Here at Fathercraft, we’ve rounded up a curated list of our favorite Black Friday & Cyber Monday deals for expecting parents and new parents, and parents of young kids. We’ve personally pulled together the best deals from products we’ve tested, reviewed, or are top-rated. You’ll find Black Friday baby monitor deals for monitors like Nanit and Owlet, Cyber Monday baby deals, strollers, smart cribs, feeding supplies and more baby gear sales!

Editor’s note:
1. Since not all deals are available yet, if a deal isn’t online yet we’ve included what the deal was in 2024 so you can compare.
2. Fathercraft is reader-supported, meaning, at no cost to you, we may earn a commission if you buy after clicking an affiliate link. Learn more.

So, here we go, the best Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals of 2025: scan through ’em all or here they are, broken down by category:

• Best Black Friday/Cyber Monday baby monitor deals
  • Nanit Cyber Monday sale
• Crib and bassinet Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals
  • Snoo Black Friday sale
  • Cradlewise Black Friday sale
• Stroller Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals
• Even more deals — breast pumps, toys, gifts for dads, and more …

The best Black Friday and Cyber Monday baby monitor deals of 2025

30% off site wide for the Nanit Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale

We’ve confirmed our all-time favorite baby monitor, the Nanit Pro will go on sale for Black Friday & Cyber Monday, with their best deal ever. Get 30% off site wide. We’re not 100% sure when this deal will go live, but you can check here.

But, here’s how to get early access: click the link below, tap on the “Unlock early BF access, and sign up for emails & texts.

Shop The Nanit Pro

Save up to $110 during Owlet’s Black Friday Sale

We recently re-reviewed the Owlet, with all of the upgrades they’ve made, and were quite impressed.

For 2025 Black Friday, you can save up to $110 on Owlet — on their Dream Duo 3 Sock/Camera package, or $100 off an Owlet Dream Sock. And, when you use this link, you’ll get a free gift with purchase ($40 value).

Shop Owlet Black Friday. (Sale starts Thursday, 11/20.)

$60 off a Cubo Ai Baby Monitor 3 for Black Friday

Cubo is one of our favorite baby monitors in the less expensive category. They’re innovative and constantly improving. For Black Friday, you can save $30 off a wall-mounted Cubo, or $70 off a Cubo bundle with 3 different stand options. Head on over to Cubo’s website.

Crib and Bassinet Black Friday / Cyber Monday deals 2025

Snoo Black Friday sale and Happiest Baby Early Cyber Monday Deals

Happiest Baby, makers of The Snoo smart bassinet, have their Black Friday sale live now. Use this link and the code to get 30% off Snoo and up to 40% off on select items. They also have some free gifts when you spend $250, $500, or $1,000—check them out here. It doesn’t go lower than this, folks.

Shop the Snoo Black Friday sale using this link + get a free gift with purchase.

Up to $800 (40%) off Cradlewise Black Friday sale

Cradlewise is the new powerhouse when it comes to smart cribs. Similar to the Snoo, it uses a combination of motion and white noise to soothe your baby. There are some big differences though—the Snoo’s “wings” prevent your baby from rolling over when sleeping, and are designed to ensure your baby remains on her back, which is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics as the safest sleep position. Cradlewise focuses on a more traditional firm mattress plus ventilated crib sides for safety, and has some interesting features Snoo does not, such as a built-in baby monitor and a larger size, which can accommodate your child for up to 2 years (vs 6 months for the Snoo).

For this year’s Black Friday sale, Cradlewise is offering up to $800 off retail price, starting now.

Shop Cradlewise and save up to $800

25% off a Newton crib mattress and Newton bassinet starting now!

Netwon Baby’s crib mattress is designed to be ultra safe (it’s ‘breathe-through’, meaning, according to the company, if your baby rolls onto her stomach she should be able to breathe through the mattress), plus it’s lightweight, hypoallergenic, machine-washable, and holds up for years — and is comfortable enough to transition to a toddler mattress and beyond.

Newton’s Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale allows save 25% on a Newton mattress and site-wide. Their sale starts now

Shop Newton mattress and save 25%

Shop Newton bassinet and save 25%

Stroller deals

25% off at Colugo

Colugo makes our favorite budget travel stroller—the Colugo Compact Stroller+. And, their baby carrier is another hit around here at Fathercraft. It’s currently 45% off on their website.

Shop Colugo, get 20% off sitewide and 25% off bundles, starting now!

Mockingbird’s only sale of the year

In the past, Mockingbird, which makes our favorite single-to-double stroller (because, let’s face it, you’re probably not just going to have one kid), hasn’t had a Black Friday sale in the past. That changes this year.

You can grab a Mockingbird stroller or high chair for 20% off here 11/25 – 12/1 … get 20% off either of these products or bundle for 25% off!

Even more Black Friday baby gear deals for 2025

Save $230 on the Fathercraft Dad-to-Be Bundle

Our own Black Friday sale is officially on! You can save on The Fathercraft Bag, our dad bag, Father’s Ed — our flagship online video course for expecting dads, and the Better Baby Sleep Bootcamp — our online class on better baby sleep. Or, you can get everything in one package perfect for the expecting dad: the Fathercraft Dad-to-Be bundle. When you get the bundle, you’ll also get 3 bonuses.

Shop the Fathercraft Dad-to-Be Bundle.

Save $50 on Fathercraft’s online course for expecting dads or $50 on our dad bag

Our own Black Friday sale starts now! You can get our best deal ever on our online course for dads-to-be, Father’s Ed, right here. Or, if you’re in the market for the ultimate dad bag for yourself as a gift, save $40 right here.

30% off the Willow wearable breast pump

A former Time Magazine Invention of the Year winner, our reviewers loved just how handy (or handsfree, that is) Willow Pump was. Basically, it allowed them to do just about anything while pumping, and did it quietly and in a spill proof manner.

Shop Willow Pump and get 30% off

Read our Willow Pump review

Save big on Molekule Air Purifiers

Why an air purifier on a list of the best baby gear deals for Black Friday? Well, with wildfires, increased pollution, and everything else going on in the world, indoor air quality is becoming an increased concern. Plus, you know, babies can be kind of stinky. We reviewed the Molekule Air Mini+ and have been customers ever since.

For Black Friday/Cyber Monday 2024, you can save $130 on Molekule’s Air Mini+.

Save on Kiwi Crates (and Koala Crates, and … all of them)

Kiwi Crate was the original subscription box service for little kids. And, it’s still one of the absolute best. Thoughtfully-designed, includes fun, educational cartoons, and mind-expanding projects that will keep your little one busy for a long time.

KiwiCo has two sales that are live right now—you can use code JOY to get 4 crates free with the purchase of an annual plan.

Shop Kiwi Crate, get up to 4 months free

Save up to 25% sitewide at Lovevery

Lovevery’s Montessori-inspired subscription toy kits contain high-quality toys that take the guesswork out of choosing brain-friendly toy for your baby or toddler. You’ll get a new kit every 3 months full of well-made toys. Or, you can buy individual Montessori toys at their site.

Starting 11/25, get up to 25% off—10% off when you spend $80, 15% off when you spend $125, 20% at $250 and 25% off at $500 or more..

Shop Lovevery and save

Save up to 50% on skincare for dads at Geologie

It’s easy for dads to throw personal care out the window when a baby enters the picture. That’s why we’re excited about Geologie, which takes a science-backed approach to skincare for guys.

Take their personalized skincare quiz and then save up to 50% for Black Friday.

And, that’s a wrap! There are tons of Black Friday/Cyber Monday baby deals out there for new parents and parents-to-be, but there’s also tons of stuff you just don’t need for your baby, so, we’re sticking to the best of the best.

If you’re overwhelmed by all of the baby gear out there, you can see our full list of what actually constitutes essential gear for babies here.

And, continue the search for that perfect new dad gift right here.

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This marks a significant increase from pre-1994 levels, where only about 3% took unpaid leave and paid options were limited. On average, fathers who take leave use it for 1-2 weeks, though ideal durations cited in surveys reach 10-12 weeks. These patterns reflect evolving workplace policies, with higher uptake in states offering paid programs, highlighting benefits like improved family bonding and gender equity in caregiving.

Data breakdown: Paternity leave usage and duration

Paternity leave trends have evolved with policies like the FMLA (1993), which provides 12 weeks of unpaid leave, and state programs offering paid options. Data from 2014-2022 cohorts shows increased usage, with projections for 2025 suggesting continued growth in paid leave adoption, especially in states with robust programs. Below is a table summarizing key percentages and durations, drawn from national and state surveys.

Demographic Insights:

• By State: In states with paid programs, men file 30-55% of claims; e.g., 55% in WA, 50% in CO, 44% in CA.
• By Income: Lower-income workers get ~85% wage replacement in newer programs, boosting uptake; higher-income more likely to take longer leaves.
• Comparison to Mothers: Fathers more likely to use vacation (37% vs 7%) or sick leave (11% vs 8%), but less unpaid (12.6% vs 27.3%).
• Global Comparison: U.S. lags with no federal paid leave; 114 countries offer paid paternity, averaging 2.3 weeks; maternity averages 18.5 weeks.

State-level variations in paternity leave

State laws significantly influence paternity leave uptake, with programs offering paid benefits driving higher participation. For instance, in 2024, states like Washington (55% male bonding claims) and Colorado (50%)—with 12 weeks at up to 90% wage replacement—far exceed the national average, while New Jersey (30%) and D.C. (35%) lag despite similar policies. California’s program, active since 2004, saw male claims rise from 18% to 44% by 2023, illustrating how longer-established laws normalize usage. Non-program states show <20% paid leave access, underscoring policy’s role in reducing barriers and promoting equity.

In-depth analysis: Trends, implications, and future projections

Paternity leave usage has surged since the FMLA, with paid leave adoption rising in states like CA (from 18% in 2005 to 44% now). By 2025, with 13 states plus D.C. offering paid programs, projections estimate 50-60% national uptake if trends continue, driven by policy expansions and cultural shifts. However, durations remain short—64% under 2 weeks—due to financial pressures and stigma, though studies show even 1.5 weeks reduces infant mortality.

Implications include better child development, reduced maternal stress, and stable relationships, with longer leaves linked to equitable household roles. Future: Expanding state programs could close gender gaps, with surveys showing support for 10.5 weeks average, potentially aligning closer to global standards.

FAQ: Common questions about paternity leave

What percentage of fathers take paid vs unpaid leave?

Around 50% take paid leave in recent cohorts, while 13% opt for unpaid.

How long is typical paternity leave?

Most fathers take 1-2 weeks, though FMLA allows up to 12 weeks unpaid.

Has usage increased over time?

Yes, unpaid leave rose from 3.3% pre-1994 to 12.6% by 2014-2022, with paid leave surging post-FMLA.

How does it compare to mothers?

Fathers rely more on vacation and sick leave, while mothers take more unpaid (27.3% vs. 12.6%).

What are state differences?

Uptake is higher in states like WA (55%) and CO (50%) with paid programs.

What are the benefits of paternity leave?

Stronger family bonds, lower infant mortality, and more stable relationships.

Sources

• U.S. Census Bureau (2025): Parental Leave.
• Axios (2025): More fathers taking paid leave.
• Northwestern (2025): New dads leave duration.
• ParentsTogether (2025): More dads taking leave.
• WBIW (2025): Leave rise.
• Additional sources as cited inline.

This trend aligns with global patterns, where U.S. dads are older than historical norms but younger than in countries like Japan (36.3).

Data breakdown: Average age trends

Paternal age has risen steadily over decades, varying by race, education, and region. Table below shows historical and projected data.

Demographic Insights:

• By Education: College-educated 33.3 years; high school 29.8 years; less than high school 29.2 years.
• By Race: Asian oldest (e.g., Japanese 36.0, Chinese 34.7); White 31.1; Hispanic 30.0; Black 30.4.
• Global Comparison: US 29.4 first child avg; Andorra 32.8.
• Vs Mothers: Fathers older by 2.3 years on average, gap shrunk from 2.7 years in 1972.

In-depth analysis: Trends, implications, and future projections

Age rose 3.5 years 1972-2015, continuing due to education/economics. The gradual rise, evident in decade-by-decade increases, is linked to longer schooling, career establishment, and later marriages. Implications: Health risks like autism and schizophrenia in offspring due to advanced paternal age, but older fathers often provide greater financial stability and resources, leading to potentially better educational outcomes for children. Projections: 32+ by 2030, with ongoing monitoring for reproductive health effects.

FAQ: Common questions about first-time fathers’ age

What is the average in 2025?

The projected average is 31-32 years.

How has it changed?

It has increased from 27.4 years in 1972 to 30.9 years in 2015.

By education?

College-educated fathers average 33.3 years, compared to 29.8 for high school graduates.

Compared to mothers?

Fathers are older than mothers by 2.3 years on average.

Risks of older age?

Increased risks include autism and schizophrenia in children.

Global avg?

The US average for first child is 29.4 years.

