“Never wake a sleeping baby.” Truer words were never spoken and we can’t encourage you to follow them enough. Not only are sleeping babies adorable, but waking them before they’re ready has some loud consequences. But what about where you’d wake them up from? Parents spend a lot of time reading reviews about the best bassinets, just to find it doesn’t work for them or their baby.
That’s where we come in. Check out this guide to the finding the best baby bassinet, starting with our Top 10 Picks, and followed by our restful sleep guide!
Top 10 Best Bassinets of 2019
Here our are picks for the best bassinets of the year. We’ve got a variety of styles, brands, and prices in this list to best fit your needs. We feel confident that you’ll be able to find the best baby bassinet for your room or nursery on this list.
1. The Green Frog Bassinet
Best Bassinet for Newborn
This bassinet mixes the classic shape of a bassinet with modern technology. It has detachable, snap-on legs, and rocks gently with your baby’s movements. It’s truly designed for both parents and baby. It comes with a mattress and a sheet – which reduces the amount of running around you have to do pre-birth.
The Green Frog Bassinet comes in a blue-grey, with a subtle stitched in polka dot pattern that works with any decor. There are two circular mesh panels on each side of the bassinet, so you can see your child and they get more air flow. Parents who wrote reviews like the construction of the bassinet and the ease of use, making it the best bassinet for newborns. There are wheels to make moving the bassinet easy, but you won’t accidentally roll it across the room.
2. Halo Bassinest Swivel Sleep Bassinet
Best Bedside Bassinet
You know how we talked about co-sleeping and how you need a bassinet that stays close to your bed, but not on it? This bassinet is designed to do just that. It’s a basket with mesh siding, shaped similar to the infant beds at hospitals. It’s not deep – which means you don’t have to figure out how to move a sleeping baby from your arms, down 3 feet into their crib.
The bassinet has an adjustable stand and four sturdy feet, two of which can go under your bed and out of the way. It adjusts to the height of your mattress, or above. It’s really the most adjustable option on this list. It also has a helpful electrical panel built in with vibrations, sleep sounds and a timer. It’s a little pricey – but nothing is too good for the safety of your child, right?
3. Delta Children Sweet Beginnings Bassinet
Best Bassinet for the Money
If you’re looking for something classic in shape and design and under $50 this is the choice for you. You can only use it for so long – since it’s for infants up to 15 pounds. The design includes the classic outer skirt around the basket, making it look vintage and sweet.
The mattress is hard and safe, with no extra fabrics or fills to put them at risk. It has a canopy overhead which you can adjust or remove. It, like our last choice, offers lullabies and nature sounds with speakers built into the frame.
4. Chicco Lullago Portable Bassinet Travel Crib
Best Travel Bassinet
When you’re a new parent and on a budget or don’t have a lot of house space, don’t scoff at things marked “travel”. You can easily make this best travel bassinet your full-time infant crib. It’s made of high-quality lightweight materials, and the legs extend in an A-frame, to cut down on “tipiness” but keep the look sleek and modern.
It can slip a little on hardwood floors, reviewers said, but not in a way it would tip over. On the carpet, there was no movement to worry about. The mattress pad is a little harder than others on this since it’s thin, but your baby doesn’t need anything soft or plush.
5. Baby Bjorn Cradle
Best Rated Bassinets
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention this best-selling cradle, though it did take our eyes a minute to adjust to the price tag. For the higher price, parents seem more than happy with what they get. Baby Bjorn has a reputation of being the best, so it’s no surprise that they make the best rated bassinets.
The bassinet is great for parents in small spaces and those that like to move their baby around the house. It’s designed for babies up to six months, so you’ll get a little more use out of it. It has spring loaded legs, so there is a gentle rocking motion as children move during the night.
6. Arms Reach Concepts Cambria Co-Sleeper Bassinet
Best Co Sleeper Bassinet
This is another good choice for parents who want to co-sleep, but not bed share. It’s a crib style bassinet, which is to say it has four legs and a rectangular design. The sides of the basket are mostly meshing, which makes it breathable for your baby. It’s designed to stay right next to the bed and has a strap you attach to your mattress, so baby doesn’t accidentally get pushed away.
