My Honest Review of the SNOO Bassinet

We are officially a SNOO graduate as of this weekend. We started sleeping in the crib at night for good! Since the SNOO Bassinet is a newer product and technology I wanted to write an honest review about our experience with it. [I have zero affiliation with Happiest Baby – the creator of the SNOO. All of these opinions are my own as a first time mom!]

What in the world is a SNOO?

I got this question a lot. It’s still not widely known in the parenting world even though it was been around for a few years now! I heard of it before I was even pregnant and knew it would probably be what we chose for a bassinet for a baby. In short it is a WiFi enabled smart bassinet that mimics the sounds and movements of the womb. It is supposed to help the baby transition into the fourth trimester! (If you don’t know what that is Google it. It’s a thing.) If it your baby is upset and needs to be soothed the bassinet will use the sound and movement to help do that. It has a special swaddle sleep sack that clips in on either side of the bassinet that you place the baby in to keep them safe. It has an app that connects to it where you can view sleep logs and level the motion and noise up manually if you choose. It was also created by the Dr. Harvey Karp who wrote The Happiest Baby on the Block book which covers helping your newborn sleep more efficiently.

Why did you choose the SNOO?

We thought as first time parents that it would be helpful to have an extra set of hands. We also really liked the safety aspect of it. Additionally, anything that will help you get more sleep in those first few months with a newborn is priceless so we thought it couldn’t hurt!

Is the SNOO difficult to use?

Not at all. Truly anyone could use it. It only took minutes to put together. It was easy to set up and connect to Wi-Fi. It’s also easy to put baby in and and tak out of. The app is very simple and user-friendly as well. You can have the app on as many devices as you like so you and your partner can both have it on your phone as well as an iPad or any other device you would like. If you do run into any issues they have a number you can call or you can email them whether they’ll help you troubleshoot.

Did you feel safe allowing your newborn to have that much motion?

[Disclaimer the pillow pictured in the snow with Turner is not recommended by happiest baby. In fact they recommend that nothing is in the bassinet with the baby other than the baby itself and the swaddle. We chose to use this in order to help combat flat head and the loss of hair on the back of his head but it didn’t work. We quit using it after a couple of months. I probably wouldn’t use it with another child because it was just a waste as well as it’s technically not safe sleep practice.]

Honestly at first, no. They are swaddled with a Velcro band and zipped into their sleep sack so they are in there very safely. The first time that you see this new level up to help soothe the baby it is a little surprising. They don’t have much neck control at first so it looks like it’s moving a lot more than it really is. You can turn motion limiter on at any time which just means that it will not go over level two when soothing your child. We actually turned the motion limiter on for the first month and then turned it off until month three. At month three we found that he was getting much more upset when it would go to level 3 and 4 and could not be consoled and we would have to intervene. He was still responding well to levels one and two though so we just put the motion limit her on so it wouldn’t go up any farther. You also have the option to completely lock it on baseline so it won’t level up at all but I personally don’t see the point in doing that since the point is for the bassinet to help with the soothing process!

Did the SNOO make you feel like you were a lazy parent? 

Not at all. I really thought it would but you still do have to get up to feed and change them and sometimes even soothe them when the SNOO can’t. It just gave us an extra set of hands that could try to soothe him before we had to step in. It’s certainly no miracle worker which I didn’t expect it to be. If your baby cannot be soothed by the motion and sound of this new within a few minutes it will completely shut off and alert you to go to them. You can feel confident that you’re not neglecting your baby because it’s going to let you know if they really need you.


Do you feel like the SNOO really made your baby sleep better?

This is such a loaded question because I really do feel like it is somewhat dependent on how well the baby naturally sleeps. For Turner we have only had to intervene once when putting him down for the night and he’s 5.5 months old now. It’s obvious to me that his drive for going to sleep is very high and it comes easily to him. The first two weeks he was sleeping three hours and we would have to wake him so he could eat. Once we were given the go ahead to stop waking him to eat at two weeks he started sleeping 4 to 5 hour stretches before his first wake up of the night. This is much longer than the average baby this age sleeps at a time! The wake ups typically were 10 minutes or less where he would get changed and have a bottle, burped and back down. At about two months he started sleeping six hours but still doing 1 to 2 wake ups during the night to eat. He gradually pushed his wake up time each night a little further and tell there was only one wake up for a bottle. At four months he slept fully through the night for the first time randomly and then started doing it consistently a few days later. Typically about 12 hours give or take about 30 minutes. This is still what he is doing even having moved to the crib. Overall I do believe that Turner is naturally a good sleeper and I don’t have any other experience with other bassinets to compare it to since he’s my first child. Do do think this new helped especially at first when he was brand new but I do think his sleeping has been a combination of just his natural sleeping temperament and then also the snoo.