Sources

• Science (Recent): Age Passed 30.
• Stanford Bio-X: Getting Older.
• ParentsTogether: Median 30.
• NPR (2017): After 40.
• World Pop Review: By Country.
• CBS NL (2025): First-Time.
• Human Reproduction (2017): Age Rising.
• IU News (2023): Conception Age.
• USA Today (2024): Rising Age.
• Additional sources as cited inline.

based on recent trends and projections from major research sources. This represents about 7% of all fathers living with children under 18, up from 4% in 1989, and accounts for roughly 18% of all stay-at-home parents—a significant shift reflecting evolving gender roles, economic pressures, and family priorities. Being a stay-at-home dad offers profound benefits, including stronger emotional bonds with children and greater involvement in daily development, but it also comes with challenges like societal stigma and financial strain.

Data Breakdown: Stay-at-Home Dads by the Numbers

The number of stay-at-home dads has steadily increased over the decades, driven by factors such as women’s rising workforce participation, flexible work options, and cultural acceptance. Below is a breakdown of key statistics, including historical trends, demographic variations, and projections for 2025. Note: Definitions vary—some sources (e.g., U.S. Census) use strict criteria like no paid work in the prior year, while others (e.g., Pew Research) include any father not employed for pay, regardless of reason.

Demographic Insights:

• By Reason for Staying Home: In 2021, 23% of stay-at-home dads cited family care as the primary reason (up from 4% in 1989), while 34% were due to illness/disability.
• By Education and Income: Stay-at-home dads are less likely to have a bachelor’s degree (22% vs. 42% of working dads) and more likely to live in poverty (40% vs. 5%).
• By Race/Ethnicity: Stay-at-home dads are more diverse: 50% non-Hispanic White (vs. 60% of working dads), 18% non-Hispanic Black (vs. 9%).
• Global Comparison: In Australia, stay-at-home dads have almost doubled over the past decade—from 57,900 to 106,000—and is expected to increase in the future.

In-Depth Analysis: Trends, Implications, and Future Projections

The rise in stay-at-home dads since the late 20th century marks a cultural evolution, with numbers doubling from 1.1 million in 1989 to over 2 million today. Economic factors, like the Great Recession and COVID-19, spiked unemployment among men, leading to more dads staying home—peaking at 2.2 million in 2010. 13 Snippet: “The Great Recession caused large-scale unemployment due to the financial crisis, leading to 2.2 million U.S. fathers becoming stay-at-home dads.”

Post-pandemic, flexible work and women’s higher earnings (e.g., in dual-income families) continue to drive this trend. Projections for 2025 suggest modest growth to 2.1-2.3 million, as remote work normalizes and societal acceptance increases. However, challenges persist: 51% of Americans believe children are better off with a stay-at-home mom vs. only 8% for dads, per Pew surveys.

Benefits for children include better empathy development and emotional balance from paternal involvement.

For dads, it fosters deeper family bonds but can lead to isolation or career gaps. At Fathercraft, we recommend building support networks and exploring part-time work to mitigate these.

FAQ: Common Questions About Stay-at-Home Dads

What qualifies as a stay-at-home dad?

A father who is the primary caregiver for children under 18, often not employed full-time. Broader definitions include part-time workers.

Why has the number of stay-at-home dads increased?

Economic shifts, women’s career advancements, and flexible work post-COVID.

What are the benefits for children?

Improved cognitive and emotional development from active fatherly involvement.

How do stay-at-home dads differ from working dads?

They tend to be older, less educated, and more diverse racially.

Is this trend global?

Yes, but more pronounced in Western countries; e.g. in Australia

What support is available?

Communities like the National At-Home Dad Network and Fathercraft resources for work-life balance.

Sources

• Pew Research Center (2023): Almost 1 in 5 stay-at-home parents in the US are dads.
• Forbes (2022): The Rise Of The Stay-At-Home Dad. Snippet:
• National At-Home Dad Network (2020): Statistics on Stay-At-Home Dads.
• Additional sources as cited inline.

Struggling with the transition to stay-at-home dad life? Explore Fathercraft’s online courses and gear designed for modern dads to thrive in this role.

If you just like watching your reviews, here’s our Colugo carrier video review (just keep scrolling if you prefer reading & pictures):

Editor’s note: Fathercraft is reader-supported, meaning, at no cost to you, we may earn a commission if you buy after clicking an affiliate link. Learn more. We also received free product from Colugo for this review.

Our Colugo carrier review

Here at Fathercraft, we consider baby carriers essential. They allow you to do all sorts of stuff with your child strapped to you. Which is great, because as you know or will soon learn, parenting is time-intensive.

Here’s John demoing just a few of the things you can do while your baby is in a carrier:

Back when we first heard about baby carriers (aka back in our day), it seemed like offerings from Ergobaby and Baby Bjorn were the only offerings on the market (and, yes, we’ve been in the game a long time). But since the OG Fathercraft babies were in carriers, a few new reputable brands have entered the market, including Colugo.

• By the way, if you’d like to see how Colugo fared against the big guns in this space, check out our list of the best baby carriers.

We love Colugo’s stroller. So, when they reached out about their carrier, we were eager to test it out.

Colugo is a “direct to consumer” company (think Warby Parker, Casper, & Dollar Shave Club) that sell directly to you via their websites, which allows them to pass on savings. It’s a model that’s worked well for razors, mattresses, and glasses, and we think it’s perfect for the baby gear market. Why? Well, baby gear is something you need to try, with your baby, to really know if you’re going to like it. And, trying it out in the wild (with other kids in tow) is much better than looking at it on a shelf at a big box store.

Colugo offers a 100-day in-home trial—more than enough to decide if their stuff is right for you. So, you can make the grocery store your testing ground.

We’re here to check back in with Colugo and see how it’s held up against some of the new carriers that have come out recently. *Spoiler Alert* It’s still awesome… and we’ve been testing baby carriers ever since—with dads, with moms, with small babies, with big babies…we’ve gone DEEP on baby carriers over the years.

Let’s dive into the awesome, the wish it was different, and our final verdict.

The awesome

When choosing the Colugo as our overall favorite baby carrier, we considered the full package. The Colugo was most similar to the Baby Bjorn One from a structure and mechanisms perspective, but included some extra features, and customizations that made it stand out.

Overall comfort and usability

Half the battle with baby carriers is getting them on—yourself and your baby. The Colugo allows you to separate the process of getting yourself in and comfortable and then situating your baby independently. While this does make for some extra straps, we found the process made for an easier time getting the thing (and baby) on, and a more comfortable ride overall. Your baby might just fall asleep.

Magnetic buckles

A big part of putting on a carrier is the process of buckling the baby in. Colugo features magnetic buckles for the two final buckles you’ll use to put your baby in. They’re located on the front of the carrier near your armpits, have big pull tabs, and magnets to help you quickly align them when putting your baby in. It’s a clever and welcome addition to this final step of the baby carrier, which otherwise can require needing to look around a squirming baby to align buckles.

Here’s a closeup of the buckle in the closed position:

Lightweight, breathable material

As we noted in our Ergobaby 360 review, baby carriers can get hot. We liked the material Colugo selected. It was lightweight, breathable, and flexible, improving comfort and ventilation.

The Colugo carrier also weighs in at just 1.5lbs and packs down pretty nicely for travel or shoving in a diaper bag.

Pockets!

If the mention of pockets in a baby carrier doesn’t get you excited, you probably haven’t spent much time with one. A surprisingly small number of carriers include pockets at all, and those that do sometimes include non-functional pockets.

The Colugo’s pockets are thoughtfully designed and pretty functional (though as Calvin, our test baby, got bigger, he started to sag over the waist belt pocket, making it harder to reach).

Pockets in a carrier are really helpful if you’re just heading out for a quick jaunt—there’s no need to wear a backpack and a front pack at the same time, and nobody wants that. The Colugo’s pockets give you room for a diaper or two, wipes, keys, cell phone, and maybe a food pouch or two.

The newest model of the Colugo carrier has a removable pouch that makes life so much easier. Back in 2019, our Colugo carrier made it hard to reach into the waist belt pocket as Calvin got bigger, but with the removable pouch, that wouldn’t be an issue anymore.

Machine washable

The Colugo carrier (along with nearly all Colugo products) is machine washable. And all baby stuff gets dirty, fast. So, this is a welcome feature (though not super uncommon—all 5 of the carriers we tested were.

Back-carry option

When we first tested out the Colugo carrier, back-carrying was not an option. However, they have since updated the carrier and have certified the product to allow for both front and back-carrying.

Back and side carry can be nice as your child gets older and heavier, when the front carry position can start to strain your back.

Actually useful accessories

Colugo has been steadily improving the carrier over the years, and accessories are now bountiful. They offer a “The Drool Pack“—sounds gross, is gross, but hey, babies drool A LOT. They also offer “The Cozy“, which is basically like one of those high-tech sleeping bags for your baby that clips on to the outside of the carrier to keep her warm during the winter.

The wish it was different

Carrying capacity

We had to get really nit-picky to find something that we wished was different. The carrying capacity has been reduced to 33lbs from 35lbs, and we noticed that the bigger our baby got, the harder it was to put them in the right spot.

That being said, all we are really trying to say is we wish we could use this product forever. It’s that good. I would deliver my son to his college dorm in the Colugo if I could.

The Verdict

When we consider the complete package:

• Price
• Comfort
• Magnetic buckles
• Pockets
• Material
• 100-day in-home trial

The Colugo is our clear choice for best baby carrier. It’s also part of our newborn essentials list, which details the items you’ll want to make parenting a newborn more awesome.

At Fathercraft, there are a few products we’ve been reviewing for years and have remained at the top of the pack through all that time—the Colugo Carrier is one of those.

Pricing, options, & where to buy

The Colugo Carrier is $145 (though it goes on sale with some regularity) and available at colugo.com. There are now 9 color styles from black to the ‘Wild Child Cheetah’ and 3 limited edition primary colors that won’t last long, so get to colugo.com and order one while it lasts!

Designing physical products, and bringing them to life, is a beast. Especially for guys who’ve spent most of their careers focused on digital goods and services.

But it’s truly a labor of love — there’s something special about seeing something that was once a dream arrive on pallets that get dropped on your front lawn (my house is our warehouse).

And it’s beyond rewarding to hear from customers that our products are helping them out as parents. Here’s recent customer Sho on her Fathercraft Bag…

With our second bag, the sling, we wanted to focus on a few things:

• A smaller size. The original bag is big. Intentionally so—as you saw in Sho’s review, kids, especially when there are multiple kids, require an immense amount of stuff. And, we hear from people who use their Fathercraft Bag on international flights, long car trips, and all-day outings. But with the sling, we wante something that was grab-and-go for day trips, errands, and popping over to a friend’s house or the park.
• Affordability. The original bag ain’t cheap. We totally get that, but we weren’t willing to sacrifice features or premium materials in the big one. With the sling, we were able to keep build quality extremely high, but the price will be a lot more affordable because it’s a smaller, simpler bag.
• Thoughtful design inside and out. The feedback we’ve gotten from parents on the first bag on thoughtful organization, features that get used, and styling that stands out from typical diaper bags was instrumental in how we went about designing the sling.

All right, on to the updates…

Final testing is complete. Before we bring a product to our customers, it goes through the wringer. This takes time and money to go through multiple iterations, but we’re obsessed with building awesome stuff. Here’s my daughter Ruby with an early prototype:

And here’s co-founder Mark testing in the Arizona desert:

We’ve found some kinks along the way, and fixed them. Here’s Mark describing an issue with the original quick-release buckle (now replaced with an upgraded buckle):

Production has begun. Our factory, which is in Vietnam, is actively working on the bag. (Thank goodness, for tariff reasons, that we again chose Vietnam over China to make the second bag.) We expect our first production run to complete in early-to-mid May.

Product photography and videography is in flight. Here are a few of my favorites so far…

Pricing update. Again, we are working hard to make the sling as affordable as possible. Tariffs aren’t helping. Inflation isn’t helping. We’re still working on what our retail price will be. BUT, we are ready to guarantee that you’ll be able to get the sling for less than $90 if you grab our early bird pricing tier on Kickstarter. To make sure you can do this, head over to our Kickstarter pre-launch page and click/tap, “Notify me on launch” button, and sign up for Kickstarter updates if you haven’t.

Timing update. We are working our tails off to try and get this bag in everyone’s hands by Father’s Day. We think this will be possible for U.S. Kickstarter backers (though, we, like other brands, are somewhat at the mercy of the state of the global supply chain. We’ll keep you posted!

That’s it for today! We hope you love this sling as much as we do. Questions? Comments? paul [at] fathercraft.com

We know you’re excited for your new baby. We’d also guess you’re pretty overwhelmed and wondering just how much money you’re going to spend (been there, done that). The good news? You can manage that overwhelm (and expenses) if you know what you really need. 

Spoiler alert: You don’t need everything social media insists you need.

In the beginning, your newborn needs to be able to safely eat, sleep, move, bathe, and poop (there’s a lot of poop). So, let’s start with the baby essentials. Then we’ll explore “nice to have,” but you can live without.

On our newborn and baby essentials checklist:

• Your essentials for feeding, sleeping, moving, bathing, and pooping
• Nice-to-haves and unexpected MVPs 
• The sh*t you don’t need (so you can mark it off your list) 
• Bonus: postpartum recovery and education essentials 

Please note Fathercraft is reader-supported, meaning, at no cost to you, we may earn a commission if you buy after clicking an affiliate link. Learn more. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

How did we decide what’s essential vs. what’s “nice to have?”

