Our Favorite Bassinets for Cantankerous Tots
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Teaching a newborn how to sleep is not easy. Even in the best of circumstances, they have to wake up to eat and get changed every few hours. As a parent, the sleep deprivation can start to wear on you. No matter how adorable they are, you'll likely cry and get frustrated with your little angel at times.
Curious about what the world of tech has to offer, I pulled in and tested five electronic bassinets, each with different skills and special abilities. If you have a newborn, none of these bassinets will magically give you a good night's sleep. But they do have a few extra tools and abilities that could calm your little one's fussing at times, soothe them to sleep, or help them slumber a little longer.
None of these bassinets are suitable for babies who are more than six months old, or have the ability to roll over or sit up. Please be sure to follow tips for safe sleep beforehand and check out some of our other baby gear guides, like Best Baby Monitors, Best Sound Machines, Best Baby Carriers, Best Strollers, and Best Travel Strollers.
Updated December 2024: We've added the Cradlewise Convertible Smart Bassinet and Crib to this guide.
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- Photograph: Fisher-Price
The Best High-Tech Bassinet
Fisher-Price Soothing Motions BassinetThis Fisher-Price bassinet is great if all you need is a safe place for your little nugget to sleep and a few extra tech tools to calm them down. It has a sturdy metal frame and an open mesh design with really good airflow, which helps your baby breathe easy. It can also jiggle, which lets you lightly rock your baby to sleep (just by a few inches). My kid was never smart enough to figure out how to kick and move it himself, but some little ones might, which is also fun.
Fisher-Price offers a few tech tricks to soothe your little bundle of anger when you need a minute to do anything else besides keep them alive. The first is a hanging mobile that has reflective mirrors placed inset into stars. If you pop a few C batteries into it, it can project stars onto the ceiling, play rain sounds or song melodies, or turn on an orange nightlight facing into the bassinet. It also has a volume toggle and a button to vibrate the mattress. My baby seemed immune to vibration, but it might help put some infants to sleep.
If you have a bad back, know that this bassinet sits pretty low. It's relatively lightweight but doesn't have wheels, so you'll have to drag or carry it around. The mattress is waterproof underneath, but it comes with only one machine-washable sheet. You'll want to pick up some extra sheets if you have a baby that spits up a lot like mine. —Jeffrey Van Camp
This bassinet should work for three to six months, until your baby is about 20 pounds or can "push up on hands and knees, pull up, or sit unassisted." Read instructions here.
- Photograph: Halo
A Bedside Helper
Halo Bassinest Swivel SleeperIf your nighttime goal is to take as few steps as possible, the Halo Bassinest is meant to mostly stay next to your bed. Like the Fisher-Price, it has a sturdy metal frame, comfortable mattress (though again, you'll need an extra fitted sheet or two), and great airflow thanks to its open mesh sides. If you have a few AA batteries, it also has inward- and floor-facing orange nightlights and two levels of vibration, and it can play several kinds of sleep sounds, including heartbeat noises and running river water—though the noises don't get very loud.
The Bassinest's height is adjustable by 2 to 3 feet, and you can depress one side of it to more easily lift or place your baby back in after feedings, diaper changes, or soothing sessions. This is helpful if you had a C-section or are in pain after giving birth. You can also rotate it 360 degrees from two pivot points, like the tamest possible version of the Scrambler at a carnival. The bassinet itself spins freely, and you can swivel it around the base to distance it about 8 inches away from you.
My wife and I loved the intuitive bedside swiveling. It let us move our lil one farther from the bed but easily swivel him closer when he woke up for the third time in six hours. After a few months, as he began to get more aware of his surroundings, it was nice to be able to twist his field of view away from us to help him learn to calm down and rest on his own. —Jeffrey Van Camp
This bassinet should work for three to six months, until your baby is about 20 pounds or "shows signs of pulling up, rolling over, pushing up to kneeling position." Read its FAQ here.