Do you have anything that you regret about the SNOO?

I only have two things because I went into it with super low expectations for sleep because I knew it wasn’t going to be a miracle worker and I knew that he was a baby. The first thing that I regret is not moving him out of our room sooner. Happiest baby and the AAP recommend rooming in otherwise known as keeping the baby in a bassinet in the parents room for the first six months. Turner was a very loud newborn sleeper and was waking me up literally all night. I was getting very little sleep and we even had our hatch sound machine on. At five weeks we decided to move him to his own room since we have the outlet sock and camera. The only other regret that I have is not allowing the SNOO to do it’s thing. What I mean by that is a lot of times I would go to him because it was quicker and easier to soothe him before I really let this new intervene in level up to try to soothe him. Sometime after three months I started allowing it to work first for a few minutes before I would step in and it made a world of difference. He quickly started sleeping longer and needing less motion to soothe him and less often.

Did you do all naps in this new like happiest baby suggests?

We tried to at first. They suggest doing all sleep in the snow exclusively until they transition to the crib full-time. For the first month to probably six weeks I tried all day every day to get him to nap in the snow and he would only sleep for about 20 minutes. Finally I gave up and started allowing him to take swing naps or in a carrier etc. basically anywhere where I could supervise him sleeping to make sure he was safe. At a little before three months I moved him to the crib in a Magic Merlin suit for naps. He has done all of his naps in there since then. Recently we moved him to a Kyte baby sleep sack during naps. I know they say that it doesn’t matter but I do believe that having him nap in the crib for that long has helped our transition be a lot easier. As a parent you just have to do what works for you because sometimes it doesn’t matter where they’re getting the nap as long as they’re getting it!


Were you worried about the transition from the SNOO to the crib?

This was like my biggest source of anxiety even though I had read everywhere that the transition is basically seamless and babies don’t have a problem with it. I literally put off transitioning him from this new to the crib for a month and a half. Truthfully, the only reason we finally transitioned him is because he’s in the 99th percentile for height and he was running out of room. The transition so far couldn’t have been smoother. I literally stressed over nothing. 

Does the SNOO sleep train your child?

It does not. Sleep training is essentially helping babies learn tools to help put themselves to sleep or back to sleep when they wake up throughout the night. Turner is not sleep trained as of yet because you can’t begin the process until they are out of the SNOO since the bassinet itself is referred to as a sleep prop! (Something that helps baby fall asleep. Swaddle, pacifier etc are also props.) At this time we will wait until we need to sleep train him since at this time his nighttime sleep is good. Now, naps are a different story for another day!


Is this new really worth the price?

It’s definitely pricey. Currently the price for a brand new SNOO to purchase is $1395. You can also rent it by the month for $129 which for how long we used it would’ve came out to $774 which is still cheaper than purchasing it. We were very blessed to have been able to borrow it from my brother and sister-in-law who had my nephew six months earlier. I’m confident however that we would’ve chosen most likely to rent it anyway if we hadn’t had this opportunity. We really don’t have anywhere to store the SNOO when it’s not in use plus we’re not planning on adding to our family for a couple of years so purchasing really wouldn’t make sense for us. The resell value for the SNOO is extremely high as you can pretty much resell it and get all of your money back if you decided to do that. Overall, I do think for the safety aspect and first time parents it’s worth it. Is it a must have for all parents and babies? Absolutely not! Your baby will be just fine in a regular bassinet or pack and play to sleep their first few months. It’s definitely a splurge item that will make having a baby a little bit easier and I definitely would choose it again for a baby in the future.

I’m thinking about doing an in depth post about our journey with the SNOO plus the transition, would you guys be interested in that? Let me know below!

Love,

Megan

Postpartum Essentials

I’m sharing my must haves for postpartum today. Probably the least “fun” post I’ve written so far but definitely the most practical! I will mention I had a vaginal birth with a 2nd degree tear and some stitches. Depending on your labor and birth your recovery and postpartum period might look different from mine. The things I’m sharing today are obviously just suggestions and things I felt that made my recovery more comfortable. You can shop all of the products I’m sharing by going to the free LIKEtoKNOW.it app: Shop my post

Things to keep in basket in the restroom for easy access:

  • Mesh underwear – the hospital will provide these but I liked the FridaMom brand much better. I will say I felt like I only needed these the first week or so.
  • Pads – I liked the large hospital ones for the beginning of my time at home and then transitioned to regular pads.
  • Always Discreet Disposable Underwear – you technically don’t need both the mesh underwear and these but I found that the Always ones were so much more convenient especially when you are getting up all night with a newborn. They are kind of pricey so I would suggest just getting one package to see if you like them. I ended up getting a second package because they were so easy to use.
  • Flushable wipes – you will want these instead of using toilet paper at first. Do not flush them though because they will eventually mess up your plumbing!
  • FridaMom peri bottle – the one the hospital gives you is nothing compared to this one. It’s amazing. If you only get one thing for postpartum and decide to use the hospital stuff for the rest then make it this! I promise you need it.
  • FridaMom pad liners – I liked these so much better than the round Tucks Pads. They are actually shaped like a pad so they fit perfectly. I rotated these and the next product for the first week or two.
  • Dermoplast Spray – they will give you this at the hospital but I ordered extra. I probably went through a can and a half total. Rotating the spray and witch hazel liners listed above helps speed your healing process and keeps you comfortable!
  • FridaMom ice pads – this was my other favorite product. I loved these so much I ordered another box of them. I used these twice a day. Once in the morning and evening. This is a more expensive alternative to padsicles. I just wanted something convenient that would help with swelling and recovery!

Many of the items I mentioned come as part of the FridaMoms Kit which I was gifted from my sister in law. It also had some perineal cooling foam but I personally didn’t use it much. I found the other items I listed more convenient. If you don’t want to purchase the whole kit all the items listed above can be bought via Amazon separately.

Other items to have on hand:

  • A pillow to sit on at all times at least the first week. Trust me – you will want it. I used my pregnancy pillow most of the time.
  • Nightgowns or other easy access clothing. It was so much easier to take care of myself when I didn’t have to worry about getting off pants or shorts. I love the Star’s Above line from Target and rotated my long sleeve and shortsleeved ones.
  • Ibuprofen or other pain reliever. I was given pain pills but I only took them for 3 days once we returned home because they made me feel too groggy and I truthfully wasn’t in enough pain to need them after that. I switched to over the counter pain reliever after that for the first week and then didn’t take anything after that. Listen to your body though and take whatever medications as long as you feel like you need them!

Supplements to take:

  • Colace – they will give you this in the hospital but you need to continue taking it at home. It is a stool softener. Regardless of the type of birth you have you will want this to make sure you don’t have to strain when the time comes. You can take up to 3 times a day which I suggest and then taper down to one time per day once the first week goes by. I also suggest drinking tons of water!
  • Garden of Life Probiotic – I took their prenatal one during pregnancy and then switched to the Women’s Daily after giving birth. This will help with your digestive system!
  • Pink Stork Postpartum Mood Support – this has vitamins to help your body transition as it gets rid of any lingering hormones.

Other bits of advice:

  • Make sure you are getting a shower once or even twice a day. I know it’s hard with a newborn and you’re tired but I truly feeling like keeping good hygiene will help prevent infection and speed your recovery process. I’m a clean freak though and love showers so this was easy for me. If that’s not your thing still make sure your partner watches your baby so you can make sure you get clean daily!
  • Walk as much as possible! Even if it’s just around your house. This truly will help you so much.
  • You might still be swollen from fluids after. My legs and feet were extremely swollen and somewhat painful. This took a week to subside. I tried to drink tons of water and keep them elevate. Moving around also helps!

Things I didn’t use:

  • Postpartum wrap – I bought one from Amazon and used it once. These are supposed to help your stomach and everything go back but they gave me really painful stomach cramps so I never put it on again.
  • Sitz bath salts – I was told I couldn’t take a bath by my OB until after my 6 week check up.

Overall, postpartum recovery has not been as difficult as I thought. I had a fairly easy pregnancy, quick induction, labor and routine vaginal birth which I know helps. Once you get through the first few days you will feel so much better! Let anyone who offers to help you do so. Don’t feel like you have to have it all together and get it all done. Feel free to ask me any questions about post part recovery! I’ll be glad to answer.

Love,

Megan

Third Trimester Bumpdate

I cannot believe it’s finally my due date today! (July 18th) Pregnancy is a journey that somehow seems fast and slow at the same time. This baby boy has been 22 months in the making for us since it took us a year to get pregnant. We feel so thankful to be meeting our little miracle soon!

28 Weeks pictured above! This is about the time I really started to show and had an actual bump. It was so exciting to see it and made it more real.

29 Weeks pictured above. This was the weekend our shower was originally scheduled for but COVID canceled and rescheduled it.