For an item to be deemed essential:

• At least one of the four parents building this list must have personally used it (and used it a lot)
• It has to provide serious value by either making your life or the baby’s life easier (or, in a lot of cases, both!)

Here are those parents:

We also reached out to our Fathercraft community to make sure we didn’t miss anything. Trust us, you’re in good hands.

Heads up: This baby essentials list takes about 15 minutes to read from start to finish. In addition to the basic essentials, we have sections for “nice to haves” and things you definitely don’t need. Plus, we give you some reasons why certain things are considered essential plus tips for using them. Don’t have that kind of time? We get it. Bookmark this page and come back to it as needed.

Baby essentials for feeding

Your essentials will look different depending on if you plan to breastfeed, formula feed, or some combination of both.

No matter how you choose to feed your baby:

1. Bottles

If breastfeeding:

1. Breast pump
2. 2-3 nursing bras
3. Milk storage
4. Nipple balm
5. Breast pads

If formula feeding or combo feeding:

1. Formula

Unexpected MVP: grass drying rack

If you or your partner is planning to breastfeed, you’ll need a few items to make sure you can remove and store your milk when you’re away from your baby. And, trust Kristan and Brittnee on this one, you will need a good nipple balm, especially in the first few days. We like the “Calm Your Nip” balm from Honest or the Sore Nipple set from frida, which includes balm and saline spray. 

And no matter how you feed your baby, you’ll likely need bottles. We recommend investing in a few 4oz bottles that work for you and baby. Our unexpected MVP is the Boon “grass” drying rack, which makes it easy to set small bottle parts out to dry. 

There are a few more things that can make feeding easier… 

Nice-to-haves when feeding baby: 

Bottle warmer 

We like the Momcozy bottle warmer, which makes it super easy to set it and forget it (for approximately six minutes). Customize your settings based on how much milk you’re warming and the material of your bottle—then, Momcozy does the rest for you. 

Wearable pump 

We’ve tried the Willow 360, Willow Go, and the Elvie here at Fathercraft. One of our writers (Kristan) currently uses the Willow Go as her only pump, and she loves it. We’ve found wearable pumps can efficiently collect milk while you’re up on and on the go, which comes in handy if you’re working, adventuring, or have older children (so… working and adventuring!).

Willow Go

This totally hands-free, easy-to-use breast pump is our favorite wearable, coming in a bit cheaper than the Willow 360.

$349.99

Shop Now Read Our Review

Babybrezza Formula Pro Advanced

It’s a Keurig for babies! Seriously, if you’re going to be formula feeding, the Babybrezza Formula Advanced Pro makes mixing and warming bottles a lot easier. Like… perfectly mixed and warmed bottle in less than 20 seconds kind of easy. The newer models can even be controlled from your phone.

Sterilizer 

You’re going to spend a lot of time washing and sterilizing baby things. It’s perfectly fine to use boiling water to sterilize, but having a fancy machine that does it for you comes in handy, especially if you’re pumping. Our Fathercraft community likes this Clean Steam sterilizer from Dr. Brown’s.

Nursing tanks/shirts 

You don’t need a whole new wardrobe to nurse your baby, but having 2-3 nursing tanks and 1-2 nursing shirts on hand can make public outings easier. 

Nursing cover (if preferred) 

Fun fact: You (or your partner) have the legal right to breastfeed, covered or uncovered, in all fifty states. So, you don’t need this, but depending on personal preference, you may want it. The Cocoon from We Are Amma is popular here at Fathercraft (both Kristan and Brittnee purchased it on their own dime and used it), because it’s breathable, lightweight, and honestly pretty cute. Plus, it doubles as a nice baby blanket. 

What you don’t need to feed a baby:

Baby “food” or rice cereal 

…At least, not for the first 4-6 months. And when you introduce food to your baby (around the six-month mark), you may opt for baby-led weaning, where your baby essentially eats modified versions of whatever you eat. This is ultimately up to you, but you can at least rest easy knowing you don’t need to stock up on liquified peas for another few months. 

Baby sleep essentials 

1. 2-3 velcro swaddles
2. Bassinet
3. 2-3 bassinet sheets
4. Crib
5. 2-3 crib sheets
6. breathable crib mattress
7. Sound machine
8. 3-5 pacifiers (if you plan to use) 
9. 6-8 pairs of zipper pajamas 
10. 2-3 sleep slacks 
11. Baby monitor
 

Unexpected MVP: blackout curtains 

For the first few months, your baby will likely sleep next to your bed in a bassinet at night (the AAP recommends room sharing for the first six months up to one year). But you might start practicing daytime naps in the crib. The key? A solid sleep environment and comfortable clothing. 

Between the four of us, most of our babies enjoyed being swaddled in a dark room (thanks, blackout curtains!) with white noise. Why? The womb is basically dark, cramped, and noisy… so we’re going for those vibes.  We recommend using velcro swaddles (we like this five-second-swaddle from Happiest Baby), because babies can easily break out of the muslin swaddling blankets. 

You’ll also want a monitor to keep an eye on them—we’ve listed our favorites here. We’re really big fans of the Nanit, but you can opt for something much more basic (and affordable). 

Nanit baby monitor

The Nanit is our favorite, tried & true smart monitor.

$299+

Shop Now Read Our Review

Nice-to-have’s for baby sleep:

“Smart” bassinet or crib

Your bassinet doesn’t have to be smart, but we’ve tested both the Snoo and Cradlewise here at Fathercraft, and we got better sleep with both. The Cradlewise actually converts into a crib, so your investment goes a bit further. 

Cradlewise bassinet & crib

This smart bassinet/crib has a longer shelf-life than the Snoo, and we could track the extra sleep we were getting. Definitely a nice-to-have!

$1,399+

Shop Now Read Our Review

Transitional sleep slack 

Once your baby starts to show signs of rolling, you have to stop swaddling them (usually between three and six months). If your baby is missing the oh-so-comforting feeling of not being able to move their arms, a transitional sleep sack or something like the Merlin suit can help. 

Smart monitor 

Like the bassinet, your monitor doesn’t have to be smart. But if it is, it may alert you if your baby’s face is covered (see the Cubo AI+). We especially like the Harbor, which transmits video to your phone and an included parent unit.

Harbor baby monitor

At a flat price with no subscription fee, the Harbor is one of the more affordable smart monitor options, and we love that it comes with a parent unit.

$499

Shop Now Read Our Review

Vitals monitoring device

Some people say vitals monitoring gives them peace of mind—others say it gives them anxiety. We’ve tried the Owlet DreamSock Duo, which alerts you if your baby’s oxygen levels are low, or if their pulse rate is too high/low. If you’re someone who wants the alerts (even if you have to deal with a few false alarms), the FDA-approved Owlet may be for you.

What you don’t need for baby sleep

Crib bumpers 

Your parents (or grandparents) might tell you to get crib bumpers, but they’re dangerous and no longer recommended. If they question you, send them here.

Blankets & loveys 

They can be cute nursery decor, but you don’t need them for sleep. The AAP recommends keeping the baby’s sleeping surface totally clear for the first year. For now, arrange those stuffies into a cute scene on your baby’s dresser. And don’t worry—by the time they’re two, your child will have a “where is my kid” amount of stuffies in their bed.

Diapering & hygiene essentials

1. Diapers (pro tip: you won’t be in newborn-sized diapers very long… ask people to get you a variety of size 1-5 diapers)
2. Wipes
3. Diaper cream
4. 3-4 Towels
5. 3-4 Wash cloths
6. Gentle baby shampoo & body wash
7. Gentle baby lotion

Unexpected MVP: diaper cream applicator 

You don’t need much to keep your baby diapered and clean. For the most part, you’ll use diapers (obviously), wipes, and a gentle shampoo/body wash combo. We include diaper rash cream as an essential, because your baby will get (several) diaper rashes. Plus, you can use diaper cream anywhere, including the places where they’ll get rashes from all the adorable rolls (pits, thighs, neck, etc.). The MVP? A diaper cream brush that spreads the cream for you and easily wipes clean. Both Brittnee and Kristan insist they would not go without this little $14.99 bundle.

Diaper cream applicator

Trust us, you want this.

$14.99

Shop Now

Nice-to-haves for cleaning & diapering

Baby tub 

Co-founder Paul is a proud member of the never-owned-a-baby-tub club. He swears by a $5 bath mat and the sink. On the other hand, Kristan finds her kitchen sink “icky” even on its cleanest day, and she keeps trying to sneak the baby tub onto the essentials checklist. 

Whether or not a baby tub is essential to you, is your call. But Kristan really loves the 4-in-1 Friday tub. 

Diaper changing pad 

You’re going to be shocked by the places you’re willing to change a diaper. But it still might be nice to have a place where you’re supposed to change the diaper. 

Our community really loves the Keekaroo peanut changer. 

Pros: No need for a cover, easy to wipe clean (in case you aren’t familiar with diaper changing pads, most require a sheet that doesn’t stay clean for more than a day… that’s a lot of laundry)

Cons: It’s $180 

Is it worth it? Quite possibly, especially if you’re going to have multiple children and somehow still have almost $200 to spare on a poop pad. 

Bathtime pitcher

A little pitcher to help you wash that tiny head of hair can help you keep water out of your baby’s eyes. A cheaper alternative? A cup from your kitchen cabinet.

2-3 hooded towels 

These are great for making sure your baby’s head doesn’t get too cold after a bath. Plus, they’re pretty dang cute. But babies tend to outgrow them quickly, and some people claim regular towels are easier. 

Diaper Genie 

You can throw your diapers in a trash can, but a diaper genie really does help conceal the odor for a bit longer. One of our authors (Kristan) didn’t use a diaper genie with her first, but now has one for her second. She believes it’s worth it. 

What you don’t need for cleaning & diapering 

Wipe warmer

“There’s no better way to start turning your baby into the next Veruca Salt than to buy them a wipe warmer” — Cofounder Paul

Do wipe warmers feel a bit… over the top? Maybe (at least, according to Paul). But just as importantly, they just don’t really work, because they dry out the wipes.

“Peepee teepee” 

Please no. 

Special baby detergents 

Some of the baby detergents marketed for babies actually contain fragrances that can still irritate your baby’s skin. If you’re worried about it, skip the Dreft and use a “free & gentle” detergent instead (like this fragrance-free detergent from Tide). 

Essentials for moving your baby

1. Stroller
2. Diaper bag
3. Car seat

Unexpected MVP(s): car mirror + stroller fan 

Leaving the house for the first time with a new baby feels daunting as hell (second only to leaving the hospital with your baby). But you only need a few essentials to make it happen—a properly installed car seat, a stroller, and a bag to store some of the other baby essentials (like the Fathercraft diaper bag!) on this list. We highly recommend hanging a shatter-proof mirror on your backseat, so that you can see your rear-facing bundle of joy. And if you’re having a summer baby? We’re 92.5% sure you’ll end up buying a stroller fan at some point.

Nice-to-haves for moving your baby 

Fancy-pants stroller 

All you need your stroller to do is safely move your child from Point A to Point B. But having a few bells and whistles, plus a smoother ride can make things easier than you might imagine. Fancy-pants strollers can grow with your family, re-configure in various ways, and keep your kids happier with fewer jostles and bumps. At Fathercraft, we recommend the Uppababy Vista as the ultimate luxury ride. 

UPPPAbaby Vista V3 stroller

The best fancy-pants stroller we've tried

$899.99

Shop Now Read Our Review

Wrap or buckle carrier 

You can carry your baby around, but having a wrap or baby carrier frees up your hands. Plus, babies like the feeling of being snug against their caregiver. We use our carriers out and about and around the home. Bonus: wearing your baby on a walk is great exercise. 

What you don’t need 

Baby knee pads 

Yes, they exist. No, you don’t need them. No, that won’t stop your Great Aunt Susan from purchasing them for you (unless you send her this list of things you actually need).

Playtime essentials 

1. Board books
2. You!

Unexpected MVP: The silicone ladle you have in your kitchen 

The truth? Babies don’t need a lot to stay entertained. They mostly need a loving caregiver (that’s you and your partner) who will sing, talk, and make silly faces. In fact, before you stock up on toys, we actually recommend purchasing a few books. Starting a reading habit early (like… from birth) can help develop your baby’s early language and literacy skills.

Still itching to buy some toys? Check your kitchen drawers. Choose carefully, but it never ceases to amaze us how babies gravitate toward ordinary household items over fancy, expensive toys.

Nice to haves for playtime with baby

High-contrast toys

If you’re thinking, ok we have the books and the kitchen ladle, but we still want some baby toys, high-contrast toys are a great place to start. In the early weeks, your baby won’t see color very well, but they’ll be able to spot (and will love) the contrast between black and white. If you want to take the guess work out of baby-toy-buying, check out Lovevery—a subscription service that sends you developmentally appropriate toys every few months.

Things to grab

Around 2-3 months, your baby will start trying to grab things. Playmats with dangling toys offer a great opportunity to practice those skills.

