Reviews

First weeks with a newborn and Snuzpod

While baby Yo is our third child, and we are gleefully referred to as “experienced parents” we still have to go through the same trial and error processes to discover what works for the new member of our family – and us to! We’ve still had the nights where nothing works to settle baby and the days when you suddenly discover she likes to look at lamp shades (she does, especially frilly ones!) to learn about how to bond well with our new baby!

We were incredibly lucky, and utterly delighted to be sent a Snuzpod to review. The Snuzpod is a 3 in 1 bedside crib, and works as a standalone crib or bassinet as well as attaching to the bed for safer co-sleeping. I’ve never co-slept before as to be honest I have always worried that I might roll onto baby, so getting the option to have Yo really close but safely in her own space seemed like the ideal option. From a bonding perspective, I’ve found the bedside crib superb, it’s much easier to settle Yo into as she knows I’m right next to her and when I wake up I can instantly see her next to me!

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Safer Co-sleeping with the 3-in-1 Snuzpod!

As I’m breastfeeding, it makes night feeds slightly more bearable as I don’t have to get out of bed (and get cold!) to get her up to feed, I can just roll over and gather her up into my arms. Breastfeeding is great for bonding with baby, and we’ve had lots of skin to skin in the early days to help with the whole process! If you’re bottle-feeding or if you’re Dad, skin to skin is still a great way to help bond with baby – try doing it in the first few weeks while bottle feeding at night or when baby just won’t settle – you may find it helps you – it certainly helped with my first son!

Having two older children, I was a bit worried how they would cope with having a new baby in the house, I didn’t want them to feel excluded. I also wanted to make baby became a part of the boys lives, so wanted to make sure that we encouraged them from the very first days at home!  I found this quite hard, as they boys would want me to play games and I was stuck in a chair feeding baby. I quickly worked out that surrounding myself with books to read with the boys or games I could play one handed (top trumps!) realy helped them not to feel left out, and involved them quiet time (or baby’s feeding time!). When she needs to sleep after I nap, we are now well enough organised that I can usually get her to have her nap in the Snuzpod too, as the bassinet means I can carry it into whichever room we’re sat in! There is a see-through panel which zips on or off, (the zips are concealed so you don’t need to worry that little hands may unzip baby unwittingly!) so when you’re not using the Snuzpod attached to your bed you zip the side back on.

Ideal place for a daytime snooze - Snuzpod as a bassinet.
Ideal place for a daytime snooze – Snuzpod as a bassinet.

The boys love the bassinet as they can peer through the see-through panel to look at Yo, and she’s just reached that stage where she looks back through and coos at them, it’s very sweet!

We’ve only used the Snuzpod as a freestanding crib a couple of times so far, but I forsee it being used heavily over the Christmas period in particular when I will need extra help from friends and family! They’ll be able to settle Yo, unzip the side of the Snuzpod and slide her into her crib without disturbing her too much. But more on that another day!

Free standing Snuzpod.
Free standing Snuzpod Crib
So, I can’t believe Baby Yo is now 7 weeks old, and she feels as though she’s been with us forever! We’ve got our own little routine going, and while we’re still finding our feet, we’re happily muddling along and have begun to all be rewarded by a series of little smiles and noises which make my heart melt! x