30 Weeks pictured above. Third trimester was when I actually started to truly feel pregnant. The beginning of the trimester was fairly uneventful for me other than a growing bump. We spent lots of time getting the nursery ready for baby.

Week 30 pictured again. I somehow did not get a week 31 photo.

Week 32 pictured above. My rib pain started around this time and has worsened as the weeks have gone on. This was also the week we had a scare at the doctor. I was measuring two weeks behind for the first time in my whole pregnancy. We were sent for an ultrasound and found that baby boy was balled up and was completely fine. His position just threw the measurements off!

Week 33 we took our maternity photos! This is something I always swore I’d never do. I couldn’t imagine wanting photos of me big and pregnant. Once I was actually pregnant I couldn’t imagine not documenting this time! I am so glad we did them and especially before it got too hot and I got too uncomfortable. I highly recommend doing your maternity photos before 36 weeks for both of those reasons!

Week 34 pictured above! The bump really started growing around this time and my rib pain started to get extremely uncomfortable. My ankles and feet also started swelling around this time. I was pretty disappointed about that because I thought I was going to make it through pregnancy without that lovely symptom.

Week 35 pictured above!

Week 36 pictured above! My friends gave us a shower outside and it was beautiful. We began our weekly appointment at the doctor. I measured two weeks behind for only the second time in my pregnancy. We were sent for an ultrasound but unfortunately this time he wasn’t in the wrong position. He really was measuring behind especially his stomach. He was weighing about 5 pounds at this time and I was really upset about finding all this out. I felt like somehow I failed him. My doctor explained that I am a small person which often means smaller baby. He was still within 2 weeks of the normal range and not to worry. I concentrated on getting as much protein as possible after this to hopefully help even though my doctor insisted that your body is just going to do pregnancy its own way regardless in terms of weight gain and baby growth.

Week 37 pictured above. This began the most uncomfortable and longest part of my whole pregnancy. Check out my severely swollen ankles above. I also began to not be able to sleep at night due to rib pain and general discomfort. I was crossing my fingers for him to arrive any day!

Week 38 pictured above! We were still going to the weekly doctor appointments. I wasn’t shower any signs of him coming soon at this time at all.

Week 39 pictured above. I just knew he would come this week but no dice. Found out at our weekly appointment that I was dilated to 1 cm but nothing else happening. We got to see him on ultrasound and he was estimated to weigh 6 pounds and 14 ounces which was amazing news for us! Since week 37 I have eaten pineapple (I actually eat it everyday anyway because I love it), walked, bounced and done labor activation exercises on the exercise ball, eaten spicy food (I do this anyway!), drank Red Raspberry Leaf tea, ridden the Peloton as much as possible, and nested. Apparently none of those things are going to induce labor for me. This last few days of pregnancy as been mentally exhausting because I keep waiting for labor to begin. I’ve only had some cramping and Braxton hicks. We go to the doctor Monday and will likely set an induction date at this point. I am disappointed because I really wanted my body to do it on its own but ultimately just really want him here.

Worst third trimester symptoms: acid reflux (was given the okay by my doctor to take OTC medication nightly at week 32 and it basically vanished since then), swollen ankles, swollen hands (began at 39+4 during walking so I had to stop), sleepless nights due to anxiety and uncomfortableness and excruciating rib pain that nothing helps. I gained 14 pounds total during this pregnancy which I am pretty happy with since many weeks I gained nothing and even lost some weeks despite eating plenty.

Now, we are just waiting to meet our sweet boy hopefully next week sometime! I’ve loved sharing my journey here on my blog and cannot waist to continue sharing affordable outfits, home decor, motherhood and life in general in the future! I would love your prayers for a healthy delivery and baby. Let me know below if you went past your due date below in the comments!

Love,

Megan

35 Week Bumpdate

We are exactly 30 days from Turner’s due date! I wanted to give an update over the past few weeks of my pregnancy. My bump has grown quite a bit! I’ve gained 12 pounds total during pregnancy so far and baby boy was weighing 4 pounds at the last ultrasound a few weeks ago. We had a bit of a scare at our 32 week appointment as my fundal measurement was 2 weeks behind for the first time. We were sent for an ultrasound and gratefully everything was all right. Baby boy was just curled up in a comfortable position which threw the measurements off! It was so amazing to see him for the first time since our 18 week anatomy scan. He was opening and closing both his eyes and mouth plus playing with the umbilical cord! Starting next week we begin to go to the doctor weekly as we begin cervical checks. It is getting very real at this point!

