Average Price: $39-60
Availability: Widely available online and off.
Product Rating: **/*****
Product Link: Snugglenest

This was one of the things that I had intended to purchase since before I became pregnant, and when I found out that I was pregnant, it immediately went onto my baby registry. I unpacked it, washed the sheets, and eagerly awaited the arrival of my son.

I had some concerns from the beginning. It had a chemical smell out of the box that only gradually went away after airing it out for two weeks. So if you do buy this and intend to use it, make sure you get it well in advance of the baby’s arrival date so that you can air it out. I also wasn’t a big fan of the rustly plastic cover of the mattress. I would have preferred that it be a softer rubberized or at least less prone to rustling. Then the texture of the sheets was also a big turn-off. They were almost sandpaper rough. More reading also called into question the use of the sleep positioner which is apparently a hazard if your baby moves around a lot–they can wriggle down and into the sleep positioner and suffocate on it.. So I planned on using it without the sleep positioner.

So far I’m not saying much nice about this product, am I? Let’s cover the good parts.. It is fairly small- I wouldn’t use it in a double bed unless you are sleeping solo with the baby. But in a queen-sized or larger bed this should fit pretty comfortably. The rigid sides do a good job at keeping pillows away from the baby, and the nightlight is wonderful. The ventilated sides are also nice–although if the sides are keeping pillows out, one has to wonder exactly what purpose the vents serve.

Back to the bad. My son came home from the hospital, nursed/rocked him to sleep and eagerly placed him down on the snuggle nest, the mattress crackled and the screaming commenced. Lather, rinse, repeat. I thought he just didn’t want to be put down, but on a lark I placed him on our mattress. No screaming. Snugglenest. Screaming. My son just did not like it. I think it was the crackly mattress, but maybe it was the smell or the sheets. Too many possibilities.

So instead of using this product I just removed all of our pillows and my son slept curled up next to me or in the “travel crib” from Graco, whose version of sandpaper sheets were still slightly better than the ones of the snugglenest.

It may be worth it if your baby is a less fickle sleeper, and if you simply need that extra peace-of-mind. It IS tremendously convenient to have your baby in bed with you, particularly if you’re breastfeeding. And hey- your mileage with the Snugglenest may vary, for me- it turned out to only be useful for its resale value on eBay. I only took a $15 loss because it had never been used. Of course I had to buy a box, padding, and pay for shipping…

Next time around I’ll either skip the in-bed nest gizmo or I’ll give the “Leachco Wee Sleep Bumper Bed” a try. Maybe it’s the same, maybe it’s worse, maybe it’s better. Who knows.