Snuzpod - positive reviews but any negative reviews?

[Almondbiscotti]

Hi
I have read 101 good things about the snuzpod but DH is concerned of little one becoming too attached and then struggling to transfer to their own room.

Does anyone have experience of finding snuzpod transition to babys own room a struggle perhaps for this reason? Any negative feedback about this product?

TIA

We have a snuzpod, it's lovely, nice and sturdy and bigger than a Moses basket so should last a little longer.

Only downside is that our baby doesn't like sleeping in it! He much prefers being in bed with us! This could happen with anything you buy for a baby!

We haven't tried to move him into his own cot yet but suspect it won't be easy.

I would recommend a sidecar cot instead. You can remove one side off most cot beds and they will be stable 3 sided.

This is a much bigger space to cuddle into and also lasts a lot longer. Many babies grow out of crib-sized baskets way before 6 months.

The bigger space also makes in-cot settling easier. So no need to transfer, you just settle baby directly in the cot. You can lie yourself right in there, even feeding in there if needed. Then extract yourself afterwards.

In terms of transitioning into own room. Firstly, your expectations may well be way-off if this is your first.

In from that though, I'd recommend a drop side cotbed if you can find one. It allows for more 'degrees of separation' to gradually teach independant sleeping. For example:

• Newborn: side off, mattress highest setting

• Once rolling: side on but perninantly dropped ti make a low barrier, but still easy to reach over. Mattress highest setting

• Once sitting up: side in dropped position, mattress lowered to middle height. Makes reaching into the cot from your bed easier.

• Once pulling to standing: stop side in dropped position perminantly, mattress in lowest height. Still able to reach down into the cot yo settle while lying in bed.

• Once walking/climbing: mattress in low position, side up perminantly. Move away from your bed slightly.

• Transition into own room: cot a meter or so from your bed. Cot other side of your bedroom, still in your eyeline though. Cot at end of your bed, not in eyeline, cut by your bedroom door. Cot in baby's room.

It has not made any difference for my DD. She has gone between the Snuzpod and a cot a few feet from my side of the bed since 7 weeks (depending on whether we are at home or staying with family) and doesn't seem to have noticed any difference. IMO it's about what makes it easier for you really - it's obviously easier if you don't actually have to get out of bed! And if you do have a baby who only wants to sleep on you, then it's easier to make the transition to a co-sleeper than a standalone cot a few feet away. My DD's sleep is quite broken again at nearly 5 months (due to 4 month sleep regression/teething) so it's as useful now as in in the newborn stage. I could put her in her own room now, but it would only mean more disruption for me in having to go next door to settle rather than just grab her.

I second what pp said - it's much less about your baby getting used to it and much more about maximising your own sleep! My baby is 5 months and too big for the Snuzpod. I have her cot wedged against my bed. I don't think she cares - the side is on - but now she wakes a bit more I can settle her without getting up. I thought I'd be moving her into her own room right now but no chance! I'm sure she'd cope but I wouldn't. The Snuzpod was without doubt the best thing we got and gave me so much more sleep. Though the bigger sidecar cot sounds great too. Wish I had that set up now.

If you are keen not to get into co-sleeping, just keep the side zipped up when your baby is asleep. That's what we did most of the time so think she was always used to having her own space separate from me.

i had a snuzpod- ftm, and although it had its uses, with hindsight i would just have got a moses basket on a rocking stand and/or possibly a sleepyhead- a lot more portable. if i had been able to continue BFing i would have probably got more out of it but I didn't and I also found DD and I disturbed each other sleeping right next to each other and it ended up being placed a little
further away the end of the bed anyway. It is nice that it rocks, which I don't think the chicago
does? but I don't think she ever liked the firmness of the mattress and used to scratch her fingers at the fabric sides and wake herself up. the drop down side was
good if she fell asleep on our bed I could just scoot her over. however i thought I would use it as a bassinet a whole lot more then i actually did, because it is very heavy to be a carrying up and down stairs and if she did fall asleep in it downstairs on an evening, it's far too heavy and bulky to carry her up in it. for this reason she mainly
napped in her pram
carrycot when tiny. so I transferred her to big cot and own room quite early at 4 months, for
is it was the right decision, happy days since then, but i don't
mind popping into her room for middle of night feeds and we have a video. hope that helps x
monitor x

argh how many typos?! haha, just to add to answer your other question,
the transition to big cot was very easy for us, because i made a habit of letting her lay in the big cot during the day and play with her in there when she was very tiny, to create a positive association, and i also did some daytime naps in there from
early on too so she liked being in there and she knew that it's a place for sleep.

I am comparing the snuzpod to one of the hammock style cots like the Poco. I am leaning more towards the Poco as baby can still be as close to me although in less cosleeping way and i can rock baby back to sleep. Did anyone consider the hammock style cots?

