Yves Behar’s Baby Crib Helps Infants (and Parents) Sleep Better

Images courtesy fuseproject

Yves Behar has teamed up with renowned child specialist Dr. Harvey Karp to develop a crib that would help babies—and their parents—get more sleep. Using a variety of auditory and motion sensors, SNOO not only responds to a baby’s cry, but can help “parents learn to read their baby’s Cues, recognizing when crying is a sign of hunger versus the need for a bit more soothing”.

Several features mimic what parents can do, such as playing a “shushing” recording, emanating gentle vibrations that feel like rocking, and sounding white noise when it’s too quiet. All the features are derived from Dr. Karp’s research into the calming reflex, “a highly effective soothing response activated by the 5 S’s (Swaddle, Side or Stomach position, Shush, Swing and Suck), a series of steps that imitate womb sensations“.

A particularly revolutionary feature of the crib is an attachable, secure swaddle that will prevent the baby from rolling over and thus, potentially, suffocating. In this way, the swaddle serves a dual purpose: both activating the calming reflex and giving peace of mind to parents.

Read more about Yves Behar’s design, debuting this fall, his collaboration with Dr. Karp, and his own personal investment in the project in his designer’s statement, below:

For me, technology and design should solve real problems: Everyday challenges that affect us all. At the core, I believe that design can improve our lives, our health and our happiness.

“So, getting much sleep?” is a refrain every parent will hear the first year of their baby’s life. Lack of sleep for new parents is an everyday norm and yet it is a serious issue. As a father of four children, I am intimately familiar with sleep deprivation. It is more than a burden, it can quickly become a health problem for both parents and the baby. Postpartum depression, child abuse, car accidents and spousal disputes are the very real consequences of babies keeping us up at night.

Five years ago I met Dr. Harvey Karp. I was very familiar with his book, The Happiest Baby on the Block, which explains his widely adopted method for putting (and keeping) babies asleep. He is a household name, a man who has helped millions of parents understand their babies and learn his groundbreaking 5 S’s approach to calm crying: Swaddle, Side or Stomach position, Shush, Swing and Suck. These five steps can usually comfort even the fussiest of babies.

The question that Dr. Karp sought to answer was, “Is there a way to utilize robotic technology, AI and design to create the world’s first smart baby sleeper; a bed that could automatically deliver the 5 S’s to calm infant crying and to help babies—and exhausted new parents—get more sleep?”

Harvey invited me to join the project to develop a design for this special sleeper—called, SNOO. I wanted to create a baby bed as elegantly simple and organically natural as Dr. Karp’s five-step technique. It had to be easy to use, provide a sense of trust and comfort and fit beautifully into the context of any home. I was excited by the challenge of developing an intelligent and timeless design to redefine the concept of infant sleep for the 21st century.