The wall of the bassinet closest to the bed folds open and down so you can easily scoop baby up. The height adjusts and there’s a helpful two-cloth bin system at the bottom for easy storage.
7. The Graco Dream Suite Bassinet
Best Portable Bassinet
This option is adorable and packs a secret second usage. Shape-wise, it’s a classic bassinet shape, with canopy. The canopy has two (safely) dangling stars for babies to focus on.
It comes with storage on the bottom, for diapers and wipes and such. The reason that section is so helpful? This bassinet becomes a changing table; you can flip it with a handle on the side. We recommend practicing flipping it one-handed before the baby comes into the picture!
8. Fisher-Price Soothing Motions Bassinet
Best Infant Bassinet and Swing
For the parents that like a lot of features (and buying batteries), this is the bassinet for you. It’s a classic shape and structure but comes with some fancy features. There are sounds and vibrations, along with a light projector that creates star patterns onto the ceiling.
9. MiClassic 2in1 Rocking Bassinet
Best Bassinet for Minimalists
If you’re a minimalist or don’t have much space for one of the best baby bassinets, you’ll love this simple design. The sides are all mesh, which helps the unit stay light and easy to carry. It’s designed for travel, but many parents say they like it enough to use full-time. It doesn’t take up much room. but still has a large sleeping area for your child.
10. SNOO Smart Sleeper by Happiest Baby
Best High End Bassinet
Okay, don’t kill us – the price point for this smart bassinet is definitely high. Yes, it’s a 1k price point bassinet, but for good reason!It was designed by the doctor behind Happiest Baby on the block and is the only bassinet on the market that meets all AAP safe sleep guidelines.
For the price point, it features white noise, a rocking motion, and the sleep sack securement technology. This is a patented sleep sack/swaddle that gives babies classic comfort but doesn’t allow them to roll over in their sleep. If you have the capital, this is a seriously cool option and parents who made the investment say it was worth every penny.
Sleep Dangers to Know as Consumers
Before we talk about cute snuggly babies, sleeping peacefully like angels, we need to talk about something scary. SIDS. Sudden infant death syndrome still happens, even to the best and most caring parents. We still don’t know exactly why it happens, but we do know there are things we can do to prevent it. One of those things is how we put our precious angels down to sleep.
Education
If you’re old enough, you may remember the Back to Back campaign. This public health initiative was to remind parents that infants should sleep on their backs. If they sleep on their stomachs, they can easily cut off their air flow. If they’re too young to move, they can’t self-correct and they suffocate. It’s tragic.
- So that’s step one – always lay your infant down on their back. The other proponent to the campaign was talking about where you lay your children down.
- In a crib or bassinet, you don’t want cute teddy bears or soft blankets. You want a hard crib mattress with one sheet, that adheres tightly over it.
- The idea is that pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals pose something babies can’t breathe through. Things like swaddle blankets and sleep sacks can keep them warm and safe.
- Leave the blankets and the cutesy crib bumpers off until they’re old enough to move their bodies themselves.
Bed Sharing
The idea of bed sharing or co-sleeping came back into popularity in the last twenty years. It has its benefits and can create a closer bond between parent and child.
If you want your baby close to your side, there are bassinets (on this list) that attach to a parents bed, to allow stress free co-sleeping. Those are safe and create easy access for those again-are-you-kidding-me feedings in the middle of the night.
Safety Features You Need Before Buying
Before you buy a bassinet, you need to test out a few things.
- A flat mattress is a must, one that’s not so soft that the baby sinks in and can’t breathe.
- You don’t want excess fabric around the sides of the bassinet, which could get tangled with your child’s clothes or limbs.
- Sturdy legs that won’t accidentally tip over as well as something that creates an ease of use – like a way to keep your child close to your bed or play sleep sounds.
