When traveling with babies, parents always worry the babies could not sleep well in a strange place. Because of that, many people choose to carry the bassinet that the baby has slept in.
The small or compact crib will be easy for traveling. How about a sturdy bassinet like the SNOO smart sleeper? Can we dismantle and pack the SNOO for traveling? Will it affect the functions of this bassinet?
There are so many concerns about SNOO travel. The good news is we’ve done the legwork for you. Below, you’ll find every tip you must know about traveling with SNOO from “been there, done that” parents.
Can You Travel With SNOO?
You absolutely can travel with your SNOO bassinet by repacking it. The SNOO shipping box is 22x17x37 inches so you can pack the bassinet down to this size for your trip.
You should keep your original SNOO packaging in a safe place to avoid missing or damaging it. Or you can order a new outer box through the Happiest Baby's website.
To prevent any damage to the bassinet, you should ask for assistance when sliding the SNOO onto the carton. After that, you can put the accessory box inside and fit the box over the clip on both sides.
You should notice if the leg has a red or blue arrow, then insert legs following the color pattern red - blue - red - blue. Don’t forget to insert the tabs fully when you close and secure the accessory box.
When you secure the box, you should insert and snap in all 4 clips. No gap between the outer box and tray. Then you tape close both handles, all 4 sides, and the base of the outer box (if the clips are missing or damaged).
Car travel
After packing, the SNOO package takes up about 8 cubic feet. So you can put it in the trunk if you travel by car.
The truck capacity of a mid-size family car is about 16 cubic feet. A compact SUV will have a bigger trunk - about 25-35 cubic feet. And the trunk capacity of a large SUV for families is over 40 cubic feet.
So you can see that the packed SNOO will take about 50% of a mid-size family car’s trunk, and around 20-33% of a compact SUV or large SUV.
These numbers depend on the trunk dimensions of a specific car. In addition, if you carry other bulky pieces of luggage, the SNOO bassinet might not fit. You should think about all the stuff you will carry and your car trunk before packing.
Plane travel
If you travel by plane, you can bring the SNOO bassinet with you. The size of the SNOO bassinet is 76 inches total, which is in the oversized luggage range. You must pay an extra cost, which depends on the carrier, to bring the SNOO bassinet to the plane.
Southwest offers the cheapest extra cost for oversized luggage, at $75/package. Other carriers like Delta or American offer the cost for a package the size of SNOO bassinet is $200.
So if you want to have low-cost travel, Southwest is a better choice. If you are not, the cost of flying with the SNOO bassinet from other carriers is still 30% lower than shipping ones to your location.
Do You Need To Travel With SNOO?
Traveling without the SNOO bassinet may cause you and your baby problems. It may break the healthy sleeping habit that forms when your baby sleeps in the SNOO bassinet. In case it happens, your vacation can be a mess, and your baby needs to re-adjust the sleep habits when they get back to the SNOO.
However, in some cases, you can consider a trip without the SNOO bassinet. It is when your trip is quite short, less than one week. Or your baby hasn't been sleeping with the SNOO for more than 1-2 months.
You’re probably fine when traveling without the SNOO if you don't break the swaddling pattern. You can swaddle your baby with the normal sack or the SNOO sack.
If you still do not know whether you should travel without the SNOO or not, you should test the baby and have a backup plan. You can leave the baby out of the SNOO bassinet for a day and check their reaction. Then you can prepare a backup plan by checking how long it would take to rent the SNOO bassinet to your location.
Can You Use SNOO Sack Without SNOO?
The SNOO bassinet is known as the “world's safest infant bed". It has two safety clips on the sides of the bed so you can attach the sack. That will help the baby to sleep on the back and prevent rolling over.
The SNOO sack is made of 100% organic cotton airy mesh to prevent overheating and allow you to see the baby's legs. It has inner bands with velcro to keep the baby's hands in order.
The sack comes in three sizes: small (babies 5-12 pounds), medium (12-18 pounds), and large (18-25 pounds). It is easy to wear the SNOO sack to your baby thanks to the top-to-bottom zipper.
You can swaddle the baby with arms free by the arm holes. The only thing you need to do is unsnap the buttons near the shoulders.
The SNOO bassinet will not work if you don't swaddle the baby and slide on the safety clips. However, you can use the SNOO sack separately, without the SNOO bassinet. This sack will be helpful for you to calm your baby to sleep if you plan to travel with the SNOO bassinet.
3 Tips To Travel With SNOO From Real-Life Experienced Parents
Traveling with SNOO can make parents feel safer because the baby can have a good sleep. However, in real life, there are some inconveniences for you to travel with SNOO. Below are tips we collect from the discussion of parents on the parenting forum about traveling with SNOO.
About packing the SNOO
Many parents worry about packing the SNOO bassinet for traveling. To maintain a good condition for your bassinet, you should follow the guideline of packing on the Happiest Baby website.
The legs can be taken off and put inside the bassinet. Some parents also packed the inside full of soft things to avoid any damage to the bassinet.
About Wi-fi connection
You may be concerned about the wi-fi connection of the SNOO when moving to a different location. However, the SNOO will work almost normally without the wi-fi. You just could not connect and control the bassinet through the mobile app.
Some parents said that they can connect the SNOO bassinet normally to the new Wi-fi. They just need to unpair it from the app ahead of time.
One parent said: “I just connected my phone to the new wifi and went into the SNOO app and clicked on the little gear icon and then clicked on devices and “change network”.” Then they just enter a new wi-fi password. From there I entered the new wifi password and it all synced.
About car travel
As we mentioned above the SNOO package can fit the trunk of many family cars and SUVs. In some cases, if you have a long vacation with many luggage, the car trunk may become too small for all the stuff. Parents recommend that you can fold some of the back seats down to have more space as well.
5 Tips To Travel Without SNOO From Real-Life Experienced Parents
Traveling without the SNOO bassinet may struggle for many parents. Below are some helpful tips we collected for you.
Swaddle
If you don't bring the SNOO bassinet for your travel, you should keep the baby's sleeping habits by bringing the swaddle. The swaddling position helps to recreate a baby's position inside the womb so they can feel safe and easier to fall asleep.
You can bring the SNOO sack with you instead of a whole bassinet or buy a new swaddle for the trip only. You just need to make sure that the baby will feel comfortable with it.
White noise
White noise is one of the important factors to recreate life inside the womb. Instead of the SNOO bassinet, you can bring a white noise machine with you during the trip.
You can buy a popular white noise machine like HoMedics or play white noise on the SNOO bassinet through the phone. It is easy for you to download and play the SNOO white noise on Spotify or Itunes.
Light
In some hotel rooms, your baby may get distracted because of the light through the gaps in the curtains. You can stop it by using the clips or skirt hanger to keep the curtains together. Bringing portable black-out blinds with you while traveling or putting a dark sheet over the window are some solutions to create a dark room.
Bed routine
Traveling and changing the bed routine will upset the baby. Even if you don't bring the SNOO bassinet on the trip, you should do the same bedtime routine you usually do with the SNOO.
Motion
To create a similar experience for the baby, you can make some motions too. You can jiggle your baby back and forth in the travel cot or entire cot.
Closing
We have collected many pieces of advice and recommendations from parents, who have experience with traveling with or without the SNOO. We know traveling with your little one may cause some stress but can bring many happy memories. Hope all this information and tips about SNOO travel will be helpful for your next vacation.