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This $1,200 Bassinet Promises to Be the Ultimate Baby Soother – But I Don't Think It's Worth It

From Redbook

I don't want to sound overly dramatic, but Dr. Harvey Karp's 5 Ss were literally life-savers for me. My second son was born with extreme colic and learning how to soothe him - using Dr. Karp's special "swaddle, side lying, sucking, swinging, and shushing" technique - was probably the most useful thing I learned as a new parent. While it didn't exactly make him The Happiest Baby On The Block, as Dr. Karp's book promised in the title, it did quiet my son enough that I no longer wanted to kill him and both of us could finally get some decent sleep. And for that, I will be indebted to Dr. Karp for the rest of my life (or at least until I get old enough to forget the trauma of colic).

Yet when I saw Dr. Karp's latest contribution to the parenting scene, my first reaction was a raised eyebrow. The good doctor recently debuted The Snoo, an robotic cradle that promises to do the 5 Ss for you. It retails for a cool $1,200. Apparently, you get a lot for that hefty price tag. "It's like your own personal night nurse for just $7 a night," the site says. The safety features, including breathable mesh walls and no slats or corners for baby to get stuck in, are definitely amazing. And not only does The Snoo promise to reduce crying and improve sleep, but it also claims to be the "safest baby bed ever made."

Photo credit: YouTube
Photo credit: YouTube

But I'm not sold on the premise. I'm sure that the white noise-making, vibrating, swinging, baby-sensing machine is great at soothing babies. I'm just not sure that's what's best for the baby - or for his or her mom.

Part of what made Dr. Karp's technique so revolutionary for me was that it taught me how to be better tuned in to what my baby wanted and needed from me. It helped us bond, which is something that did not come naturally for me. I had pretty serious postpartum depression and anxiety, and when you add that to the excruciating pain of having a baby that shrieks 24/7 for no apparent reason (my husband and I joked that at least we never had to wonder if he was breathing), it doesn't make for an ideal situation for mother-baby bonding. I remember very well those early weeks, loving him but also deeply resenting him. I wanted him in our family but I also wanted him to stop torturing our family. I knew it wasn't his fault (he was a baby!), but I also knew it was driving me crazy. There's nothing more demoralizing for a mother than to not be able to take care of your baby's most basic needs.

It was in that critical time I was introduced to the 5 Ss. A mom at the zoo saw me trying to soothe my screaming son and must have recognized the desperation in my taut face as she gently took my son and showed me the technique, all the while explaining she had had twins with colic. It was one of the nicest things anyone's ever done for me. I read the book in a few hours and it changed my whole relationship with my baby.

Learning how to help my son stopped the crying (his and mine), but it also finally helped me see him as a little person trying to tell me something and not just a black hole of need. I fell in love with him as I watched his face even out into peaceful sleep. And I felt immense pride that I was the one who was able to do it. I finally felt like his mom and not just a breastfeeding and diaper-changing machine.

Could a crib, no matter how high-tech, provide that experience? I don't think it can. It might teach the baby how to sleep (maybe) but it wouldn't teach the mother how to help her baby sleep. Had The Snoo been available when my son was born. I probably would have used it. I would have done anything at that point, no matter how expensive. But a robo cradle wouldn't have solved the underlying rift between us and it may have even made it worse if I had learned to rely on it instead of building the skills myself.

I don't think moms need to hold their babies every minute of every day nor am I saying that they should never use technology to help them be a better (and less sleep-deprived) parent. But, to me, one of the fundamental truths of parenting is that holding an infant and learning to understand his unique body language is one of the most basic ways we learn to love them.

And besides, we need more moms, friends, family, and strangers at the zoo reaching out to struggling mothers - not more robotic nannies.

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