The 8 Best Baby Bassinets
When you bring home your new baby from the hospital, you will want to be ready with a safe and soothing sleeping area for your little angel! A bassinet is the ideal place for a newborn to sleep for those first few months. A bassinet's small size makes it easier to keep your bundle of joy at arm’s reach during the night, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
A bassinet is a small bed designed for young infants. It should have a flat base and raised sidewalls.
More: The 8 Best Convertible Cribs This Year
What to Consider When Shopping for a Bassinet
When shopping for a bassinet, look for these things:
- Is it marketed as a bassinet? The terms bassinet, crib, and play yard can legally only be used to describe a product that has been rigorously tested by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for sleep safety. Products marketed as "co-sleepers", "nappers", or other terms are not safe for sleep. Don't be confused by unregulated terms like "breathability" or "breathable mesh" and only buy a bassinet, crib, or play yard.
- Is it small enough to keep baby close? That will give you easy access for middle of the night breastfeeding and put your mind at ease.
- Is it moveable? Portability is not a must for all families, but it can make a huge difference to some. It can be very convenient to move the bassinet to the laundry room for a nap while you fold, for example.
Bassinet Safe Sleep Tips
Babies are at risk for SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) during the first year of life. Following the safe sleep guidelines is the best way to reduce your baby's SIDS risk and the risk of suffocation or strangulation. Breastfeeding, using a pacifier, and keeping baby in your room (but not your bed) are proactive measures you can take. Never place blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, or anything other than a pacifier (without a clip) into a bassinet with your little one. All you need is the mattress pad that comes with your bassinet, a tight fitted sheet, and a swaddle or sleep sack on your infant.
Bassinets are safe until your baby begins to get up on all fours or until he reaches the weight limit. At this point it is time to move him to a crib or play yard.
Cosleeping or bedsharing are not approved by the AAP, but keeping your baby in a bassinet is a great way to keep them safely close at-hand all night.
Our Top Picks
- Best All-Around Bassinet: Fisher-Price Soothing Motions Bassinet, Windmill
- Best Bassinet for Keeping Baby Close: Baby Bassinet,RONBEI Bedside Sleeper
- Best Design: BABYBJORN Cradle
- Best Choice for C-Section Mamas: HALO BassiNest Swivel Sleeper, Bedside Bassinet, Essentia Series
- Best Portability: Graco My View 4 in 1 Bassinet | Baby Bassinet with 4 Stages, Including Raised Bassinet at Eye Level
- Best Travel Friendly Bassinet: Chicco LullaGo Anywhere Portable Bassinet
- Best Lightweight Bassinet: Dream On Me, Traveler Portable Bassinet
- Most High Tech Bassinet: Graco Dream Suite Bassinet
How We Chose Our Favorites
We consulted with baby sleep experts and real parents to narrow down the very best bassinet options for a variety of unique families' needs.
We love this deluxe freestanding bassinet which comes with both a nightlight and white noise and lullaby options. It soothes your baby with gentle rocking. This bassinet features breathable mesh sides to promote airflow and let you keep an eye on your little one while she sleeps. It's just the right size to sit by your bedside so your baby stays within arm’s reach for those middle of the night feedings. This bassinet is not portable.
"The baby slept beautifully in this bassinet! The color scheme is a true beauty and the music and soothing 'ocean like' tune is very calm and quiet and nice actually has helped me sleep on a few occasions while my wife rocked the little one"
This co-sleeper bassinet is height-adjustable and you can pull the sidewall down to keep your baby closer than ever to you. This functionality is certainly helpful for the breastfeeding or C-section mama. However, it's only considered a bassinet with all four sides up, so be sure to put it back in this mode before you fall asleep. With one side down it works as a co-sleeper, and despite the fact that they allow easy access to your little one, they are not approved for safe sleep. But don't worry, you can still keep an eye on your bundle of joy through the breathable mesh sides that keep baby cool and promote airflow. This bassinet is light enough to lift up and move room to room.
"I am a mom who works from home and I need a bassinet that works with me too. This is so perfect for me because if I am not at my desk, I’m in the kitchen, living room, and in my bedroom. It is so light enough to drag around the house and it is so amazingly portable and adjustable to the point that it is right there with me. I am really impressed with the adjustable components of this baby bed because it makes it accessible for me to attend to my baby. The sheet cover is machine washable with no problems."
The BabyBjorn Cradle is the perfect choice for the stylish mom who wants a sleek looking bassinet. It is small and light enough for portability.
"We were looking for a safe, non-toxic bassinet that would rock and bounce, and this does both. It also looks very nice, and I like that the mesh is removable and washable. The bassinet that we had for our first child had wooden slats, and our daughter often got a leg or arm caught in them, so it will be nice not to have to worry about that!"
We love this swivel sleeper for moms recovering from a C-Section or otherwise bedridden during those early weeks. It's super easy to swivel the bassinet over to your bed so that your baby is in reach and you can avoid having to get up to breastfeed or tend to your infant. While your baby sleeps safely at hand the breathable mesh sides promote airflow and let you take a peek inside without waking her. This choice is not portable because it has a heavy base, but the base can slide under the bed so you can still easily fit it next in your bedroom.
"I bought this bassinet as a middle of the night impulse post-C-section. It was far more expensive than I planned for a bassinet, but it is worth every penny. After days of painful attempts to get in and out of bed and put baby down in the hospital bassinet, it is INVALUABLE to be able to just swivel him over to me, sitting comfortably in bed, and lift him safely and easily in and out. It also makes getting in and out of bed easier because I can just swivel it away from the bed and get up. I highly recommend this for any C-section moms out there!"
This bassinet has lots of great functionalities and is very easy to move from room to room. Wherever you are in the house (or maybe even out in the yard!) you can bring your baby along for his nap. You simply lift the raised bassinet off the play yard below and carry it wherever you need. This option grows with your baby, and you can continue to use the play yard with mesh walls for naps and contained playtime through toddlerhood.
If you love to travel or you take work trips that baby will come along on, the Chicco LullaGo Anywhere Portable Bassinet is the perfect choice. Wherever you go, your baby will have the perfect sleeping area. It is lightweight, comes with a fitted sheet, and can easily be broken down for travel. The sidewall is made of breathable mesh.
"My husband and I love this bassinet for our newborn. We wanted a portable bassinet, but one that was sturdy enough for nightly use in our room until we transition to a crib. We did NOT want a bassinet that folded in half like so many other portable bassinets. This bassinet provided the perfect solution."
The Dream On Me Traveler Portable Bassinet is another great choice if you travel often and need to lug your baby gear along with you. We love this option because it's so lightweight making portability a breeze. It can be folded up and packed in the carry bag. With this great bassinet your baby's sleep will be impacted as little as possible on your voyages.
"The Dream on Me Bassinet works great for our family. We are able to easily put it up and fold it to put away. This is ideal for traveling or going to the babysitter."
This sleeper has some really neat bassinet features, including a changing table that appears when you flip the sleeper over. The Dream Suite is not just a place for baby's sleep, it's also a changing station and has a storage basket built in below. Somehow it packs all these features into a small footprint that can fit in your bedroom during the first year.
"We absolutely love it and so does our baby...he has slept in this since we brought him home and was sleeping through the night at 6 weeks old. The storage underneath is awesome!"
Preparing for baby? We’ve compiled the Ultimate List of Baby Must-Haves to help you feel prepared and ready for your little bundle of joy.