Essentials for birth and beyond

You and your partner will also have needs in those first months. As much as we’d love to, we can’t stock your fridge or supply you with mental stability. But we can help you prepare for two things: recovery and education. 

• Heads up: We wrote a third trimester checklist to help you prep for birth and beyond.

Recovery essentials 

Note: Your hospital may supply many of these essentials

1. Mesh underwear
2. Pads
3. Peri bottle
4. Tuck’s pads
5. Ice packs and/or “padscicles”
6. Benzodyne spray

Unexpected MVP: water bottle with straw 

Regardless of delivery method, the birthing parent should expect to bleed for the first 2-6 weeks postpartum. These essentials will make healing easier (and are often supplied by your hospital). Bonus: get a water bottle with a straw. If you’re breastfeeding, you need at least 100oz of water each day. And even if you’re not, hydrating helps you heal, reduces postpartum swelling, and reduces the impact of sleep deprivation. 

Recovery nice-to-haves

Frida mom mesh underwear 

Some women feel like the hospital mesh underwear leave something to be desired. The Frida mom mesh undewear feel a bit more comfortable and secure. 

Comfy lounge sets 

You’ll be spending a lot of time in pajamas. Comfy lounge sets can help you feel a bit more human. They even make special loungesets for breastfeeding! 

Postpartum cart 

Setting up a cart with postpartum, diapering, and feeding essentials can help keep everything central to you and the baby. You don’t need this, but it’s helpful in the early days when you might be trying to minimize how much you’re moving around postpartum. 

Essentials for dads 

1. Hospital stay supplies (e.g., snacks, entertainment, chargers)
2. Education
3. Community

Unexpected MVP: Comfy blanket and pillow 

Your baby and the mother will likely be (and should be) the top priorities during birth and beyond. But dads have to put on their own oxygen masks, too. When dads show up for themselves, they show up better for their families—starting with the actual birth. Dads should plan to stock up a hospital bag with things they need, too. Of course, no matter how uncomfortable your hospital stay as a dad might feel, it pales in comparison to birthing a child. But there’s no harm in packing a solid pillow and blanket for both partners. Dads should also plan on investing in their own parenting eduction. Shameless plug: Check out the Fathercraft course for dads-to-be. If you’ve made it this far in the checklist, just think about how much you might learn from our course… 

Father's Ed

A practical online course for the dad who aspires to have his sh*t together.

$149

Shop Now

Finally, dads should prioritize finding community and building a support system before birth and throughout infancy. You’ll want other dads who get it to lean on in those early days of sleep deprivation and generally figuring it all out. 

Nice to haves for dads

A dad diaper bag 

Let us offer this piece of advice: If you’re a dad, take charge of the diaper bag. Keep it stocked, organized, and ready to go. It’s a huge mental lift off your healing, potentially nursing, definitely sleep-deprived partner (if you’re not a dad… we won’t judge if you send him this).

There’s no shame in the ultra-stylish diaper bag game, but we just so happen to make a diaper bag that was designed by dads, for dads. It’s durable and stain-resistant, which means you can use it for years (and honestly, we still think it’s pretty stylish).

More education essentials

1. CPR/first aid class
2. 1-2 parenting resources

We highly recommend taking a CPR and first aid class before having your baby. Hopefully, you never need the information, but we’re fans of controlling what you can. In other words, we tend to rest easier knowing we can respond accurately in an emergency. 

Plus, we recommend picking up 1-2 more parenting resources. If it’s not our course, grab a book or check out Tinyhood, which offers a wide range of classes addressing everything from pregnancy to toddlerhood and beyond.

Parenting education nice-to-haves 

A course specific to your situation

Planning a med-free birth (godspeed to you)? Hoping to breastfeed? Formula feed? Need more info on the epidural? Know you’re having a c-section? There are lots of online courses out there from experts that address these specific situations. 

Now what? 

Start budgeting. 

Just kidding. Sort of (we actually wrote about this). 

In all seriousness, we’d recommend making a plan to get these essentials before your due date and adding some of the nice-to-haves to your registry.

And we’re here to help along the way! We’re Fathercraft, and we write reviews to help out parents like you. Ready for some more info? Check out our free checklists, our product reviews, or our courses to get started.

Finally, we’ll answer the big questions: Is the Snoo bassinet worth its hefty price tag? And, how can you get the Snoo cheaper?

Without further ado, we give you the following:

• A video review of the Snoo
• How does the Snoo work?
• Magic Snoo moments and… Not-so-magic moments
• Snoo Guilt: Is it a thing?
• The official verdict
• Pricing
• Optional add-ons and new products
• The rental program
• Certified Pre-Loved Snoos
• FAQs
• Snoo vs. Cradlewise (and other bassinets)
• A second couple’s review

Editor’s note: Since every baby is different, we tested the Snoo multiple times with different families to ensure we give you the most transparent and honest review possible. As a disclaimer, Fathercraft is reader-supported, meaning, at no cost to you, we may earn a commission if you buy after clicking an affiliate link. Learn more about how we operate and how we never guarantee a positive review in exchange for product.

Our honest Snoo bassinet review

To start, here’s our 5-minute video review of the Snoo

What is the Snoo, and how does it work?

The Snoo is like an ordinary bassinet (a small crib-like structure that allows your baby to sleep next to your bed for the first 6 months of life), except it’s equipped with sound sensors, wifi, speakers that deliver varying types of white noise, and a robotic motor that rocks your baby at different levels of intensity in response to any noise (from the baby) the sensors detect. Oh, and a swaddle and strap system designed to keep your baby from rolling over.

The Snoo bassinet is a collaboration between Dr. Harvey Karp (famous to some parents as the guy whose Happiest Baby on the Block book and videos recommend the “5 S’s” of calming your baby – these are quite effective by the way) and Yves Behar, a renowned industrial designer whose clients include Sodastream, Dyson, and Herman Miller office furniture to name a few.

The result of this collaboration is what Happiest Baby calls “the safest baby bed ever made” and “like a night nurse* for around $7 per night”.

It works like this: You swaddle your baby with the Snoo Sack that comes with the bassinet. The Snoo Sack has “wings” – clips that attach your baby to the sides of the Snoo sleeper so she can’t roll over (nearly all experts believe healthy babies should sleep on their back to reduce the risk of SIDS and SUID.) Once your baby is strapped in, the Snoo gently rocks your baby and plays white noise through its integrated speakers. This gentle motion and white noise continue all night unless your baby gets upset. If this happens, Snoo recognizes crying with its sensors and attempts to calm your baby with several levels of greater intensity – both in white noise and rocking. Ideally, your baby is calmed and goes back to sleep without you having to lift a finger … or, more importantly, get out of bed.

Happiest Baby notes that you’ll still need to feed your baby (hopefully this is a bit obvious) and that sometimes your child just needs to be comforted by a human, have their diaper changed, be given a pacifier, etc. But, the Snoo should robotically take care of the rest.

At this point, if you’re a parent who has experienced just how tired you can be taking care of a newborn, you’re thinking “Woah.” Or something to that effect. Perhaps with more profanity. If you’re not, it’s because you’re some lucky bastard whose partner did nearly all the work. I’m not judging, I’m one of them – and I was still tired a lot during this phase. You’re also experiencing some degree of serious skepticism. Perhaps some discomfort, confusion, and other mixed emotions thrown in there, too.

We weren’t sure how to feel about the Snoo either. But keep reading, and we’ll give you all the details — the awesome, the “wish it were different,” and even the outright weird.

*If you’re not familiar, a night nurse is a caretaker who comes over to your house at night and keeps an eye on your baby all night, calming them when needed, feeding them, etc. Pretty sweet, if you’ve got some serious cash.

The awesome, the ‘wish it were different’ and a final Snoo verdict

Because this was such a big-ticket, profoundly-different-than-the-alternative item, I’ve included full notes from our 30 day trial at the end of this post — as well as a review from a second couple. I’m an information junkie, so I would have found this useful before purchasing. But not everyone is, so if you just want the good, the bad, and the verdict, here you go:

The awesome (Does the Snoo work?):

The magic moments: There were a number of moments during the course of our testing when I thought, “holy cow if it weren’t for the Snoo, I couldn’t be doing X, because I’d be walking around trying to rock Ruby to sleep in my arms.” For me, “X” was:

• Working from home when she was fussy and clearly needed a nap but wouldn’t have gone down without the Snoo
• Spending time with my wife in the evening

Yeah, but … how do you know the Snoo worked? This was an easy one—we spent time without the Snoo before and after, and also took a trip in the middle of our testing. And, yeah … it was the Snoo that did the magic trick of calming Ruby and improving her sleep.

The safety measures: Happiest Baby markets the Snoo as “the safest baby bed ever made” due to the fact it keeps sleeping babies on their backs, the safest position for most (your baby should be sleeping on her back unless you discuss with your doctor). I felt deeply comforted by this fact, and this allowed me to relax more and rest easier — I’m one of those parents who went into kids’ rooms multiple times a night to make sure they were still breathing. You just might find you’re one of those, too.

An extra layer of assurance was added in 2023, when the Snoo received “De Novo” FDA approval for keeping sleeping babies safely positioned on their back (“de novo” approval simply means the Snoo is the first device deemed effective in solving this problem, with no prior solution offered from the medical field).

The Snoo Sack (swaddle): The swaddle is pretty amazing. In fact, I was inspired enough to leave the following Snoo sack review on Happiest Baby’s website, and it’s not hyperbole:

 “As a dad who is utterly hopeless attempting to swaddle with a blanket and still struggles to get it right with the other velcro/zipper swaddling solutions I’ve tried, the Snoo Sack makes me feel like a pro! I’m able to get my daughter in it incredibly quickly, she feels secure, looks happy, and doesn’t escape within minutes like she does with other swaddling solutions. Just awesome!”

If a Snoo isn’t in the cards for you, fear not—Happiest Baby sells the swaddle separately as The Sleepea. You can find our review of that here.

Integrated white noise: If you believe in using white noise to help babies sleep, and you’ve had a baby, you probably know finding something to deliver consistent, not annoying, white noise for a 12- hour period is actually something of a challenge. So I very much appreciated the Snoo’s built-in speakers. While this isn’t exclusive to the Snoo — other smart bassinets have since copied this feature (more discussion on this, including Snoo vs. Cradewise and Mamaroo later) — Snoo does it extremely well.

The customer service: I contacted Happiest Baby a number of times during testing, on questions ranging from, “Isn’t Ruby going to get cold in a swaddle with mesh?” (nope, parents tend to overdress babies, and here’s how to check if you’re worried – touch her ear) to “the app isn’t working, help?” (they’ve since improved the app experience dramatically) to “the rocking at the beginning seems too vigorous” (It probably isn’t — these folks are pros, and thousands of babies have now used a Snoo. But an option for less vigorous rocking is now available via software update – how cool is that? I’d like to think we had a hand in changing this). In all cases, customer service was outstanding. Fast, thorough, and went well beyond my expectations for knowledge and general helpfulness of customer service folks.

The cool factor: Snoo has a serious cool factor. I felt the same feelings I felt as a relatively early adopter of the first iPhone (only maybe in dad form …)

The 30-day risk-free guarantee: With something this expensive, and this new, there can be a lot of angst about purchase. But, Happiest Baby includes a 30-day “worry free” guarantee, meaning if you don’t love the Snoo within the first 30 days of receiving it, you can return it for a full refund, less a $199 restocking fee.

The wish it were different:

Price: The Snoo costs $1,695. Yep, you read that right, $1,695 for a baby bed. (Before you give up, be sure to check out details of the Snoo rental program)

The price of a brand new Snoo is by far the biggest downside I came up with after extensive testing. So, a couple of considerations when it comes to price:

Lack of portability: The Snoo is quite heavy and big. We took a weekend car trip during our testing and didn’t bother putting the Snoo in the car for this reason. The company’s sleep expert did point out to me that babies using Snoo do fine when away from it for up to a week, especially if you use the same white noise sounds (available on Apple Music) and the Snoo swaddle while you travel (this keeps things relatively consistent for the baby during travel).

Only one swaddle of each size, one fitted sheet: The Snoo comes with one small, one medium, and one large swaddle (called a Snoo Sack), and one fitted sheet. Extras are available from the website but are $38 each. [Update: the price of additional Snoo sacks has been lowered to $34.95, a small but nice gesture, and fitted sheets are now just $38.50 for a 3 pack or $19.95 for one] If your child spits up/throws at all and gets the swaddle size they’re using dirty, you’ll need extras/need to do daily laundry. But, probably worth noting, multiple swaddles are something you’d probably buy without a Snoo, and most aren’t that much cheaper than Snoo Sacks … so technically this isn’t an extra cost. Plus, as I mentioned above the Snoo Sack was definitely the best of the many I’ve tried.

The things to note (also known as “the weird”):

Snoo Guilt: When using the Snoo, I found myself feeling rather guilty sometimes in two scenarios

1) When I put Ruby in the Snoo when she was fussy and clearly tired

2) When the Snoo calmed an upset Ruby. I was letting a machine calm my kid. Was that my job as a parent? Was I missing out on critical bonding moments?

