Best Travel Bassinet – Buyer’s Guide

If you’re in a hurry and just want to find out what the best travel bassinet is, I’d recommend the Lulyboo Baby Lounger To Go.

Whether you’re traveling halfway across the world, or just halfway across town, a travel bassinet can be a great place for your baby to sleep. Of course, you can also use them around the house, outside, or just about anywhere else for that matter.

In this article, I am breaking down the best travel bassinets, and in the end, I’ll choose the winner.

Here are the travel bassinets I will be reviewing:

• Brica Fold N’ Go Travel Bassinet
• Chicco LullaGo Portable Bassinet
• Lulyboo Baby Lounger To Go
• Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play Portable Bassinet
• Lotus Travel Crib

Who Should Get A Travel Bassinet?

Travel bassinets provide a great place for your little one to sleep in the first few months of life.

If you have a few trips or vacations planned shortly after your baby arrives, a travel bassinet can be an indispensable item. While it’s possible that your hotel, Airbnb or wherever you are staying will have something for your baby to sleep in, it’s much better to come prepared.

These are also great if you plan to bring your little bundle of joy around to different places near home. For example, if grandparents live near by, you might spend a lot of time at their home in the first few months. A travel bassinet can be a great thing to bring with you, since infants spend so much time sleeping and napping. Believe me, they are great for managing baby jet lag.

How To Choose A Travel Bassinet

There are a few things you will want to look at to make sure that the travel bassinet you purchase is actually good for travel.

Weight

There are plenty of travel bassinets that weigh under 10 pounds, and I would strongly recommend going with one of these.

While you might not think it’s a big deal to carry around something that weighs 15 or 20 pounds, every bit of extra weight does add up. Keep in mind, if you’re traveling, you might be carrying your luggage and your little bundle of joy as well.

Travel Bag

A good travel bag makes a huge difference in how easy it is to carry something around. Some bassinets are light weight, but still awkward to carry.

If you get a bassinet that comes with a travel bag that you can sling over your shoulder, you’re in pretty good shape. My favorite ones come with a backpack though. That way, you can carry it around without even giving it much thought.

Ease Of Set Up

If you’re going to be traveling often, you will want to get a portable baby bed that is easy to set up. The last thing you want to do after a long day on the road is to struggle for half an hour putting a bassinet together.

Weight Limit

Most travel bassinets only accommodate infants for the first 3 – 5 months of life. However, they all have different weight limits. Some top out at 15 pounds, and others go up to 20 or 25 pounds.

If the weight limit is too low, you’re baby might outgrow it by the time you are ready to take your first trip.

My Top Travel Bassinet Reviews

I have taken a hard look at all of the different travel bassinet options, and reviewed my top choices below. Some are designed for travel, and others are great all around bassinets that are good for travel as well. I also included one baby travel crib on the list that can be converted into a bassinet. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of the choices below, though I do have a favorite.

Brica Fold N’ Go Travel Bassinet

This portable baby bed is incredibly easy to fold and convenient to take with you when you travel.

It’s ultra light weight, at only three pounds. So, you won’t strain yourself carrying this around an airport or anywhere else you may go. It also comes with a built in handle, so it’s not awkward to carry.

It’s easy to set up or fold up in a matter of seconds, and this is not to be overlooked. After a long trip, the last thing you want to do is struggle with setting up a portable baby bed at the end of the day.

The frame is sturdy and locks into place with an audible click. When you want to put it away, just press the release buttons.

The fabric is machine washable, so you won’t have any trouble keeping it clean.

The biggest drawback with this one is that your baby will outgrow it after reaching 3 months of age or 15 pounds. So, you won’t get a ton of use out of this unless you travel a lot in those early months.

That said, the Brica Fold N’ Go Travel Bassinet really affordably priced. So, it’s not like you are making a huge investment here.

Chicco LullaGo Portable Bassinet

This is a great portable bassinet that works well for travel.

Your baby will be elevated above the ground in this one. So, you don’t have to worry about how hard or soft the ground is below. It’s also easy to put your baby down without having to lean over too far.

It comes with a carry bag. However, the bag is kind of like a tote bag with an open top. Since you can’t close the bag, it’s not practical to check this at the airport when you fly. So, this is probably more suited to road trips than airplane travel.

