Yves Behar, designer of many round-edged objects, has at last turned his attention to the piece of furniture rated “most restful” by babies: the crib. His robotic, Wi-Fi-enabled creation, called Snoo, also puts to rest the classic “what’s snoo with you” joke, since now everyone will know what Snoo is and won’t ask. It had a good run, but it was probably time.
Snoo is one of these electrified cribs that rocks your baby to sleep automatically, but a few other features give it a chubby little leg up on the competition. A built-in swaddling strap lets you lock baby down, and mesh sides let air flow freely through. It monitors the baby’s movement and noise, playing womb noises and rocking with a “womb-like motion,” whatever that means, to calm them down.
This is ostensibly to prevent parents from having to get up in the night and do this themselves. Of course, repeatedly experiencing the parents’ voice, touch and smell would seem to be an integral part of creating the bond between parent and child. But this way the child grows up learning to rely on technology for comfort in all occasions, just like adults do. Pediatrician Harvey Karp, with whom Behar worked to create Snoo, probably recommended this.
Sleep patterns are also collected and sent to a companion app, which may actually be nice for parents who like to track that stuff. There’s a little shield inside the crib that blocks the baby from being hit by the Wi-Fi signal, though you can also turn it off altogether.
The Snoo, from Happiest Baby, costs $1,160 — so you might need to have an extra baby to get your money’s worth. We’ll wait for reviews to see whether it’s better than a cardboard box.