Parents are furious after baby company adds subscription fees to its $1,700 bassinets

Parents are slamming Happy Baby, a company that makes a smart bassinet known as Snoo, for adding monthly subscription fees to access its features. 

The $1,700 bassinet, which uses sensors to detect a fussing baby and creates calming womb-like motions and sounds to help add 'one to two hours' of rest into a baby's routine, became a hit with parents when it was released in 2016. 

Parents justified splashing out their funds on the large price tag of the bassinet and all of the features that would help pacify their babies in the middle of the night due to the high resale value, with a used product selling for about $900.

However, the creators of the high-tech baby bed recently announced that customers who had purchased the bassinet secondhand would now have to fork over $20 a month for the majority of the beloved features, such as motion levels and bedtime sounds. 

Following the news, parents took to social media to throw fierce criticism at the company as they questioned whether the practice was 'even legal' as even those who had purchased the bed secondhand and were currently using the bassinet are being forced to pay the subscription fee. 

The Snoo is also marketed as 'the first—and only—medical device to receive De Novo authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its ability to keep sleeping babies safely on their backs,' which makes parents even more willing to pay the $1,700 cost. 

However, since babies grow quickly, parents can only use the bassinet for about four to five months, meaning that they would splash out an extra $100. 

On its website, the company revealed: 'We will continue providing our premium features and settings to original owners who bought SNOO directly from Happiest Baby (or an authorized partner). Everyone who buys a SNOO from Happiest Baby or our authorized partners after July 15th, will receive a free subscription to the premium features and settings on their Happiest Baby App for nine months. And families renting SNOO from Happiest Baby (or getting a free SNOO Rental from work) will get the premium subscription for the duration of your rental plus a free extra month after you return your rental.

'Those who are not the original owners (who borrowed or bought SNOO secondhand) will continue to have access to all of the free App features—and they will be able to use the premium features for a monthly fee, beginning July 15th.'

This means that even that those that did buy it directly may have to pay for premium features when they reuse it for their other children, with parents claiming that they have to email the company and request free usage. 

The announcement sparked a flood of backlash as one mom took to TikTok to slam the company. 

Miami-based mom Liz June questioned if the practice was even 'legal' in a viral video, which has so far amassed over 700,00 views. 

She added: 'It honestly surprises me there hasn’t been more uproar about this. I paid $1,200ish for a bassinet before there was any talk of a subscription… and now you want to pay a monthly fee for "premium" features that were what I originally paid for?' 

Viewers flooded the comments section and echoed her thoughts as many of them even took to Reddit to criticize the company's decision to throw out subscription costs. 

One person said: 'The fact that Snoos have been functioning without a subscription for years proves it’s unnecessary! I loved mine but maybe wouldn’t have gotten it if this was in place then.'

Another user added: 'Also diminishes the resale value! A lot of baby products are purchased with intentions of selling.'

Someone else wrote: 'A subscription service for a bassinet is wild.' 

'Hope you're only planning on one kid, because your Snoo only comes with nine months of service,' commented another user.

'Disgusting. I bought a used Snoo for $750.  I used it and resold it for $850. They are just trying to milk a product to death,' said one person. 

DailyMail.com has reached out to Snoo for comment.