- Photograph: Amazon
The Old Favorite
Graco Pack 'n Play Close2Baby Bassinet PlayardThe Graco Pack ’n Play is nothing new, but it’s a bassinet I find myself unable to let go of. The bassinet and Playard has served me well with a bassinet to use when my baby was a newborn, a diaper changing station for my living room, a storage unit for the dozens of cloth diapers I got each week from our diaper service, a raised play space for tummy time, and a secondary crib. It's still big enough to now use as a travel crib or a place for a little friend to sleep over.
My 2-year-old son has mostly grown out of it now, other than potentially using it as a travel crib, but it's still getting used for my younger friend's babies as a bassinet and changing station. I always used it in my living spaces, but my cousin raved about using it in her room as a bedside bassinet. The Graco Pack ’n Play breaks down pretty well to store in a closet, and its multipurpose abilities always make it worth keeping around.
The infant bassinet works for children up to 15 pounds, while the “portable” full-size bassinet (top level of the playard) works for infants up to 20 pounds.
- Photograph: Babylist
Best for Indoors and Outdoors
Mockingbird Bassinet + Bassinet StandMockingbird is the maker of our favorite full-size stroller, and you can get the Mockingbird Bassinet and pair it with Mockingbird's Bassinet Stand to use the bassinet both on your walks around town and inside for nap time. It's a smart way to get the benefits of a bassinet just about anywhere you go, or easily move baby to a safe indoor sleep position without having to remove your little one from the comfort of their bassinet nap. The bassinet stand also has a basket underneath it to store things like burp cloths, swaddles, and other baby knickknacks. If you already have the bassinet with the stroller and only need the stand, you can purchase it separately ($100).
Mockingbird's bassinet design reminds me of the Uppababy but is a much more affordable version. You will have to remove the bassinet from the stroller frame to fold the stroller.
This bassinet should work for three to six months, until your baby “weighs 20 lbs or is able to push up on their hands and knees."
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- Photograph: Tyler Shane
Best Smart Bassinet and Crib
Cradlewise Convertible Smart Bassinet and CribCradlewise’s Convertible Smart Bassinet and Crib (8/10, WIRED Recommends) has all the gadgets built in: a baby monitor, a bouncing function, a sound machine—oh, and AI that learns and responds to your baby’s sleep patterns. If your little one starts to fuss or stir, Cradlewise responds by kicking on the bouncing or sound machine (or both!), meaning less intervention in your baby’s sleep and hopefully more sleep for you. You can customize the intensity of the bouncing motion and sound machine’s noises and volume through the Cradlewise app, so even with the help of AI, I still felt in control of my newborn’s experience. The bouncing has been key to soothing him when he startles himself with a Moro reflex.
Even with all the bells and whistles, Cradlewise manages to be the minimalist take on a smart bassinet. The bouncing and sound machine functions are designed to respond as a parent would, so they aren’t constant and only kick on when your baby needs to be soothed back to sleep. If your baby seems to be protesting sleep, the bassinet will respond by increasing the bounce motion and volume of sound. When soothed back to sleep, all functions turn off.
Meanwhile, the app acts as the bassinet’s baby monitor. You can minimize it on your phone while you scroll other apps, so the monitor is always on your screen. The built-in baby monitor's camera isn’t the best quality, but I still found it sufficient as an anxious first-time mom. You can share the app, and control of it, with your partner or loved ones.
The Cradlewise feels like an answer to the popular Snoo, below, which for a long time was the only smart option you could go for. While the Cradlewise costs more—retailing for $1,999 to the Snoo's $1,695, though both often have sales—it not only comes with more built-in gadgets, but can also be used for longer by your baby, since it can transform into a crib. It can also handle toddlers up to 33 pounds. It doesn't have any subscription fees like the Snoo, nor does it require you to swaddle them in a special sleep sack in order to use it. Overall, it's an investment that will last you much longer. —Tyler Shane
This bassinet can transform into a crib and be used until up to 24 months or when your baby reaches 33 pounds.
- Photograph: Amazon
The Trendy One
SnooWe've recommended the Snoo for several years. It was the original “smart” bassinet, designed by Dr. Harvey Karp, who is best known for his books on the “5 S's” for getting kids to sleep. He described the Snoo to me as an extra pair of hands to rock a baby back to sleep and believes it can add an hour or two of slumber to an average baby's night. In my experience, his claims check out.