I've used and loved our snuzpod for both dcs. Both have transitioned into cot in own room without any issues. Dd has just moved out of the snuzpod at night now she's nearly 9 months and is quite content in her own room. Not sure if you can ever say one piece of baby equipment solved/created a problem, it's very much baby dependent.
For purely selfish reasons I've loved my snuzpod.

Surely having a hammock style cot would be worse as if baby gets used to that it really would be hard to put into their own cot?

I had the Chicco Next2Me cosleeper, which I suppose is a similar concept. But I had it attached to the side of the bed but actually never had the side down to use as a proper co sleeper. This worked for me because it has a mesh side so I could still see my son as he slept and while I was BF I could just pull the side down and pull him out. Also my son had redux and the Chicco allowed you to raise one end, which is also why I didn't keep the side down, as I knew it would never fully line up with the bed mattress, if that makes sense.

I actually can't see how a baby would grow out of it by 6 months, they are really roomy and I thought the next2me and the snuzpod had the same dimensions? My son is in his own room now, but at nearly 8 months he would certainly still fit with bags of room to spare. It also fits the sleepyhead in it, which was a huge plus for us.

I really wouldn't recommend a Moses basket by the bed. Babies really do grow out of these quickly and most people in my nct group felt forced to put their baby in their own room sooner because they had grown out of it by 3/4 months. And I don't know of many babies who napped in Moses baskets in the day either. Certainly mine wouldn't - I had a Moses basket too for daytime naps and it ended up as a bed for our cats in the end 😂.

We had a Snuzpod for DD (now 2) and DS (7 weeks).

DD transitioned to a cot with no problems. Like daydream we made a point of putting her in it for naps which might have helped. Although a lot of it is down to the child. DD has always liked a lot of room, and is now in a small double bed!

Obviously it's a while before we move DS but he's happy to be put down in the cot now (useful for keeping him safely out of reach while I deal with a marauding toddler!.

I love the Snuzpod. I love having them right next to me and being able to see them if I wake up, and just scoop them into bed if needed. Although as a PP said, this could just as easily be achieved with a cot with one side taken off!

We had a Moses basket first one around which baby grew out of at six weeks, he was 50th percentile for weight and 90 for height. Went to his own room no problems bud wish I'd known about side sleepers as I would have had more sleep.

Had a next to me second time around but a baby who couldn't sleep lying down so barely used it. Would have been great!
He is 75th percentile and was too big to fit it comfortably at about four months, he would roll into the sides.

I know there was a safety recall on sbuzpod I think because of a fatality due to the side being left halfway down instead of fullybup or down but a new model shouldn't have that feature.

Apologies, it was a bednest in that case.

What's wrong with a old fashioned crib, moses basket or straight into a cot? If a £30 moses basket doesn't work out for you then maybe try some of the crazy expensive variants, but maybe you'll have a baby who sleeps well. I also think that the boring old stuff has well established safety records, well tested guidance for use (which you should follow, like the space between cots and other furniture) and the gimmicky stuff does not. Is also much cheaper. (Grumpy third time mum emoticon.)

What's wrong with a old fashioned crib, moses basket or straight into a cot?

Being able to resettle baby without moving from lying under your duvet or even opening your eyes (Non- grumpy fourth time mum emoticon.)

Fair enough. My problem is keeping the buggers asleep. They go down alright (after 100 million hours of breastfeeding). (Broken woman emoticon.)

I should also mention that when in hospital with dd1, the nurses constructed a sleepy head type thing with a towel rolled and in a u-shape with a sheet tucked under it. If you want to see if that works for your baby you can do it without shelling out the £100+.

I'd second the suggestion about using a full size cot with one side off. We have a Bednest and while I loved having DD next to me, she's grown out of it way quicker than I was ready for. A full size cot would've allowed me to make the choice to move her to her own room when I wanted, rather than because she grew! (The cot bed we bought wouldn't fit in our room. With hindsight a narrow cot would have been better.) FWIW the transition to her own room has gone without a hitch. She's fed to sleep, but goes off just as easily fed in chair in her room, she will settle if I flub the transfer into cot, sleep pattern is same, wakes happy and babbles to herself till we get her. No problem!

I think babies vary and if the sidecar cot (whichever kind) suits you, you might as well get what suits now, instead of something that doesn't because of hypothetical future problems.

I don't love our snuzpod. It's great aesthetically, but lacks a lot of practical options on other bedside cribs.

1. It doesn't have wheels, which means getting myself in and out of bed, plus getting baby into bed after night feeds it tricky.
2. The side being a zip means it I have to keep it either up or down, zipping it up means waking the baby.
3. While they advertise you can move the bassinet anywhere, it's too big and heavy for that in reality - especially when you have the baby in it!
4. The bottom 'storage band' just doesn't hold any weight.

If I were buying all over again, I wouldn't get a snuzpod and would get a more practical solution.