SNOO in the Workplace: Everyone Wins When New Parents Get More Sleep
When Dan Lee shared the wonderful news that he and his wife Sharon were expecting a baby, the CFO of his company had a tip for the happy dad-to-be: Use the SNOO Smart Sleeper.
Created by renowned pediatrician, Dr. Harvey Karp, SNOO is an innovative baby bed that uses constant, womb-like rumbly sound and gentle rocking to add 1-2+ hours to a baby’s sleep. And, its unique design prevents risky rolling keeping babies safer than ever.
Advice wasn't the only thing Dan received from Button, a NYC-based mobile ecommerce company…he was also gifted a 6-month SNOO rental as a fully paid employee benefit.
The Cost of Exhaustion
Thirty percent of US workers are exhausted…sleeping less than 6 hours/night. And, that shoots up to 50+% for new parents. Studies show such sleep deprivation leads to the same mental impairment as being drunk.
New-parent sleep deprivation carries a high cost, billions in health care expenses (postpartum depression, marital stress, car accidents, infant sleep death, illness, obesity, breastfeeding failure, etc). And, billions in employer costs, from poor retention, productivity loss, errors, and injuries. Patagonia's CEO estimated the loss of an employee costs about 125% for managers, 200+% for directors or above (lost productivity, recruitment, relocation, training the new hire, etc.).
Leaders in the HR space like Button, Snap, Activision and Hulu—all partners in Happiest Baby’s Corporate Rental Program—realize the great value in helping their teammates get more rest.
To Stephen Milbank, the co-founder of Button, “It was a no-brainer to make sure SNOO was available to everyone in the company.”
Happier Parental Leave
After months of nervous anticipation, Dan and Sharon welcomed their first child, a sweet baby girl named Harper. Sharon, who works in HR at a wealth management firm, gets 16 weeks of parental leave. Button generously gives Dan 18 weeks. The family had the pleasure of enjoying 6 weeks at home together following Harper’s birth.
At first, they alternated between using SNOO and using a traditional crib to get a feel for their options. While using a crib, Dan and Sharon were lucky to get 3 hours of sleep per night.
"My initial reaction was, parenting is going to be brutal!" Dan said.
But at one month, Harper started exclusively sleeping in SNOO and the whole family's sleep patterns "took a 180," Dan said.
Now 3 months old, Harper regularly sleeps 10 hours through the night, and Dan and Sharon get 8 hours straight of uninterrupted sleep.
"I never thought I'd sleep 8 hours a night with a 3-month-old baby," Dan said. "I assumed I'd get 5 hours tops for the first 2 years."
The fact that Button offered SNOO as a rental was a major plus for the Lees. Because space is difficult to come by in New York City, they were happy to benefit from SNOO for 6 months and return it when done.
Easy Return to Work
Now Dan is working every other week while he makes use of the rest of his paternity leave… and because he's sleeping 8 hours a night with the help of SNOO, he was able to go back to work “pretty seamlessly."
While in the office, Dan stays connected to Harper by checking the Happiest Baby App to see if she's sleeping or awake. And he loves the App’s sleep log, which automatically tracks sleep, and he even screenshots it to “show off” to his friends when Harper has a long stretch of sleep.
Dan said the transition from being a couple to parents to working parents has gone smoothly. And in the end, it's all about work-life balance.
"SNOO has helped me maintain a certain degree of consistency with quality of work," Dan said. "SNOO is another thing to help keep me sharp and focused."
Clear ROI
Button’s Stephen Milbank decided to offer SNOO as a benefit after receiving it as a gift for the birth of his first daughter, Isabel. After his family’s fantastic experience, he was eager to make the high-tech bed available to his staff.
“It was so transformative for us,” Stephen said. “Other parents would always remark on how well-rested we looked. The sleep was so valuable because we were able to enjoy the experience more.”
Now, SNOO is officially part of Button’s parental leave program with the company paying for employees to have a SNOO of their own for 6 months.
“It leads to more sleep and less disruptions,” Stephen said.
For him, the return on investment is clear because new parents are returning to work and continuing to be “as effective as possible.”
Also, SNOO rental is now available to the general public for just dollars a day! Learn more.
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