I’m confident Happiest Baby would tell me that the Snoo was helping Ruby get much-needed rest, and helping me and my wife get a much-needed break. I tend to agree with them – get rest and be a better parent during the day – but I still felt guilty on occasion. And, I wasn’t alone – other Snoo reviews I read mentioned similar feelings.

Wifi Shielding and Blue Light Emission (For those of you who think about weird things, like me): I am rather paranoid about exposing my kids to radiation from cell phones and wifi, so I worried about the fact the Snoo had wifi built in. But then I read that the Snoo has a built-in metal shield to protect the baby from any potential radiation. This was one of those, “wow, they thought of everything” moments for me that made me feel even more confident about the attention to detail on the product as a whole. Another of those moments came later when I saw Happiest Baby released “low legs” for the Snoo – designed to lower the Snoo for parents with platform beds who wanted to be able to see their baby without needing to fully sit up – a small but convenient touch (also capped off by an adorable dachshund in their picture of the legs).

I’m also obsessed with removing light (particularly blue light) from our bedroom to try and achieve the ‘sleep in total darkness’ thing, so the blue LED ring surrounding the power button annoyed me, particularly because it’s kind of bright.

Severe Congestion/Elevating the Snoo: If you’ve been reading this and wondering, “if this guy liked this thing so much, why didn’t he keep it? Well, here’s your answer. Ruby suffered from severe nasal congestion during our trial (in addition to some complications early on, we live in Denver, she was born in the winter) and as a result, two things happened: 1) frequent middle-of-the-night clearing of nasal passages – more on that soon – and 2) shifting Ruby from the Snoo to the Rock n’ Play. If you’re not familiar, a Rock ‘n Play elevates a child’s head. NOTE: most experts recommend most babies sleep flat, this happened before the Rock ‘n Play recall that occurred in mid-2019. We felt guilty using a Rock ‘n Play for extended periods of sleep, though did get the go-ahead from our doctor’s office. Ruby seemed to breathe easier with her head elevated in the Rock ‘n Play vs. flat in the Snoo. This is probably a rare problem – we live in Denver and when traveling to Phoenix for a weekend this problem magically disappeared, we presume with lower altitude. When I spoke with Snoo’s sleep expert about this he noted they were working on an insert for elevating, and in the meantime, we could try putting tuna cans under the two legs near Ruby’s head. Unfortunately, this didn’t seem to dramatically help congestion, though the idea of using tuna cans to elevate a (at the time) $1,200 bassinet was pretty amusing. 

[Update] Those inserts the sleep expert mentioned are now here in the form of Snoo Leg Lifters. They elevate two of the Snoo’s legs (the ones closest to your baby’s head) to create a slight angle and relieve congestion.

Is the Snoo worth it?

First of all, if one or more of these things is true:

1. Can spend $1,695 on something your child will use for 6 months and feel fiscally responsible (or feel comfortable renting)
2. Have a particularly fussy baby or a poor sleeper
3. Desperately need more sleep, or, perhaps more importantly, have a partner who badly needs more sleep

…You should get a Snoo, hands down. It is just 100% worth it. The Snoo will almost without question save you time by helping your baby fall asleep faster without human intervention, help you get more sleep by helping your baby sleep more, and make you feel like you’ve given your child the safest possible sleeping environment you can, which is a great feeling. 

If you:

1. Aren’t getting a Snoo for a newborn (your baby will stay in the Snoo only 6 months)
2. Have a baby who already sleeps extremely well
3. Know that $1,695 will cause financial strain
4. Aren’t planning on having multiple kids

Or some combination of the above, it’s a bit of a tougher call. Clearly, parents have survived for millennia without a motorized bassinet – you can too.

If your baby is much older than a newborn, your time with the Snoo is going to be shortened, especially by the time it arrives and your baby fully transitions to the point you both enjoy the full benefit.

If your baby is already a pro sleeper, you may not notice the benefits of the Snoo (other than safety benefits) all that often. Happiest Baby does point out that many babies who are at first great sleepers go through a period of “sleep regression,” during which they have a much more difficult time getting to sleep and staying asleep, and that those babies benefit from the Snoo. Can vouch firsthand for the concept of a sleep regression.

They also point out that most babies sleep better swaddled, but the American Academy of Pediatrics doesn’t recommend swaddling a baby for sleep once the baby can roll over as it may increase SIDS and SUID risk. Since the Snoo’s wings physically prevent a baby from rolling over while sleeping in the Snoo, it allows babies who are capable of rolling over to remain swaddled for sleep until they’re 6 months old, thus improving sleep.

So our overall verdict? This is a badass product. If you can afford it without financial strain, you should buy it – price is the only real downside to this product based on our testing. The Snoo also includes a 30-day money back guarantee if it’s something you feel like you need to try for yourself before committing to. And, as we’ve mentioned, If $1,695 is too much, check out the alternative options below.

You also don’t need to take our word for it – there are over 3,400+ reviews from verified buyers on Happiest Baby’s website including a star rating and text reviews, which are interesting to read.

Pricing, Extras, & Rental Program

Pricing

The Snoo’s price is $1,695. For that, you get everything you need to use the Snoo:

• The Snoo itself
• A mattress with fitted organic cotton sheet
• 3 Snoo Sacks in small, medium, and large – the right sizes to fit your baby as long as they’ll be in the Snoo.
• Access to Happiest Baby’s sleep consultants, 7 days per week.

Add-Ons

Happiest Baby continues to add new products and extras to their collection, which can come in handy — whether you need something functional or something whimsical (although sort of expensive). In between white noise, decorative giraffes, mosquito nets, you can almost totally Snoo-ify your nursery (yes, that’s a word we just made up).

A complete list of current optional extras includes the following:

Extra Snoo Sacks – $34.95, or $73.40 for a pack of 3.

Extra sheets (3 pack) – $38.50

“The Big Bundle” (an extra Sack of each size and two additional sheets) – currently listed at $94.10

Leg lifters (to elevate the two legs closest to the baby’s head if congestion is an issue) – $24.95

Low legs (lower height of the Snoo for easy peeking in if you have a platform bed) – $69.95

SNOO Zoo Giraffe (for a “touch of whimsy and sense of wonder) – $495

Shoo Mosquito Net (for keeping out insects and apparently also cats) – $79

SNOObie Smart Soother (white noise machine) – $69.95

SNOObear 3-in-1 White Noise Lovey (a teddy bear with white noise capabilities) – $59.95

Sky Mobile (a mobile that can securely attach to the Snoo or hang from the ceiling) – $89.95

The Snoo rental program

The other reason we didn’t keep the Snoo at the end of our trial period? Price. Like many families having a baby, we weren’t exactly rolling in dough. And, so paired with Ruby’s congestion preventing her from using the Snoo some of the time, the price was a deal-breaker. I really wish Snoo rental had been an option at the time—we would have definitely used it.

The Snoo rental program allows you to (wait for it …) rent the Snoo. There’s no doubt the Snoo is a pricey item, so the rental program was designed to make it more accessible to those without large baby budgets who were also in need of a safe baby bed and extra sleep.

The rental program works like this:

1. Head to the Snoo website and select the rental option
2. Choose your delivery date (you can select any date up to 6 months out, perfect if your baby isn’t born yet, you can just have it arrive a few days before your due date)
3. You’ll pay for the first month of your rental plus a $99.50 cleaning & reconditioning fee up front (shipping is free to you!)
4. Each month thereafter that you keep the Snoo, your card will automatically be charged

1. When you’re ready to return it, send the Snoo back to Happiest Baby in its original box (return shipping is $59.50). Definitely keep the box, this thing is a beast to ship without it!
2. You’ll get a refund for any unused days in your final month

Snoo rental pricing

Right now, the basic Snoo rental program is priced at $159 per month month, with a minimum rental period of 1 month. You’ll pay $258 up front (one month + the reconditioning fee).

Every Snoo rental includes everything you need to use the Snoo—the mattress, an organic fitted sheet, and 2 sleep sacks. All of this is yours to keep after your rental is over.

Another nice benefit of the rental program) is that there’s no commitment beyond the first month. So, use it for 3 months, decide you’ve had enough, and send it back. In that scenario, you’ll pay $576.50.

You’ll find all the rental program details here on Happiest Baby’s site.

Rent or Buy?

As you’ll see by the math above, if you’ve got just one kid who’ll use the Snoo, and especially if you might not want to use the Snoo for the full 6 months (if your baby is already born, or you just don’t think 6 months is necessary — and we think you’ll certainly get value out of 3 months in the Snoo based on our experience), renting the Snoo will save you some serious cash.

If you plan on having multiple kids, or have a friend who might borrow/share the cost of the Snoo (or maybe buy you a really nice bottle of wine) after your first kid, giving it a good home before a potential second kid, outright purchasing the Snoo will save you money in the long term.

Snoo frequently asked questions

Here are some things we get asked a lot from readers and prospective buyers/renters:

Is the Snoo safe?

Snoo is marketed as “the safest baby bed ever made”, and for good reason: its design keeps your baby on her back, the safest sleep position according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Snoo Sack promotes a healthy hip position and prevents material from covering a baby’s mouth and nose.

Is the Snoo safe for newborns?

Newborns are tiny, fragile creatures. So it’s natural to wonder if the Snoo, with its automated jiggling of your baby and white noise levels, is safe for newborn babies. But, Snoo was designed to be used from day one, and extensively tested for newborn safety. It’s also been around for 5+ years and been safely used by thousands and thousands of families

Is the Snoo FDA approved?

In April 2023, the Snoo received “De Novo” FDA approval for keeping babies safely positioned on their backs. This basically means that, while the Snoo is not a medical device, it provides a solution to a problem that previously did not have one (i.e., there was no way for parents to physically prevent their babies from rolling over). Although there is no evidence to support that the Snoo directly reduces a baby’s risk of SIDS, Snoo’s FDA press release notes that two-thirds of SUIDS deaths occur while a baby is sleeping on their stomach, which the Snoo prevents.

Why is the Snoo controversial?

If you’ve heard the Snoo talked about as “controversial,” it’s likely because of one of these reasons:

1. “Snoo Guilt,” which we addressed earlier. Some parents might feel guilty letting the Snoo help them, but we’d remind those parents that we all need help, and we should take it where we can get it.
2. Some people worry that swaddling a baby up to six months of age (and keeping him on his back) might harm his development, but Happiest Baby notes that no studies have shown this to be true. They note that cultures that use extended swaddling show no impact on development; instead, they mention tummy time as the more important factor.

How long can my baby sleep in the Snoo?

The Snoo is designed for babies up to 6 month old, 25 pounds or less, who cannot yet get up on hands and knees, so whichever of these milestones occurs first means its time for your baby to move to a crib. For most babies, this is around 4-6 months.

Should my baby nap in the Snoo?

Yep. Snoo should be used for naps in addition to nighttime. You’ll likely see your baby’s naps are longer with Snoo than without it. So, it’s possible for Snoo to be your baby’s only sleep spot for a while. That said, if you miss a nap or travel, totally fine.

Does the Snoo ever stop moving?

The Snoo’s baseline level (what your baby will experience most of the time) includes a gentle rocking motion that keeps your baby moving all night long—this is part of the program designed to maximize sleep. You can turn this off with “weaning mode” via the mobile app.

Does the Snoo make noise all night?

Yes, the Snoo’s baseline level (what your baby will experience most of the time), does include a low level of white noise, which is part of the program designed to improve your baby’s sleep.

Does the Snoo automatically turn off?

If your baby begins to cry, the Snoo cycles through increasing levels of white noise and rocking, designed to calm your baby. However, sometimes your baby just needs human interaction (or a feed), so Snoo automatically turns off after a few minutes, signaling it’s time for you to go assist your child.

Where is the Snoo available?

The Snoo is currently available in the United States and in England/the UK. It’s available on Happiest Baby’s website and on Amazon.

Can you use breathing monitoring monitors like Nanit or Miku with the Snoo?

Since the Snoo employs constant, gentle motion to help your baby sleep, and monitors like Nanit and Miku rely on computer vision to notice the movement of your baby’s chest to determine that breathing is going on, the two aren’t compatible. That said, we’d note that you’ll use a baby monitor for years, you’ll use the Snoo for a maximum of 6 months, so we don’t necessarily recommend choosing your baby monitor based on this.

Snoo vs. Other Bassinets

At this point, a variety of alternative bassinets are available. So, how does the Snoo stack up?

Snoo vs Cradlewise

The Cradlewise is one of the only other smart bassinets we feel has the potential to truly compete with the Snoo, using motion and white noise to lull your child to sleep and sensors and video to detect wake-ups. However, in our Cradlewise review, we found that it doesn’t quite deliver yet, with functionality issues frustrating our testers. Both reviewers said they’d rather purchase the Snoo plus an Owlet Sock (you can read our Owlet Dream Sock review here). That said, a big advantage to Cradlewise over the Snoo is longevity — whereas the Snoo can be used for a maximum of 6 months, Cradlewise can be used for up to two years, meaning you’re getting a lot more bang for your (potentially even more expensive) buck — Cradlewise costs between $1,399 and $1,999 — the further out you order one, the more money you save. We also think that as their app improves, their potential to be competitive will grow.

Snoo vs 4Moms Mamaroo Sleep — which is better?