At 18 pounds, this is also on the heavier end of the spectrum for a portable bassinet. While that might not seem too heavy, I wouldn’t want to lug it around the airport too often.

This portable baby bed is easy to put together and take apart in under a minute. It’s not quite as quick and simple as some others in this post, but it’s not hard either.

This one is suitable for infants weighing up to 20 pounds. So, you might get a little more use out of it than the one above.

The fabric can be easily removed and is machine washable. So, keeping it clean is easy.

All in all, I would say this is a nice bassinet that is suitable for travel. So, it’s good for parents that want to have a bassinet for home use, and plan to take a few trips as well.

Lulyboo Baby Lounger To Go

This is a stylish portable baby bed that is perfect for traveling. In fact, it’s my favorite one.

This one is really well designed, and able to fold up into a backpack. It’s also ultra light, and weights just 3 pounds. So, it’s super convenient to travel with, and not at all hard to carry around.

Setting this up or putting it away takes just a few seconds. That’s a breath of fresh air after a long trip.

It’s great for sleeping, but it also has a hanging toy bar to keep baby entertained when awake.

A removable canopy provides shade for your baby when you’re outside. So, not only is this great for longs trips, but it’s also great for a day at the park or a picnic.

The liner is removable and machine washable. So, it’s easy to keep clean.

The biggest drawback with this one is that it’s relatively small. So, your baby will probably outgrow it in 4-5 months, if not sooner.

Fisher-Price Rock ‘N Play Portable Bassinet

This portable bassinet has a couple of unique advantages.

For starters, you can rock your baby to sleep in this one with a gentle push. A lot of parents rock their infants to sleep at night or before naps. When you’re traveling though, you might not have a glider or rocker where you’re staying. So, being able to rock them right in the portable baby bed might be just the thing to help them drift off in an unfamiliar place.

The elevated mattress means that you can use this on a variety of surfaces. It also means that you won’t need to lean over too far to put your baby down.

It has a mirror and a soft toy. So, it will keep your baby entertained when awake.

This one can set up or put away in just a few seconds. So, moving it around is a piece of cake.

It’s suitable for babies up to 25 pounds. So, you might get a little more use out of this one than some of the others.

This portable baby bed weighs only 7.5 pounds, but doesn’t come with a bag to carry it around. So, while it’s really light, its not the most convenient to take through the airport.

Overall, I would say this one is good for travel, but not only for travel. It’s a great bassinet to use around the house, and works really well for road trips as well.

Lotus Travel Crib

If you’re looking for a portable bassinet, you might want to consider this option as well. Technically, it’s a baby travel crib, but it can be converted to a travel bassinet with a conversion kit.

The fact that this one can function as both a crib and a bassinet means that you will get years of use out of it instead of just a few months. It’s suitable from birth up to age 3. Of course, you don’t have to purchase the bassinet conversion kit. Infants are perfectly happy sleeping in a travel crib.

This one also has a zipper door on the side. So, you can put your baby in from the side instead of leaning way down to put him or her in from the top. This is a huge advantage over other travel cribs, since it can be really hard to lean way over with your baby without waking them up.

A backpack carrying case makes this really easy to carry around, even in the airport. In terms of weight, it comes in at about 13 pounds. While that’s heavier than most of the travel bassinets on this list, it’s also lighter than most portable baby beds.

This one is really easy to set up, and takes most parents less than a minute. It can take a bit more time to fold it up properly to fit into the backpack, but it’s not overly challenging either.

It’s worth noting that this is quite a bit more expensive than most travel bassinets, particularly if you purchase the conversion kit. It also doesn’t come with a fitted sheet, so you will need to purchase that separately.

However, you will get a lot more use out of this one. In a lot of cases, parents that buy a portable bassinet need to buy something else by the time their child reaches 4 or 5 months of age. With this one, you’re covered for a few years.

Bringing Home The Right Travel Bassinet

Some of the portable baby beds above are great for every day use, and good for travel as well. Others are designed almost exclusively with travel in mind. Depending on how many trips you have planned in your baby’s first few months of life, one of these options may be better than the other. In my opinion, the Lulyboo Baby Lounger To Go is the my favorite travel bassinet, and is also great for every day use.