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The stage is set for another battle of bassinets, and this time it’s the Cradlewise vs SNOO Smart Sleeper! There are some key differences between these two brands that make them unique.
Here is a breakdown of the major differences between the two:
The Cradlewise convertible smart crib mimics bouncing a baby in one’s arms, and it has a built-in baby monitor with night vision. The SNOO smart sleeper’s bouncing emulates life inside a mother’s womb, and it includes a patented safety swaddle called an SNOO Sack to prevent rolling. While SNOO is designed for infants up to six months, Cradlewise converts from a bassinet to a crib and can be used up until 24 months.
Whether you are a first-time parent or a seasoned vet, my goal is to help you figure out which of these two smart cribs is the better option to help your family sleep better.
Cradlewise Convertible Smart Crib
The Cradlewise Convertible Smart Crib is an intelligent all in one smart crib that includes a baby monitor, built-in sound machine, and room temperature sensor. The crib was designed from the ground up to help babies get a more restful night’s sleep. Key features include a built-in baby monitor that monitors sleep and automatically soothes your child with natural bouncing motion when it detects signs of waking up.
If you are a new mom or dad, the fact that the Cradlewise monitors movements—and you can track your baby via the mobile application—should give you added peace of mind.
The Cradlewise Crib is GREENGUARD Gold Certified. This means that the crib is proven to have low levels of chemical emissions, making it a safe healthy choice for your family.
Cradlewise reached out to me with some corrections for this review. They also invited me to some impressive demos of the cradle that included testimonals from parents who are raving fans of this product. The CEO and founder of the company, Radhika Patil, and her husband Bharath care deeply about helping families achieve better sleep. In fact, everyone I have interacted with at this company has been super responsive and helpful in putting together this review.
Pros
Cons
Video Reviews
Here are some video testimonials that Cradlewise shared with me from parents who own the Cradlewise Smart Crib.
Where To Get It
👶The Cradlewise Crib is available Cradlewise.com.
SNOO Baby Bassinet
Invented by child sleep expert and author of The Happiest Baby on the Block, Dr. Harvey Karp, the SNOO Smart Sleeper is a baby bassinet that can rock and play white noise to lull your infant to sleep, but that’s not all it does. It also responds to a baby’s cries with gentle rocking and sound stimulation. The motions was designed to “emulate life inside a mother’s womb” to lull fussing babies back to sleep.
A standout feature of the SNOO Smart Sleeper is an adjustable safety swaddle callled the SNOO Sack that securely fastens your baby to the crib in a postion to prevent risky rolling. While the SNOO Sack makes some parents I spoke with uneasy, others said it gives them peace of mind to know that their baby can sleep through the night without fear of rolling over.
In weighing options between Cradlewise vs SNOO, it is worth mentioning that SNOO has a rental option for parents who want to save money. The considerable cost savings may be worth it for some families.
Pros
Cons
Video Review
Here is a nice video overview of the SNOO that I found out on the SNOO YouTube channel followed by an interesting review from a Pediatric Sleep Consultant.
Video Credit: Happiest Baby
Video Credit: Little Z’s Sleep
Where To Buy It
👶 You can pick up the SNOO either from the Happiest Baby website or right over at Amazon. I’ll include a button to Amazon below.
Feature Comparison: Cradlewise vs SNOO
Comparing Cradlewise vs SNOO Smart bassinets, the things that stands out to me most is that Cradlewise can be used for a much longer duration that SNOO.
Baby Monitor
Cradlewise has pioneered the baby monitoring functionality by adding a video monitor with night vision, audio monitoring, and syncing all this to their nifty app.
The night vision camera allows you to watch your baby via your smartphone without turning on the lights. It has a zoom-in and out option for when you want to peek at the baby up close. There’s one way to tell if your baby needs a diaper change!
The SNOO Smart sleeper does not have a baby monitor (video or audio). You’ll need to install a separate video monitor in your room for this. The functionality of the SNOO is limited to tracking the sleeping pattern of your infant based on sensors installed in the crib itself.
Bouncing/Pacifying Action
Both bassinets are designed with rocking motions for soothing purposes but have different methods.
SNOO imitates the motion a baby experiences inside its mother’s womb. Dr. Karp refers to the motion to calm fussing as the “Jell-O head jiggle” because babies require a very short, jiggling motion to help them relax. When you rock your baby to sleep, you’re moving him or her into a state of deep relaxation. This causes a reflex that activates the “balance” center of the brain and turns it on. The SNOO swings back and forth for a quarter of an inch on each side.
Also with the SNOO, your baby’s is always positioned on their back using SNOO’s patented safety swaddle designed to prevent risky rolling.
One of the best Snoo alternatives, the Cradlewise Smart Crib works in three phases. This includes a Quiet Phase, an Active Phase, and a Cry Phase.
