Celebrity parents are obsessed with this $1,200 crib, here’s why

Celebrities are often known for their outlandishly expensive items. $500 face cream? No problem! Bio-frequency healing energy stickers? Sure! It’s all par for the course when you’re a rich, famous and perhaps a bit eccentric celeb.

But there’s one ridiculously pricey celebrity trend that may just be helpful to regular folks too—or new parents, at least—and it’s called the SNOO Smart Sleeper.

This high-tech bassinet detects when a baby starts fussing and automatically starts rocking and playing white noise, which it claims will put the baby to sleep again. It has three speed levels, depending on how much the baby is crying. If the highest level is reached and the baby still doesn’t go back to sleep, the SNOO automatically shuts off and it’s time for mom or dad to swoop in.

As far as assembly, it appears to be simple. The bassinet assembles in three easy steps, comes with three SNOO Sacks, a mattress liner, cover, outlet plug and features a sleek retro-style design. The baby is swaddled in a SNOO Sack, which clips into the SNOO ensuring baby will remain on their back. The bassinet can be regulated by a smartphone app or a button on the front.

Happiest Baby, the company behind the SNOO Smart Sleeper, claims its product is the “safest baby bed ever made.” The company tries to back up its bold claim in the video below.

Several celebrity parents have raved about the sleeper. Ashton Kutcher recently confessed that he and wife Mila Kunis use the SNOO to rock their son, Dimitri, back to sleep. The actor talked about it on an episode of Dax Shepard’s podcast “Armchair Expert with Dax.” According to Kutcher, it helped their little one sleep a full six hours at just 3 days old, for which the famous dad was “eternally grateful” for.

The SNOO also counts Molly Sims and Zoe Saldana, along with investors Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel, as fans, too.

Is it too good to be true or a life saver for tired parents in desperate need of sleep? At a suggested price of $1,160, this bassinet is anything but budget friendly. So is it worth it?

Dr. Harvey Karp seems to think so—but he’s a bit biased. He’s the pediatrician who penned 2003’s “The Happiest Baby on the Block,” and the one who came up with the SNOO. With a 4.5 out of 5-star rating, and more than 2,300 Amazon reviews of his book, Karp must know something, right?

Karp believes there are five “S” steps that are required to calm a baby down: Swaddling, Side or Stomach position (not the safest position for sleeping but great for calming baby), Shushing, Swinging and Sucking. The SNOO Smart Sleeper tackles three of those: Swaddling, Shushing and Swinging.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcbB-iYBGlH/?taken-by=happiest_baby

If the reviews are any indication, it seems the SNOO does it’s job quite well. Like Karp’s book, the product also holds a near-perfect grade from Amazon consumers. But that’s not to say the SNOO is without any criticism. The high price tag, combined with the idea of a machine taking over parental duties, has been problematic to some people.

Dr. Andy Bernstein, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, recently told Yahoo there’s nothing unsafe about the SNOO, however, “These types of items can provide a false sense of security allowing parents to let their guards down when they otherwise wouldn’t.” But, he admitted, “For some working parents, especially those with multiple kids to care for, it could be useful.”

Would you try a high-tech device like the SNOO Smart Sleeper if it meant you could sleep more with a new baby?