I’ve mentioned before how easy this pregnancy has been for me. I really haven’t truly felt pregnant and uncomfortable until I hit week 34. My right side back pain began to become more frequent and my nightly heartburn got pretty bad. Thankfully I have started different medication suggested by my doctor that has helped so much. The back pain is definitely still there and I use the heating pad as much as possible. My newest symptoms at 35 weeks are right side rib pain and swollen ankles and feet. Neither of which are much fun! Just trying my best to stay positive.

The nursery is basically almost finished at this point. The diaper bag, hospital bags, and nurses baskets are prepared. I’ll be sharing blog posts in the coming weeks on how I packed all three of those. Just need to install the car seat and wait on baby boy to come! I am interested to see if he comes early, on time, or late. I was born late and my husband was early so it could go either way!

Looking forward to the coming weeks and praying for a safe delivery and baby.

Love,

Megan

2nd Trimester Bumpdate

I’m officially in my third trimester as of last week. I am currently 29 weeks as of this Saturday! (Pictured above. Dress is last year from Vici Collection but they have it again this year in a sage green. It is not maternity and I am wearing a small.) I wanted to give an update of how my second trimester went and on how baby Turner is doing so far.

(Pictured above at 16 weeks) I entered into my second trimester in January around the time we announced our pregnancy on social media. My biggest pregnancy symptoms throughout this trimester were exhaustion, headaches, and acid reflux. I tried everything known to man for the headaches. They were everyday pretty much as soon as the second trimester began. When I was still and not moving they weren’t has bad but that’s not really an option when you’re a middle school teacher. I just pushed through the best I could everyday and tried to be grateful this was the worst pregnancy symptom I had. Thankfully they started to get less frequent in March and by the end of the second trimester they were gone. I feel like I’m always tired and have acid reflux even when not pregnant so those two symptoms didn’t really bother me. Overall, I would say I had a pretty easy second trimester and I feel very blessed to be able to say that!

(Pictured above at 19 weeks) We had our anatomy scan around this time and Turner measured almost exactly to the day on all of his measurements. I had so much anxiety of the appointment that I was such a relief to get good news and see him moving around a ton on the ultrasound.

(Pictured above at 20 weeks) I didn’t do as good of a job as I had originally planned during the second trimester of documenting each week in photos. Honestly, it’s because I wasn’t showing much so I felt kind of silly taking photos. We were also traveling a ton because in February we found out we would be moving before the baby was born. If you saw my last post then you know that we sold our current house and bought another in March back in home in Texas. Then everything got worse with COVID and the entire state of Arkansas schools went to online schooling. The county we lived in had the first case in the state and gradually was seeing many more cases confirmed. We closed on our new house at the end of March and decided to go ahead and move. My husband felt like it would be better to get me close to our families and my new doctor back home that would be delivering the baby. I had been starting to get pretty bad anxiety with everything happening plus just pregnancy in general and I can honestly tell you that once we got settled in our new home it greatly reduced.

(Pictured above at 25 weeks) A major positive of being in our new house is that we’ve been able to begin on the nursery. We have a crib and bookcase put together so far and are working on the dresser. Other than some decor and accent pieces we just have quite a bit of organizing to do in his closet and we will be ready for his arrival! It has been nice having extra time to do this that we had not planned on originally having.

(Pictured at 27 weeks above) I had my first visit with my new doctor who actually was my doctor before I moved so just new to this pregnancy. I was tested for gestational diabetes and do not have it which was a huge blessing! I have gained 9 pounds so far and Turner is measuring exactly perfect to the week. I started feeling him move around 18 weeks and he started moving consistently and more often around 24 weeks. Since then he moves all day everyday and Tyler was finally able to feel him moving! I’m still feeling comfortable even entering the third trimester and feel so grateful for that.

(Pictured above at 28 weeks) Our next appointment will be at 30 weeks and the time is really starting to fly by. We are getting excited and nervous as it becomes more real each day! The only disappointing thing we have experienced so far is having to cancel our original shower date due to COVID. Thankfully, since Turner is not due until mid July we are rescheduling for this summer and hoping things will be better by then.

(Pictured above at 29 weeks) Thank you for allowing me to share our pregnancy journey with you! This has been the most exciting experience of our lives as a married couple and overall we are just so grateful for good health for both Turner and I. We are praying this continues over the next 11 weeks while we prepare to meet him! This time might not look like we had planned due to COVID but we are thanking God for his provision despite what is happening in the world. Nursery posts and things I couldn’t live without during the second trimester are coming this month so make sure to subscribe so you won’t miss them!

Love,

Megan