The Quiet Phase is when the baby is awake, but quietly observing its environment. The Active Phase is when the baby is full of energy and responding to sights and sounds. Finally, the Cry Phase is when the baby is crying and does not respond to other external stimuli like sound and motion.
Cradlewise spots the baby’s Quiet Phase wake-up signs. It then helps the baby sleep by bouncing softly before they reach the Active Phase. This is their Quiet Sight Technology.
This prevents the baby from waking up and reaching the Cry Phase. The Cradlewise mimics the natural and soothing movement of a mom bouncing the baby in her arms. The crib’s movements are extremely smooth and absolutely quiet in operation.
Duration of Use
The SNOO is designed as a pure bassinet and can be used until your baby turns around six months old. Cradlewise on the other hand can function as both a bassinet as well as a crib. It has a height-adjustable bed that can be pulled up to convert the bassinet into a crib and vice versa.
As a result, the Cradlewise can be utilized as both a bassinet and a crib and will support your child up until 24 months.
Operating Noise
Both the bassinets are designed to be as natural and soothing as possible. The SNOO has a sound machine that creates white noise, that is an effective way of calming your baby down by recreating the sounds heard in utero. If you want more control over the type and level of sound, then this may not work for you as the noise cannot be turned off. SNOO does not have background music or nature sounds.
The Cradlewise on the other hand, supports both music and white noise, which can both be turned off at the parents’ will.
Auto Stop
The SNOO constantly rocks your baby with varying frequencies throughout the night. Some parents have expressed concern over this constant motion.
Cradlewise, in contrast, has an auto-stop feature that detects when your baby is asleep. The bassinet automatically stops rocking at that right point to avoid disrupting your baby’s while they are in REM sleep. It basically prevents a startle reflex when your baby is in a deep sleep.
Mattress Material
The Cradlewise uses organic coconut coir and natural latex for its mattress.
Whereas the SNOO uses inorganic materials like PU, nylon, and polyester. However, SNOO’s swaddles and sheets are made out of organic cotton.
Gesture Control
With only a few gestures, you may control Cradlewise. You can press the Push button on the crib to start bouncing and Hold to halt it.
The SNOO relies on the app for control.
Sleep Insights
The Cradlewise app collects your baby’s sleep data and provides a sleep fitness tracker to help parents understand their baby’s sleep patterns. The app can let you know when the big moment comes when your baby sleeps through the night! The app also lets you know if your baby has been awake for more than 30 minutes and then nudges you to tend to baby. It will send you regular notifications like,’ Mom, I fell asleep 12 minutes after you placed me in the crib!’ Or ‘Mom! I woke up after sleeping for 2 hrs 15 mins!’ Very cool.
The SNOO’s app also provides daily sleep insights as well as advice from the founder Dr.Karp.
Application Interface and Ease of Use
Both of the mobile applications are easy to use and well-designed.
They both provide an interface through which parents can control their baby’s bassinet remotely.
Both apps are available for iPhone and Android.
Specification Comparison: Cradlewise vs SNOO
In the tables below, I compare Cradlewise vs SNOO on pretty much every feature these cribs contain.
Design, Dimensions, and Weight
Last update on 10/12/2024 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Movement and Sounds
Last update on 10/12/2024 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Key Functions
Last update on 10/12/2024 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Safety
Last update on 10/12/2024 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Other Considerations
Comparison: Cradlewise vs SNOO Bassinet (Other Considerations)
Last update on 10/12/2024 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
The Verdict: Cradlewise vs SNOO Smart Bassinets
Choosing the right bassinet for your baby is a big decision, but it’s also one that can be made easier by considering which features you need and how long you wan to use the device.
Cradlewise and SNOO Smart both offer great options for parents who want to sleep better at night.
Both of these bassinets are designed with rocking motions for soothing purposes, but they have different methods of achieving this—SNOO imitates the motion a baby experiences while inside its mother’s womb; whereas Cradle Wise uses that bouncing motion and adjusts as babies become fussier.
In the final analysis, my pick would be Cradlewise due to the fact that you can use it as a crib as well as a bassinet (4x longer than SNOO). I think Cradlewise also slightly edges out the SNOO with its included baby monitor and night vision.
If you want to learn more and see a few more options, check out this article I wrote on the 7 Best Smart Vibrating Cribs to Soothe Babies to Sleep.
Enjoy your baby, and sleep well!
Tim Brennan, a tech blogger and host of the @TecTimmy YouTube channel, writes about smart homes at oneSmartcrib, home theaters at UniversalRemoteReviews, and AI in writing at Writeinteractive. He holds a Journalism degree from Northeastern University and has covered technology for three decades. He lives on the ocean in Nahant, Massachusetts.
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