Like the Cradlewise above, the Snoo listens to your baby and reacts. Motion starts off as a slow side-to-side sway with a subtle waterlike sound that's meant to mimic the womb, then gets more vigorous if they start crying. The most intense phase is a Jell-O jiggle, accompanied by more white noise. It has a straightforward app for iPhone and Android phones that records sleep patterns and lets you tinker with how the bassinet responds to your baby. If your baby's distress reaches Level 5, it automatically stops after a minute or so and sends you a notification. I liked to lock it to a low level and tinker with its sensitivity a bit.
Unlike every other bassinet, it requires a special sleep sack that connects to its sides and keeps babies on their backs. If the sack isn't hooked up right, it won't operate, which the company claims makes it "the safest baby bed ever made." Stomach sleeping, overheating, and co-sleeping are all possible causes of SIDS.
At $1,695, it's pricey, though you can also rent it for $159 a month from Happiest Baby. It looks the price, with a clean, modern metal-and-mesh aesthetic. But it's not perfect. Sometimes it doesn't react fast enough, and other times it seems too aggressive, particularly as your baby gets smarter. I also wish it had a cover to block some light. And since my child spit up a lot, I was sometimes short on sacks. (Be sure to get a couple extra.) The Velcro on the sacks could also stand to be a bit stronger. Finally, the Snoo is not completely invulnerable to hacking—no internet-enabled product can be. You can turn the Wi-Fi features off, though if you do, you won't be able to tinker with the settings. As of September 2024, there are also certain features hidden behind the app's new Premium subscription ($20 a month). If you buy the bassinet directly from Snoo or an authorized partner, you'll get the Premium features for nine months. This is plenty of time for your kiddo to grow out of it, but it hurts the resale value, and it means you'll have to pay for it for your next kiddo. If you buy the bassinet secondhand, though, you'll have to pay for the subscription the entire time.
This bassinet should work “from birth to 6 months (or when baby can get on hands and knees).” Read its User Guide here.
- Photograph: Amazon
Honorable Mention
4Moms MamaRoo Moving BassinetThe 4Moms brand is known for its swings that move babies in all kinds of patterns and directions to calm them. Its first bassinet applies the same idea to sleep. It has a full-fledged motor built in and will rock your baby by moving them up, down, and side to side in four different swinging-like motions and a gentle circular wave—all with multiple speeds. The options are plentiful and easy to select with the touch panel. You can also add vibration and several white noise sounds to the mix.
Unfortunately, it's too sluggish and mechanical to mimic natural nighttime rocking. It did not relax or put my baby to sleep much during his first six months. I also had consistent trouble getting the Bluetooth app to connect at night to adjust his settings, which is necessary since the control panel on the side is fairly bright at night—visible to his tired, angry eyes—and the machine runs for only a maximum of four hours before it shuts off. (It requires a power outlet.) When the cycle is done, all the motion and low-fidelity music stop, which tended to wake my child up when he began getting old enough to sleep longer than a few hours at a time.
Gripes aside, the bassinet does have two adjustable heights and plenty of extra tools, if you're not afraid to take your baby for a little ride. —Jeffrey Van Camp
This bassinet should work for three to six months, until your baby is about 25 pounds or "can push up on their hands or knees." Read its FAQ here.
Dream Peacefully
A Guide to Safe SnoozingVery small babies are tiny flesh bags that are vulnerable even while they sleep. While writing this guide, we referred to the US Centers for Disease Control's guide to safe sleep, consulted pediatricians, and checked the US Consumer Product Safety Commission for product recalls. But it's worth the effort to double-check whether a product is the right fit for your child.
By the time you're checking for high-tech bassinets, you've probably read many resources for putting babies to sleep. But just in case, we like Karp's The Happiest Baby on the Block. Using a sound machine, swaddling, and sticking to a bedtime routine also usually helps. Check out our guide for new parents for more tips. —Jeffrey Van Camp
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