The 4Moms Mamaroo Sleep might look similar to the Snoo, have some of the same benefits (moves your baby, built in white noise) and cost you a whole lot less (The Mamaroo Sleep is currently $449.99), but in reality, it doesn’t really compare. Primary differences? The Mamaroo Sleep doesn’t strap your baby into the bassinet, therefore it doesn’t prevent rollovers, a major benefit of the Snoo. Additionally, the Mamaroo Sleep isn’t “smart” in that you can set a timer on the motion patterns (you can choose from 5) but they don’t respond to your baby’s cry, they’re just on or off.

Snoo vs Graco Sense2Snooze

The Graco Sense2Snooze took a cue from the Snoo’s cry detection technology, and can start its vibration when it hears your baby cries. But, this is about where the comparison ends. Again, as with the Mamaroo Sleep, the Sense2Snooze is missing the Snoo’s key feature — the clips that connect your baby to the Snoo and prevent rollovers AND prevent your baby from being moved around the bassinet by the vibration. Again, really not a comparable product.

Snoo vs Halo Bassinet

The Halo Bassinet looks pretty sleek, and has some nice features like the ability to rotate and raise and lower its bed height. But don’t let those fool you—this is not a Snoo competitor. The Halo (like the rest of the competition) lacks the ability to clip your baby to the bassinet bed, thus it doesn’t stop your baby from rolling over. And while it does feature white noise options and vibration, these aren’t ‘smart’ — they’ don’t adjust to your baby’s cries. Additionally, Halo is only designed for babies up to 15 lbs (vs 25 for Snoo), meaning its useful life is going to be pretty darn short.

A second Snoo review: Liz & Arys

With a product like the Snoo, you might want to hear what multiple people thought. So, our Snoo review features two reviews! Here are thoughts from thoughts from Friends of Fathercraft Liz & Arys.

Liz and Arys used their Snoo for 4 months and found it helpful to say the least.  They loved the technology that came with the Snoo. The fact that it would turn on motion and white noise in response to their baby crying was so helpful and worked to put her back to sleep many times without anyone ever having to go in the room. Amazing! 

They kept the motion set to “limited” the entire time they used the Snoo and felt that was enough motion for a tiny baby.  

Liz and Arys also appreciated being able to see how long their baby was sleeping, because life with a newborn is a bit hectic.  It was easy to forget what time she actually fell asleep and woke up.  

The Sleep Sack was also a bonus that came with the Snoo.  Baby Aviana loved being swaddled, so the Snoo Sleep Sack, which acts as a swaddle prevented her from getting her arms out during naps and at night.  She had a hard time sleeping anywhere other than the Snoo, so they rented a Snoo when they were on vacation for consistency.  Liz said she thinks their trip would have been much less enjoyable without the Snoo.  

Liz said the transition out of the Snoo wasn’t terrible, but they stopped using it when Aviana was 4 months old because she was rolling over and their doctor said she should not be swaddled anymore.  She does still rely on white noise for sleeping, but how many babies don’t need that?  

The Snoo has a very sleek appearance, and they appreciated that it looked nice anywhere they went with it.  They liked the look of the Snoo and said it was easy to assemble.  

Liz and Arys did not use the Snoo for their firstborn. If you have a “good sleeper,” the Snoo might just get the baby used to “luxuries” that he or she will then need to be weaned off of.

Liz definitely thinks they all benefited from extra hours of sleep that the Snoo provided – what family with a newborn doesn’t want that?  She does suggest renting a Snoo before purchasing, or even renting for the 4-6 months that you use it.  She rented hers while on vacation and thought it was definitely worth the cost.  

Finally, Liz and Arys think that the price of the Snoo is justified because the technology is so advanced and it helped them get some much wanted extra sleep with a newborn baby.

The Awesome

The Technology – The Snoo automatically turns on white noise or motion based on sensors that detect if your baby is making noise. This allows the parents to hopefully not even enter the baby’s room unless necessary. 

The Snoo app also records the baby’s sleep. This allows sleepy parents to easily access the baby’s sleep patterns. 

The Swaddle – many babies love being swaddled as newborns. The Snoo comes with a sleep sack that clips into the bassinet so that babies don’t become escape artists. 

The Appearance – the Snoo has a sleek and modern design that becomes an accessory in most rooms.  It fit nicely in the space Liz and Arys used it in.

Easy Assembly – Liz reported that the Snoo was very easy to put together.

Option to Rent – the Snoo has a hefty price tag, and you can only use it until your baby can roll over (typically about 4-6 months).  Liz and Arys rented a Snoo and found that well worth it while on vacation. On the Happiest Baby web site, the Snoo rental is $159 per month plus a reconditioning fee—check the Happiest Baby site for special offers on rentals—they do pop up.  

The ‘Wish it Were Different’ … was the Snoo worth it for Liz and Arys?

The Price – The Snoo costs almost $1,700.  While Liz said the technology makes the Snoo worth the cost, she also said she never would have even considered the Snoo for her firstborn who slept well.  She said despite the cost, she wouldn’t change anything about the Snoo or the app.

The Verdict

The Snoo is totally worth it if your baby has any issues sleeping, but it’s probably best to rent and make sure it helps. You will only use the Snoo for 4-6 months anyways, so renting for the entire time is probably the way to go no matter what – unless of course you’re planning on a house full of children!

Find more information on Snoo rentals, including the current “Newborn Special” right here.

Wrapping up, additional photos & full notes

Hopefully that was helpful as you consider the Snoo! We’ve included some additional photos of the Snoo below, as well as the notes I took as we were testing it out.

Based on what we saw firsthand of the Snoo, plus the positive reviews elsewhere (we’ve also got a friend of Fathercraft testing the Snoo for us right now–she, too, loved it), we’ve added the Snoo to our newborn essentials list, which covers all the stuff you need for your newborn, plus a few splurge to make your life easier items like the Snoo.

Before we dive into the additional photos & notes, an editor’s note: this post was first published in March 2017 but has been updated with more relevant details and updates to the Snoo over time and republished several times, most recently in April 2022.

Additional Photos

Notes from the journey

Below are the notes I took along the way on what we observed, how we felt, etc. I’ve edited them for clarity.

Pre-Delivery

• Sticker shock

• Ordering process very much like interacting with a modern tech company. Mobile ordering worked well, well-designed emails

• Disappointed b/c the website noted if I ordered before noon PST it’d be shipped that day, it didn’t ship until the following day

• Nice series of well-timed emails preparing me for Snoo delivery – setup and use emails came on the day the Snoo arrived

• As someone who likes to read lots about products before I buy them, I found myself wanting more. Snoo has a list of questions from prospective customers and answers in the reviews section, but it wasn’t very robust. A bit more information lived in blog posts, but this wasn’t obviously accessible
• Most of the 3rd party sites I found when searching for Snoo reviews were actually just press the company received when launching

Day 1 (12/30/16)

Unboxing and Setup

• Very easy to put together. Loved the fact no tools were required. Legs snapped in with a very satisfying click and the double hand-tightened bolts made me feel like they were very secure

• The unboxing experience felt much more like unboxing a new iPad or MacBook than a standard piece of baby equipment

• Only trouble was trying to get the power cord to stay in the small channel along a leg
• Really heavy

First Night

• Jamee remarked the sack’s straightjacket like effect and the all-white design made it look like Ruby was in some sort of institution when we laid her down in the Snoo

• Actually turning it on was quite easy to do, just the push of a button. Ruby started to cry and the Snoo cycled up through higher levels of rocking and white noise, which sound like rain, a vacuum cleaner, and a washing machine at higher levels

• This was noticeable but didn’t prevent me from falling asleep

• The rocking is quite vigorous. Ruby’s head rocked back and forth in a manner that was close to alarming at higher levels of intensity. Jamee asked if I was certain the Snoo knew how old Ruby was and was rocking an appropriate amount

• The 3rd level of Snoo’s white noise/rocking combo calmed Ruby and stopped her crying and she slept for a while in the Snoo but seemed more restless than she has in her Rock ’n Play, which has been her previous bed. This certainly could be a familiarity thing and since I’d read Snoo’s tips for transitioning to the Snoo (can take a few days for babies to get used to, up to a week for older babies) it made me less anxious the Snoo wasn’t going to work
• After about an hour and a half in the Snoo and another feeding, we decided to resume Snoo training the next day during naps and returned Ruby to her Rock ’n Play due to restlessness in the Snoo

Day 2

First nap

• Put Ruby in the Snoo Sack when she was getting tired after some play, rocked her to sleep in our arms and put her in the Snoo. The transition went well and Ruby slept peacefully for about 45 minutes while the Snoo gently rocked her.

• I realized after the initial “purple” level the Snoo’s rocking slows down and white noise quiets down as it transitions to a “sleep” level marked by a blue light. Rocking and white noise continues at some low level the whole time Snoo is on.
• At 45 minutes, Ruby got hungry and the Snoo cycled through its levels as she started to cry. I decided to pull her out before it went through the full cycle since I knew she was hungry

Day 4

First full night in the Snoo

• Successfully used Snoo to calm down Ruby when nothing else was working, get ourselves 15 precious minutes to eat dinner
• Pulled Ruby out of the Snoo around midnight when it wasn’t calming her down, but then was able to put her back in. Pretty much a normal night, Jamee was too tired to give her thoughts but I slept well

Day 5

• Ruby got fussy after being in the Snoo before we went to bed and wasn’t calmed by increased motion and white noise. Pulled her out, which instantly calmed her and tried again.

• Repeated this process several times. She seemed to be having gas pains and seemed to be calmed when her head was elevated, which we accomplished by holding her and putting her in the Rock ’n Play. It was hard to tell whether the Rock ’n Play was actually better at keeping her calm during the gas pains, we alternated between Rock ’n Play and Snoo throughout the night.
• Note here: it’s really hard to tell with kids whether one thing is working better as you can’t try both simultaneously

Day 7

• Ruby fell asleep in my arms the early evening for a nap and I thought about sticking her in the Snoo, but then thought about the extra few seconds it would take to stick her in the Snoo Sack and then the Snoo, and that she might wake up, and ended up just using the Rock ’n Play

• Peacefully down at night in the Snoo, a few minutes later she vomited all over the Snoo Sack, mattress, and through the mesh onto the floor. Since there were only one small sleep sack and one fitted sheet, we put her back in directly on the mattress and in the medium sleep sack, which seemed to fit fine.

• Really, only one sheet and one sack of each size? Price of extras felt exorbitant

• Down awake in the Snoo
• Jamee read about Snoo winning awards as we lay in bed after the incident

Day 10

• Put Ruby down in the Snoo. About 15 minutes later I was reading out loud when she got fussy. We decided to get see if the Snoo could calm her. She cried for the first 2 levels (2 minutes). At the 3rd level, she calmed and then went to sleep. Wow. I would have had to get out of bed to rock her in my arms for who knows how long if it hadn’t been for the Snoo.

Day 11

• Ruby was fussy when we got her ready for bed and in a Snoo Sack for the evening around 10:15. Jamee suggested I put her in the Snoo instead of trying to rock her calm/to sleep. I did. She calmed pretty darn quickly. Woah, that was pretty sweet. Almost made me feel guilty.
• 15 minutes later, fussy again, calmed at orange level.

Day 14

• Calmed Ruby in my arms before bed and put her in the Snoo. She got fussy upon being put down but calmed as the Snoo went up a few levels

Day 15

• Snoo app updates. Pretty cool to have a baby bed that gets smarter with software, just like your iPhone or a Tesla

Day 18

• Had discussions with Jamee about just how useful this thing really was. On the downside, it didn’t work when Ruby had stomach pains. However, at other times when Ruby was tired but just seemed to want to be carried around, we put her in the Snoo and it gently rocked her while she was calm and went to sleep. We started to realize this probably saved us 30 minutes a night of walking her around while she fell asleep

Day 20

• The Snoo was a huge help today while working from home. It was clear Ruby was getting tired but wouldn’t sleep in the Rock ’n Play and was fussy even when I held her. Put her in the Snoo for two naps and she conked right out both times.

Day 21

• Experiment day.

• Put Ruby down for a nap in her crib while she was asleep. She woke herself up by vomiting, put her back down after a change of clothes and she went back to sleep in the crib
• We tried again at night. Ruby was fussy in her crib. After about 5 minutes Jamee asked, I wonder what would happen if we put her in the Snoo. Would she calm down right away? I wholeheartedly agreed. We did and she calmed instantly, even though she was still awake. Jamee, “this is how they hook you. What wouldn’t you pay for your child’s happiness?” Me, “and your own” Jamee, “it’s win-win”

Day 23

• another experiment with putting Ruby down in the crib for the night. She’s fussy and we give up after approximately 5 minutes, put her in the Snoo, and find she’s perfectly calm and goes to sleep
• We begin to wonder if Ruby is addicted to the Snoo. Is this now just her comfortable place?

Day 24

• Time to make a decision.  

