side walls for the baby's breathability with airflow. There are three options of colors for this bassinet: Ellison, Hamilton, and Roma. You can easily find the best color that matches your nursing room decoration.
Furthermore, the design of this bassinet provides more flexibility for parents. It has a couple of built-in wheels so you can move the bassinet to find the best place for the baby's sleep. In addition, the reversible canopy can help to stop the light of the sun from your sleeping baby.
The Graco Sense2Snooze Bassinet also offers more convenience for parents. It provides storage pockets for you to keep essential things handy for unexpected night changes or feeds. Besides that, the control panel of this bassinet also has soft nightlights for you to easily change the operation mode during the night.
4moms mamaRoo Sleep Bassinet
At the price of around $400, 4moms mamaRoo Sleep Bassinet can be a good alternative for the SNOO bassinet. You also can use it until your baby is 6 months old, 25 lbs, or when they start to sit up on their hands and knees.
Similar to the SNOO, the mamaRoo bassinet uses 5 modes of motion and 4 modes of sound to soothe the baby to sleep. However, it is more personalized than the SNOO because you have 5 levels of intensity for each motion to adjust.
Without the cry detection technology, this bassinet could not turn on and adjust the motion and sound by itself. You can change them manually through the control panel on the bassinet or through the 4moms app. It will be more comfortable for you to control things from a distance or even in another room.
The design of this bassinet makes it look bulkier than the SNOO bassinet, but its weight is 10 pounds lighter. That could be something you should consider if you think you may move the bassinet around.
Like other bassinets on the market, 4moms mamaRoo Sleep Bassinet has mesh sides, water-resistant mattresses, and machine-washable sheets. You can easily wipe down and clean the cribs and mesh with a damp cloth with a soft detergent.
Fisher Price Soothing Motions
One low-price alternative for the SNOO can be The Fisher-Price bassinet. At the price of around $200, this bassinet is a safe sleeping place and a few extra tools to calm your baby.
It provides vibration, music, and sound to soothe the baby. However, you must turn them manually through the light/sound/vibration box.
The Fisher-Price bassinet is smaller than the SNOO, and its weight is only 20 pounds. It is ideal if you plan to move this bassinet around or for room sharing.
The maximum weight recommendation for this bassinet is up to 40 pounds, higher than other bassinets on the market. However, the manufacturer also recommends that we only use it for babies who haven't begun to sit up on hands and knees yet.
The Fisher-Price bassinet provides mesh side walls and a bottom rack for storage. It also has a hanging mobile with reflective mirrors placed inset into stars. If you put the batteries into it, it will project the stars onto the ceiling while playing rain sounds or song melodies.
Cradlewise
The last bassinet we mention here - Cradlewise is not a cheaper alternative for the SNOO. This bassinet also costs around $1500 as the SNOO bassinet but it provides more features.
The Cradlewise bassinet can anticipate the quiet phase of the baby's wake-up. So it may be more effective than the SNOO to recognize and calm the baby’s fussing.
It also provides the sound and motion to soothe the baby back to sleep. However, the motion of the Cradlewise bassinet is similar to the parent bouncing movement instead of the womb-like sway of the SNOO. It has 6 white noise, 8 lullabies, and 13 classical songs for you to choose from.
This bassinet allows you to monitor the baby from a distance through a mic, camera, and mobile phone app. That will save you the extra cost for a baby monitor - around $50-200 more.
An extra point for the Cradlewise is that it can transform into a crib! Instead of using a bassinet for 6 months only, now you can change it into a normal crib and use it for 12 - 18 months more.
Closing
These are some main information about the SNOO bassinet and the top 5 its alternatives. You can see there are some similarities and differences between them and the SNOO.
If you are looking for a low-price SNOO alternative, we highly recommend you try the Graco Sense2Snooze bassinet. It provides the main features of a smart bassinet as the SNOO and also some extra design features.
However, if you want to have a long-term investment in a bassinet for your baby, we think you should try Cradlewise. It offers more technology features than SNOO and you can use it until your baby is 24 months old.