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Atlanta just became the first city to offer its employees a free six-month rental of a smart bassinet designed to soothe babies to sleep.
The SNOO Smart Sleeper Bassinet, a robotic bassinet sold by Happiest Baby, connects via Wi-Fi to an app on the parent’s cellphone. It costs $1,695 when purchased via the company website.
The device combines swaddling, white noise and rocking to improve an infant’s sleep — which improves young parents’ sleep, according to the product’s website. The bassinet comes with a sleep sack of cotton swaddle with fixed wings that wrap around the baby, keeping it on its back.
The smart bassinet is lined with a metal shield that blocks 99.9% of wireless radiation emitted by the device from reaching the baby, so harmful exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) isn’t a central concern, according to the EMF Academy, a website that raises awareness about EMFs and provides practical ways to reduce exposure.
However, the device raises concerns about lack of human connection and privacy risks, according to Miriam Eckenfels, director of Children’s Health Defense’s (CHD) Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) & Wireless Program.
“During the first months of human life, a baby craves a mother’s contact,” Eckenfels said. “Skin to skin, touch and smell are all imperative components to healthy bonding needed for a child’s development. It’s not just about feedings or diaper changes. So outsourcing the soothing of a newborn to a machine could have long-term consequences parents should carefully consider.”
The device collects a range of sensitive data about the infant, including its name, birthday, photo, gender, premie status and sleep patterns, according to Happiest Baby’s privacy policy. The policy allows Happiest Baby to share the data with its affiliates and service providers.
“That’s an intrusion into a family’s privacy that parents have to carefully weigh against the benefits of potentially fewer sleep interruptions,” Eckenfels said.
Company that did smart bassinet’s wireless radiation testing poses national security threat, FCC says
Dr. Harvey Karp, a pediatrician, and his wife, Nina Montée Karp, invented the SNOO and founded Happiest Baby, according to The New York Times Magazine.
Karp spent years studying how different cultures soothed infants. In 2002, he authored “The Happiest Baby on the Block,” a book about newborn soothing and sleep techniques that has sold over 1 million copies.
In a 2018 Q&A session with parents concerned about the safety of the smart bassinet, Karp said safety was Happiest Baby’s “number one concern” when designing the bassinet, especially when it came to potential EMF exposure.
That’s why the bassinet’s Wi-Fi component is placed as far away as possible from the baby, he said. The basket portion of the bassinet is lined with metal that shields the baby from any wireless radiation. Also, parents can turn off the Wi-Fi if they wish.
The company also stresses that the device complies with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requirements for wireless radiation levels, according to the EMF Academy.
Earlier this year, the FCC flagged the China-based company that performed the compliance testing as a national security threat, since it was “controlled by China.”
On May 11, the FCC released a notice of intent to begin the process of withdrawing its recognition of the company as an accredited testing lab, given that China is a foreign adversary.
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FDA sends warning letter, citing health risks and regulatory violations
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also recently flagged possible health concerns with the smart bassinet.
In a June 15 warning letter to the company, the FDA cited numerous regulatory violations, including selling new sleep sack sizes and hospital SNOO bassinet bundles without first undergoing FDA review and obtaining FDA authorization.
The X-Small Sleep Sack, which had not undergone FDA review before going to market, “could be too tight on the infant and compress vital organs, limit diaphragmatic movement, and result in respiratory compromise,” the letter said.
According to a June 15 FDA update:
“The FDA also cautions that stains, soiling and unsanitary conditions have been reported on refurbished SNOOs distributed to customers, which may pose risk of infection. The FDA also cautions that mold has been reported on SNOO Smart Sleeper mattresses and/or mattress covers.”
The city of Atlanta and Happiest Baby did not respond by deadline to requests for comment.
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