• Here are some things we consider: 1) The Snoo absolutely calms Ruby and puts her to sleep in the evening and for naps. 2) We have no way of knowing whether, if we hadn’t gotten a Snoo, whether Ruby would have trained herself to fall asleep in the crib just as she did in the Snoo, 3)The Snoo has absolutely saved us some evenings of walking her around while she falls asleep, 4) Unless you have twins, you can’t really run an experiment on your baby to see how effective something is or isn’t. Even with twins, small sample size, 5) Other than her congestion and stomach pains, Ruby seems to be a good sleeper. There haven’t been any instances where Ruby woke up in the middle of the night (other than to feed) and the Snoo calmed her back to sleep. 6) Ruby’s reflux (we assume it’s that) is causing her to be majorly congested at night. We end up trying to clear her nose 1x per night, and also finds that she seems to breathe easier in the Rock ’n Play so we end up transferring her there with frequency. This makes the Snoo less useful, though we’d both rather have her sleeping flat if possible. 7) There have definitely been some ‘miracle/night-nurse moments in the evening as we were getting ready for bed where Ruby was fussy and only calm when we walked her around, we got exhausted, tried the Snoo, and she calmed right down as if we were holding her and walking 8) our first daughter was an excellent sleeper. Maybe Ruby would be too without the Snoo? (She didn’t start out that way, but maybe she just needed time?)
• We determine the only way to really determine how effective this thing is to put her back into the crib for a period of 7-10 days. This should give her enough time to get used to the crib – it took almost a week for her to adjust from Rock ’n Play —> Snoo

Day 25

• I email the Snoo people and tell them we need to return the Snoo as our 30-day trial period is almost up, the reflux/transfer bit, and that we’re not fully convinced this thing is “night nurse” level
• They email me back right away with a very nice message saying that they’re very sorry to hear the Snoo hasn’t lived up to expectations, are happy to process my return, but before they do would I want to talk to their Sleep Expert who has 30 years of experience

Day 31

• After getting back from a long weekend where Ruby was in the rock n play (lack of portability), we put Ruby in the crib. She lets out the occasional annoyed squawk for about 20 minutes while falling asleep, but does go to sleep without interference from us

Day 32

• Ruby is relatively alert when bedtime rolls around, and we rock her to sleep in our arms for a total of about 15 minutes. While I’m doing my portion of this, I think “I am basically a human Snoo” and ask myself questions like, “is this time when I’m bonding with my daughter, and therefore something I *should* be doing? / as a busy parent, should I not have to feel guilty about doing this rocking for me?”, “What would I rather be doing? What do I have to do?”, “If I spend this amount of time each night for the next 4.5 months, how much time will that be? And what would the Snoo be worth on a per-minute basis to save my time?”

• About half an hour later, Ruby starts to be unsettled and crying a bit. We give it a couple of minutes then I go in there, hold her while walking her around and walking for about 5 minutes. Put her back and she goes down again
• Middle of the night snot clearing. Out Ruby down in the crib after and she got fussy. Had to pick her up and rock her for 5 min. Wanted to attribute not being able to fall asleep after this to rocking, not sure if this is fair – Ruby was fussy again, got fed, was congested, I put her in rock n play

Editor’s Note: this post was originally published in 2017, but we’ve updated it numerous times along the way with new information and a new review. It was last revised in February 2025, removing the no-longer-available pre-loved Snoo program and updating pricing for accessories.

Honestly, the little bird noise takes the edge off the 3:00am wakeups. And, beautiful birdsong aside, the new and improved CuboAi monitor has a lot going for it. So, in this CuboAi baby monitor review, we dive into the latest improvements to notification speed, connectivity, and resolution. Plus, we’ll cover how this monitor stacks up against the rest of the wifi baby monitor crowd.

Check out the whole review or jump to what you need:

• What is the CuboAi baby monitor?
• What’s new with the CuboAi smart baby monitor 3?
• Setup and use
• CuboAi pros
• CuboAi cons
• Is it a pro? Is it a con? You decide
• Verdict
• Pricing and where to buy

Please note: Fathercraft is reader supported, meaning, at no cost to you, we may earn a commission if you buy after clicking an affiliate link. Learn more.

What is the CuboAi baby monitor?

The CuboAi 3 shares features common to other wifi baby monitors like the Nanit (you can find all of our baby monitor reviews here):

• Unlimited range. If your child unit is connected to wifi and your phone is connected to wifi or cellular, you can connect to your monitor.
• Use your phone as the parent unit. No need to carry around an (often bulky) additional parent unit.
• Strong picture quality. Since you’re using your phone’s display, if the monitor’s got a good camera, you’re going to get a good picture vs often lower-quality displays on traditional monitors.

CuboAi also has a solid list of advanced features that set this monitor apart:

Covered face alerts: Cubo uses AI to recognize when your child’s face is covered by a blanket or swaddle. Since a covered face can be extremely dangerous for young babies, this is a really nice safety feature… when it works correctly (we’ll talk about this later, but… holy notifications).

Temperature and humidity sensors and alerts: Cubo Plus monitors temp and humidity via a discreet cord that runs through the monitor stand (so there’s no chance of your child grabbing on—an improvement from the original model). You can set a “comfort range” and CuboAi will notify you if you’re out of range.

Safe zones and a ‘fence’ for alerts: You can set a virtual “fence” around your child’s crib that will let you know if she climbs out of her crib when she’s older, or set a “danger zone: (your kitchen, for example) for older babies or toddlers who are crawling or walking around. If your child goes past this fence, the monitor will alert you. We love this feature, because it increases the lifespan of CuboAi… it’s helpful for older children, too!

Automatic photo capture and events replay: The latest model uses its motion detection to automatically capture photos of your child moving about during the night or during naps, and you can watch video replays of your child’s night (CuboAi 3 stores 72 hours of video).

Sleep analytics: CuboAi’s analytics isn’t as fancy as Nanit’s, but you can get basic information about night-time wakeups, time spent asleep, and caregiver visits. You need a fancy-pants subscription to get daytime nap analytics.

And more…: Honestly, the amount of CuboAi’s features are one of its strengths. We could keep going, but you’d probably stop reading, so to quickly sum up the rest: adjustable night light, in-app lullabies, bird’s eye view.

Our original CuboAi video review is below. Want to know what’s new? Keep reading.

What’s different from the old model?

CuboAi is starting 2025 off strong, with some major upgrades on their new CuboAi Smart Monitor 3. Since I’m now out of the baby monitor stage, I asked Kristan and Tim (who also write stuff for Fathercraft) to test out this latest model with their three-month-old. Here’s what’s improved since I last used a Cubo monitor:

Faster notification speed: With improved AI capabilities, Cubo managed to speed up its notifications by 6x! In other words, you basically get the notification instantly when something’s up with your baby (e.g., she cries, covers her face, etc.). Kristan and Tim confirmed they consistently get notifications just a second or two after their daughter starts crying. 

72-hour playback: Scrub through a 72-hour playback with no subscription required. 

Growth tracker: CuboAi’s Smart Monitor 3 will measure and track your baby’s height. 

Connection: With the very first model, we dealt with a fair number of connection issues that seemed to improve with the second model… but the internet remained skeptical. Tim and Kristan say they rarely dealt with connection issues with the Gen 3. When issues did arise, Cubo quickly released an update that resolved them.

CuboAi 3 setup and use

Like all wifi monitors, to set up CuboAi you need to first download the app (free from the Apple App Store or Google Play store), and then follow the app’s instructions for connecting the child unit to your home wifi.

The app’s setup guide is well done and much easier than the previous Cubo model’s. The old Cubo app used to have issues connecting to Wi-Fi, but the newest model has upgraded the user experience. They also included some super useful tips on the bottom of the main page. Good job, Cubo!

Once connected, you can set danger zones, allowable temperature and humidity ranges, and more.

The biggest choice for parents of babies will be where to mount your Cubo. As we’ve discussed with other baby monitor reviews, we strongly prefer a “bird’s eye view” mount, which has your monitor mounted above the crib looking straight down into it. This prevents any blind spots and gives you a great view of what your baby is doing.

Cubo’s stand allows for this type of mounting, and crucially keeps cords contained inside the stand itself, preventing the cord from being grabbed by your baby and possibly wrapped around her neck. (Cords from monitors and all other devices should be positioned at least 3 feet away from your baby’s crib for safety.)

There is no automatic pan or tilt with the CuboAi, but you can manually move the camera up and down to find optimal viewing angle.

Once you’re set up, you’ll do everything from the app, which is simple and easy to use. The home screen displays the live feed, automatic photos, your child’s age, and more:

There are three other tabs in the app:

• Sleep Analytics tab shows when your baby went to bed, average time to fall asleep, caregiver visits, and longest sleep period.
• The Notifications tab shows a history of the camera’s alerts including temperature and humidity warnings, baby cried, motion, etc.
• The Settings tab allows you to adjust settings, get help, pair a new camera, and more.

Our CuboAi smart baby monitor 3 review

CuboAi pros

Image and sound quality: With the upgrades to image quality, both Cubo’s day and night image quality is among the best, and it’s audio quality is quite good, too. These things paired with the bird’s eye view mean you can easily see, hear, and understand what’s going on with your baby. Out of all the monitors Tim and Kristan have tested or used, CuboAi takes the cake with this one. Added bonus? The cute, high-quality pictures the monitor automatically takes for you.

Breath detection: With the purchase of a sleep sensor pad, CuboAi can detect your baby’s breathing. You can see how many breaths per minute your baby is taking, and CuboAi will alert you if it detects no breathing. We’ve received no false alarms with this feature, which we appreciate.

Design—both real world and the app: Cubo is a well-designed product. It looks really nice, kids will love the design as they get older (the same cannot be said for some other baby monitors), and everything from the unboxing to the mobile app is well-designed and intuitive.

Temperature and humidity alerts are actually accurate: We’ve tried monitors in the past that never seem to have the temperature right. This monitor seems ot accurately detect the temperature and humidity of the room. Tim and Kristan can actually see the improvement when they use a humidifier, for example. Super helpful in the winter!

Distinguishes baby noise from background noise: CuboAi seems to do a great job knowing when a noise comes from your baby vs. some other kind of background noise. CuboAi “knows” when your baby is in the crib, so you don’t get notifications when your baby isn’t in the crib.

CuboAi cons

Water bag is used with the floor stand: Kristan and Tim appreciated the inclusion of the floor stand, but wished it was just weighted. Instead, you have to fill up a water bag, which felt a little sketchy.

“Covered face” alert is overly sensitive: This is by far our biggest con. Tim and Kristan’s baby tends to sleep on her side, and sometimes rests her little hand on her face:

CuboAi registers this as a “covered face” and notifies them constantly. Here, you can see where Kristan received 100 notifications overnight (some of which were also about humidity):

To be fair, you can turn this feature off, but it would be a lot cooler if it was just a bit more accurate.

Is it a pro? Is it a con? You decide

AI: Obviously the CuboAi uses AI. Hopefully, if you’re considering buying it, you’re good with that kind of thing. AI is responsible for a lot of Cubo’s standout features, like its ability to “know” when your baby is in the crib, to take pictures, and to alert you when baby’s face is covered. But we know it may freak some people out, and Kristan noted having some environmental concerns with the usage of AI.

Lack of a parent unit: Most traditional monitors come with a parent unit—the thing you carry around and use to look in on your sleeping little one. Most wifi monitors (including the CuboAi) don’t have a parent unit, because you can use your phone. Some people (like Tim) prefer this, because you aren’t carrying around an extra unit, you can get notifications when your baby cries (as opposed to having the video constantly playing), and the resolution is typically so much better it’s hardly even comparable.

But some people (like Kristan) prefer a good, old-fashioned parent unit. In her words:

I wouldn’t return the CuboAi for a different wifi monitor. I think it works great for what it is. I also love using it during the day and taking advantage of some of the features, like the breath detection and the photo library. But I still use a backup monitor with a parent unit at night (the Harbor). It’s not exactly affordable to invest in two monitors, so I think it’s important to know what you’d prefer. CuboAi’s notifications often don’t wake me up, and I sleep a bit easier with the constant stream coming from a parent unit.

A verdict

The Cubo’s design is both fun and functional, it’s feature list is substantial and full of stuff that’s actually useful. If you’re looking for a solid wifi baby monitor at a quite-reasonable price point, CuboAi is a good bet as long as you’re okay with using your phone as the parent unit.

Pricing and where to buy the CuboAi smart baby monitor 3

You have two options when purchasing the CuboAi 3:

• Floor stand set: $359
• Wall mount set: $239

Both sets come wiith:

• The bird-shaped monitor
• Either the floor stand or a wall mount, depending on. what you chose to purchase (obviously)
• A mobile stand
• 1 free year of the CuboAi premium subscription

At the time of writing, CuboAi’s 3rd generation model can only be purchased on Cubo’s site.

What’s next?

Here at Fathercraft, we make stuff to help parents become the best versions of themselves. Preparing for a new baby? Check out our baby essentials checklist for all things baby-related and our third trimester checklist for all things parents-related.

Editor’s notes:

1. This article was originally published in 2021, but was updated in January 2025 to reflect our experience with generation 3
2. Also, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

It’s a big task. But the good news is, if you’re reading this, you’re planning ahead and thinking about what to do to prepare for a baby ahead of time—something that’s going to make your life a whole lot easier as the big day comes.

