Best Overall Features: HALO Bassinest Swivel Sleeper Bassinet

Let’s talk bassinets, especially for use bedside with newborns.

For safety reasons, we only considered bassinets with four sides. Yes, some models have a fold-down side that sits close to the bed, but we think the safest course is to have four sides.T hat prevents baby from rolling toward an open side and possibly becoming entrapped between the bassinet and an adult bed. 

Only use the included mattress in the bassinet—never add additional padding or bedding. 

After researching bassinets for the last 20 plus years, we pick the HALO Bassinest as the best bassinet for parents of newborns. This bassinet achieves two goals: allowing rooming in for newborns (to help with breastfeeding) while providing a safe sleep space separate from a parent’s bed.

The HALO Bassinest has side walls that spring down for quick access to the baby; it also sits on a base that allows you to rotate or swivel it 360 degrees. The Bassinest includes a waterproof mattress pad and sheet; extra sheets are available separately.

Here’s more on why we like the HALO as the best bassinet overall:

What We Liked

• Different versions for different folks. The Bassinest comes in a few different versions—the model linked in this article is in the Premiere Series. The more upscale Luxe models have fancier fabrics, but are otherwise similar in terms of features (vibration, sound, nightlight).

• Easy to use and set up. Quality is very good.

• Mesh sides for airflow. We prefer this to bassinets that have closed or fabric sides, which restrict airflow.

• Quiet! When you push down the side, it doesn’t make any noise.

What Needs Work

• Heavy and bulky with wide base. Yes, there are a few negatives to the Bassinest to note—and as such, it may not be the perfect solution for everyone. First, it is rather heavy and bulky with a large base. As a result, you can’t move it easily from room to room. It basically needs to be set up next to a bed and left there. (On the plus side, the heavy weight keeps older kiddos from accidentally knocking it over).

• Easy to trip over legs. For stability reasons, this bassinet has long legs on its base—and those are easy to trip over in the middle of the night.

• Tilt feature causes some confusion. Yes, a few folks are surprised by Bassinet’s tilt feature—which means the baby can roll to one side or another if it is not perfectly flat. That can be caused by an uneven floor in your bedroom or by simply accidentally knocking the unit (and sometimes by a baby scooting from one side to the other). But this happens very infrequently, in our analysis.

• Hard to clean. To clean the cloth parts of the bassinet, you have to remove them by unscrewing various screws. HALO could make this process easier.

• Pricey.

Best Bedside Bassinet, Budget-Friendly: Fisher-Price Soothing Motions Bassinet

Sometimes, the simpler the baby product, the better. Case in point: Fisher-Price’s Soothing Motions Bassinet. Basically, this is a simple bassinet with mesh sides, swing motion, vibration and lullabies. It came out tops in our testing for ease of use and overall quality. Here’s more:

What We Liked

• Easy to put together. Assembly took under 15 minutes.

• Cute extras. In addition to a sturdy bassinet, this model features a cute mobile and light/vibration module.

• Mesh sides for air flow.

• White noise generator includes such sounds as bird noises.

• Affordable.

What Needs Work

• No wheels. As such, this bassinet isn’t very mobile. And it is so wide, it doesn’t easily fit through small doorways.

• No fold or squish down side. You access baby from the top of the bassinet. It’s easier to do this if the bassinet has a side that squishes or folds down; this bassinet doesn’t have that feature.

• Motion can awake a sleeping baby. When you put a sleeping baby down to sleep, the bassinet can move—and that can startle some newborns.

• No height adjustment.

• Sounds/lights turn off after 30 minutes. This is a battery saving feature, of course. But it also means kiddos can wake up when this stops!

• 20 lb. limit.You can only use this bassinet until your baby hits 20 lbs., which is a lower limit than other bassinets we tested.

Best Portable Bassinet + Playard: Graco Pack ‘n Play On the Go Playard

We realize this pick is more than just a portable bassinet—in fact, you can only use the bassinet up to 15 lbs. After that, however, baby can sleep in the playard. And yes, this is safe sleep space that can substitute for a crib. Great for travel. Here’s more:

What We Liked:

• Easy to assemble. 

• Affordable. 

• Doubles as playard. Hence, there is more extended use.

• Tried and true. Graco is the category leader in playards—and they are tried and true.

What Needs Work

• Heavy. At 17 lbs, this playpen isn’t exactly light.

• Not as easy to fold as other bassinets recommended in this article.

• Too wide for some doorways.

 

Why Trust Us

We’ve been rating and reviewing bassinets and other newborn sleep products since 1994. In addition to hands on inspections, we have also visited manufacturer facilities and met with safety regulators—and when we travel, we pay our all of our own expenses.

Here’s another key point: we don’t take money from the brands we review. No free samples, no sponsors, no “partnerships.” Baby Bargains is your independent and unbiased source for expert baby gear reviews. We’ve been writing and reviewing baby gear since 1994. Yes, that long!