Best Bedside Bassinet

Last Updated: Jun 5, 2023 @ 10:43 am.

Best Bedside Bassinet Overall: HALO Bassinest Swivel Sleeper Bassinet

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 squish 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 three versions: the basic model (called the Essentia), a deluxe version (Premiere), and the Luxe. The latter two versions add vibration, sounds and lullabies, nightlight and additional storage. Those are nice—but if you just want a no-frills bassinet, the basic model would do fine as well.

• 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.

• A twin version is also available.  Basically, this is a larger version of the Bassinest with a divider down the middle for twins. It has the same basic features as the Bassinest.

What Needs Work

• Heavy and bulky with wide base. Yes, there 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

Accessory to skip: HALO Bassinest Newborn Insert

While we recommend the HALO Bassinest, we say pass on their “newborn insert,” an accessory designed to create a smaller space inside the bassinet for newborns. This inserts attaches to the side of the bassinet and has mesh sides.

HALO takes great pains to point out that this insert is not a baby hammock, as it has a firm flat sleeping surface at the bottom. Still, we think this concept is too close for comfort to other baby hammocks on the market—which we do NOT recommend.

We don’t see the point of this accessory—a newborn is perfectly safe and secure in the Bassinest, no insert needed.

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 Bedside Bassinet With Wheels: Mika Micky Bedside Sleeper Easy Folding Portable Crib

Most bassinets aren’t very portable—moving them from room to room is surprisingly difficult. That’s why we liked this bassinet: Mika Micky’s Bedside Sleeper. It was tops in our tests for bassinets with wheels. Here’s more:

What We Liked

• Wheels! 

• Height adjustable with seven positions

• Storage pockets on side for diapers, etc.

• Narrow enough to fit through most doorways.

What Needs Work

• Mesh doesn’t extend down to mattress. While this bassinet has mesh sides, the mesh doesn’t extend down to the mattress. That means baby could roll up against the side and not have airflow. Care should be taken to make sure baby is placed in the center of the bassinet. Transition the baby out of the bassinet before they can roll over (usually around four months).

• Not for houses with uneven floors. Because this bassinet lacks mesh sides down to the mattress, if your bedroom has uneven floors, the bassinet could tilt to one side or the other. This would be a hazard.

• Hard to assemble. Compared to other bassinets we tested, the Mika Micky was much harder to assemble.

• Wheels can lock on their own. 

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!