This is not a list of 8 random things you need to do, It’s a comprehensive guide you can use to dig deep on baby preparations. We’re going to cover (click a link to skip ahead):

• When to start preparing for your baby’s arrival
• A baby preparation timeline
• Things to do while waiting for your baby’s arrival
• Figure out your parenting education plan
• How to prepare for a baby financially
• What to buy before the baby arrives
• Finally, we’ll help you keep things organized with our comprehensive preparing for baby checklist
• Bonus: selecting a pediatrician—a video guide

When to start preparing for your baby’s arrival

Often, expecting parents fall into one of two camps; they either jump in and start preparing as soon as they get pregnant (find an adoption agency, line up a surrogate, etc.), or they think, “9 months is a long time” and put off preparations as a ‘future me’ problem. As with most things, preparation for a new baby is usually best started somewhere in the middle. But, waiting to do major preparations until after the first trimester can be a good idea to ensure all is well with the pregnancy.

There are a few things that are a good idea to start early:

A baby preparation timeline

As soon as you or your partner (or surrogate, or adoptive mom) realizes she’s pregnant

Call the OB and set up your first appointment. The OBGYN will let you know when what they recommend in terms of first visit, visit frequency, and more. (By the way, OB appointments aren’t just for moms—they’re a great way for dads to get involved, too.)

Follow pregnancy health guidelines. We probably don’t need to go over the basics with you, but experts advise avoiding alcohol, tobacco, and excess caffeine, along with some ones you might not know about like deli meat, some seafood, hot tubs & saunas, herbal teas, and more. And, be sure to check with your doctor about any medications and supplements during pregnancy. More here from the Mayo Clinic.

Read up on pregnancy. Even if you’re not the one who’s pregnant, it pays to get educated. There are great resources at The Mayo Clinic’s website and the American Academy of Pediatrics’ site. Or, check out our comprehensive guide to pregnancy geared to dads.

After the first trimester

Start telling people you’re having a baby. Most couples choose to start telling people the big news after the first trimester, when pregnancy risk is lower and you or your partner will be more obviously pregnant.

Start to research daycare. Some daycares have waiting lists that are months (and months) long. So, even if you’re not sending your baby to daycare right away, it may be time to consider and research options, otherwise you may find yourself ready for daycare but not have one (or one you like) available.

Start to research what to buy. There’s some gear you’ll want before the baby is born. Don’t worry, we’ve got a whole section on that below, keep reading.

By the start of the 3rd trimester

Find a pediatrician. You’ll want to have your pediatrician lined up before the baby’s birth. You’ll also want to interview this person to make sure you like him or her—see our video at the end of this post for more on how to do that.

Decide on your birth plan and pick a hospital for delivery. Having a plan in place & knowing where you’ll deliver is essential. Most hospitals offer tours, which are great if you have a choice of where to deliver, or to get a lay of the land even if you don’t. You’ll also want to ensure this hospital takes your insurance, and often you can fill out paperwork ahead of time so you don’t have to do that while you or your partner is in labor.

• Prepare for the third trimester by reading our full third trimester checklist.

3+ weeks from due date

Get your hospital bags together. You’ll want some essentials. You’ll want them ready to go, like a secret agent grab bag.

Create a gameplan. What are you doing with the dog? How will you get to the hospital? How will your partner notify you, or vice versa?

Consider freezing some meals. Time is not going to be your friend when the new baby comes. Neither is energy for cooking. A few weeks of meals in the freezer can be a lifesaver.

Things to do before the baby arrives — a checklist for expecting parents

Ok, let’s dive into the the bulk of your baby prep assignment—things to do before the baby comes. We’re breaking this down into a few key categories: paperwork, insurance & administrative, discussions to have with your partner, and preparing your house and nursery.

Baby preparation paperwork, insurance, and another administrative stuff

There are a few key administrative things you’ll want to add to your to do list to have in place before your baby arrives.

Health Insurance

You’ll want to check in with your health insurance provider to understand the procedure and cost for adding a baby to your plan. If you and your partner both work and have a health insurance plan available through work, it’s a good idea to check with both—costs for moving from Employee or Employee + Spouse to Employee + Family can vary dramatically between insurance plans and employers.

Finally, it’s a good idea to ask about typical cost of services, and in particular cost for your baby’s birth and any policies your insurance company has about this—for example maximum length of stay in the hospital.

Life insurance

Your employer may provide some form of life insurance, but note that most employer-sponsored life insurance plans are not nearly as much as you’ll want in an ideal world. So, when you’re preparing for your baby’s arrival is a great time to look at life insurance, which can be more affordable than you think. You can get a term policy for several hundred thousand dollars in coverage for a few hundred dollars a year. Doing this can take some time, and will likely require a drug test and health screening, so plan ahead and make sure this is taken care of before your baby’s arrival.

A will for you and your partner

You probably haven’t thought much about having a will, but now’s the time. Even in the best of family situations, custody situations can get tense in the event of death of parents, you’ll want to know your new little one is taken care of according to your wishes. While this stuff isn’t fun to think about, the good news is you can get a perfectly workable will quickly and affordably from a service like LegalZoom. Make sure both you and your partner have one and the language in each agrees with the other’s.

Employer benefits

Another administrative thing to spend time to understand: your employer’s benefits around children. All employers are required to provide maternity leave for full-time employees, and more and more are adding paternity leave too. But beyond this obvious one, there are several others worth exploring, particularly flexible spending accounts (for both medical expenses and childcare expenses) and college savings accounts. See what else is out there though, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Everything else

If you take care of heath and life insurance, wills, and employer benefits, you’ve got the big stuff covered. In the U.S., the hospital you deliver in will start the paperwork for a birth certificate and social security card. You’ll need to procure immunization records from your pediatrician for daycare.

Things to discuss before your baby arrives

If this is your first baby, let’s state the obvious: life is about to change. A lot. The more discussions you have with your partner ahead of time, the more you’ll be on the same page, and the smoother the sailing will be.

Here’s a list of things it’s a good idea to discuss:

1. What are your plans for caring for the baby? When will each of you return to work?
2. Is daycare a part of the near-term or long-term plan?
3. What other plans for caregiving will you need?
4. Will you store cord blood?
5. What are your hopes, fears, and dreams?

And, if applicable:

• How will you prepare pets, siblings, and grandparents for the arrival?
• If you’re having a boy, will he be circumcised?

Preparing your home for baby’s arrival

When you think about preparing your home for your new baby’s arrival, your mind may jump to things like covering outlets with plastic covers, installing baby gates, and locking cabinets. But, baby proofing is a ways off—most babies won’t start crawling until at least 6 months.

But there are a few things you can do to prepare your home:

Ensure safety measures are in place and up to date. Now’s a great time to ensure you have fire extinguishers on hand, that smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detecters are in place & batteries have been changed.

Set up your baby’s sleeping environment. You might note we didn’t say nursery—the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends babies sleep in their parents’ room for at least the first 6 months (though in a crib or bassinet, never the parents’ bed). So, go ahead and set up that cute nursery if you like, but give some thought to where your baby will be sleeping, and how to set up your baby for safe and healthy sleep. There are some great tools and sleep hacks out there that can help your baby sleep longer and move her toward the coveted sleep through the night goal too—we spend our Better Baby Sleep Bootcamp School online course exploring how to get your baby to sleep.

How to prepare your dog for a baby

Your dog’s world is about to change, too. A few tips:

• Now’s a good time to brush up on core skills: sit, down, stay become even more useful.
• Break your dog’s bad habits of jumping up on you to greet you, especially if the dog’s on the larger size
• Consider getting your dog used to a crate
• When the baby comes, introduce him or her to your dog slowly. Let the dog sniff from a distance and watch for a while before the dog gets close.

Here’s the ASPCA with more on how to prepare your dog.

Figure out your parenting education plan

There’s a lot of parenting that just comes natural. Your instincts will kick in and you’ll know what to do. (Trust us, we’ve been there.) But, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put in some prep work getting educated—there are definitely things to know before the baby arrives.

Read up. There are shelves and shelves of parenting books out there. Some are good. A select few are good and digestible. Our go-to? The American Academy of Pediatrics’ Caring for Baby and Young Child, Birth to Age 5 (available on Amazon here). It’s a beast, but it’s also organized into age-based chapters and backed by rock-solid information. We’ve also compiled our list of best books for expecting dads here. If you’re more into doing your reading online, here’s our roundup of blogs for expecting parents.

Take a class at your local hospital. Chances are a hospital in your area offers birthing and parenting classes. They’re usually pretty good, include infant CPR, and are quite affordable.

Consider an online course for expecting parents. Ready to go back to school? Turns out, there are some really good options out there for online classes too. Many of these benefit from video lessons, which have a big leg up on reading about things in a book because parenting is, well, a pretty hands on sport, learning by watching can be helpful. Here’s our roundup of the best online classes for expecting parents, and we also offer our own online course, called Father’s Ed, which you can check out here. (You can also try it for $1, here)

Now that we’re educated and have a solid list of things to do before having a baby, let’s begin to answer that big question … yeah but how much is all this going to cost us?

How to prepare for a baby financially

We’re not going to sugarcoat it — kids are damn expensive. You’ve probably read some stat like, “It costs $300,000 to raise the a child to the age of 18.” Well, the most reliable figure we could find was $233,610, oddly published by the US Department of Agriculture.

But that kind of number isn’t particularly actionable and can be quite overwhelming. A better one might be the cost of raising a baby from birth to age one, along with a quick breakdown of the big expenses.

Babycenter provides their own oddly-specific number: $11,195.

But this number can vary wildly depending on where you come in on the big costs, which are:

Ongoing baby expenses

Daycare. Expect to pay $400 — upwards of $1,500 per month for daycare.

Diapers and wipes. $70 — $100 per month.

Formula & solid foods. If you’re formula-feeding, formula will run you $100+/month, solid foods, which start around 6 months, $50+/month.

Clothing, first aid, toys & books, and misc. $50 — $100+/month

One-time baby expenses

Baby gear—stroller, car seats, etc. $1,000 — $1,500+

Nursery and home setup—crib, baby monitor, bedding, etc. $1,000 — $1,500+

Nursing or bottle feeding supplies. $250 — $500+

So … yeah … babies are expensive. But, understanding the costs can help you prepare. Babycenter’s interactive calculator is quite helpful. We also wrote a detailed post on baby budgeting here.

Learn what you don’t need from our baby essentials list.

Let’s talk about what of that gear you should buy before the baby comes …

What to buy before your baby arrives

You definitely don’t need to buy everything before your baby comes, but consider stuff that falls into one of two categories:

Baby stuff you’ll want ready to go on day 1

Your baby’s crib or bassinet. They’ve gotta sleep somewhere, and somewhere safe. Buy a crib or bassinet that meets safety standards, or if you want to splurge for more sleep, check out the Snoo smart sleeper bassinet.

Car seat(s). Again, you’ve got to get your baby home from the hospital, and then transport them around. And we hate to break it to you, but if you have two cars, you’re probably going to need 2 car seats—moving them is a hassle, and can reduce safety if you’re hurriedly trying to install them before each ride.

A one-month supply of diapers, wipes, clothing, and supplies. You’re not going to want to be running out to the store frequently for baby stuff. The more stock you have the better (though, since you don’t know how fast your baby will move to the next diaper size, you don’t want a 6-month supply of size 1 diapers). Quick clothing note: you don’t need fancy stuff. Babies grow fast, people will likely buy you clothes. That 5-pack of onesies from target will be just fine, your baby will still be super cute in them.

Gear you can practice with

You might not use this stuff on day one (in fact some of it you can’t without proper inserts), but having it ready and testing it out can be better than trying to learn it after your baby comes along.

A stroller. You will definitely want a stroller. Babies love stroller rides, you will love going for walks for fresh air and getting out of the house.

A baby monitor. Parents were just fine for millennia without baby monitors, but they are pretty darn handy. We go deep on baby monitors here, along with our picks for best baby monitor across several key categories.

Assorted other baby gear. Baby carriers, bath supplies, a nasal suction device—there’s lots of handy stuff out there. Poke around, get educated.

We break down our battle-tested list of baby and newborn essentials here.

Our comprehensive preparing for baby checklist

There is A LOT of stuff you need to do to prepare for a baby. You’ll probably forget something, and things will still be ok.

But, checklists are quite handy when it comes to remembering, and accomplishing, a long list of things.

That’s why we created our comprehensive preparing for a baby checklist as a downloadable, fridge-ready PDF. You can get it, 100% free, plus 3 other bonus checklists from Fathercraft when you join our email list (don’t worry, it’s awesome). Just enter your email here:

Bonus: how to select a pediatrician—a video guide

In this video, we cover how to choose a pediatrician (and avoid creepy clown noses).

Want more? Get our free 3-day baby prep mini class when you drop your email here:

Wrapping up & further information

There you have it—our guide to preparing for your new baby. Hope it’s been helpful! Now, go create that to do list before the baby arrives and start checking stuff of your list.

By the way, hi, we’re Fathercraft. We’re a company focused on creating high-quality, research-backed content for new and expecting dads—product reviews, online parenting courses, and more. Learn more here, and check out our YouTube channel here.

Please note: Fathercraft is reader supported, meaning, at no cost to you, we may earn a commission if you buy after clicking an affiliate link. Learn more. And, we are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.