Are you looking for a travel bassinet to take on your next trip?
Travel Bassinets come in all shapes and sizes and some can double as an at home bassinet. All are lightweight, easy-to-fold models that are perfect for travel by plane or car, to deluxe options with extra features like storage pockets and built in night lights. Every bassinet is made with safety in mind, so you can rest assured knowing baby will be safe when they’re sleeping soundly in their temporary bed!
Best Travel Bassinets at a Glance
Best Overall: Dream On Me Karley Bassinet
A simple, portable bassinet that works well for both home and travel.
Best Budget: Safety 1st Sleepy Traveler
Affordable, folds flat, and converts from a bassinet to a play yard.
Best for Home + Travel: Maxi-Cosi Iora Bedside Bassinet
A full-featured bedside bassinet that folds flat when it’s time for a trip.
Best for Road Trips: Baby Joy Portable Bedside Bassinet
Comfortable and adjustable, but better for the car than carrying through an airport.
Best for Longer Trips: Graco Pack ‘n Play Travel Dome
A bassinet, changing space, and playard in one, making it especially useful for longer stays.
Best Lightweight Option: BabyBjörn Travel Crib Light
Just 13 pounds with its carrying bag and usable from newborn through about age 3.
Best for Growing With Baby: Munchkin Ultra-Lite 3-in-1
Starts as a newborn sleep space and converts to a travel crib and playard as your baby grows.
What to Look for in a Travel Bassinet
The best travel bassinet depends a lot on how you travel. Something that folds flat and fits easily into the trunk may be perfect for a road trip but far too heavy if you’re flying. Here are the things I would consider before buying one.
Safe sleep: This comes first. Look for a product specifically designed and approved as an infant sleep space, and always follow the manufacturer’s age, weight, and developmental limits. Babies should sleep on a firm, flat surface without pillows, blankets, bumpers, or other soft items in the sleep space.
Weight and folded size: If you’re flying, every pound matters. Some of the travel bassinets on this list weigh around 13 pounds, while larger bedside models can weigh 20 pounds or more. For road trips, that may not matter nearly as much.
How easily it folds: You don’t want to spend 20 minutes assembling a bassinet after arriving at a hotel with a tired baby. Look for something that folds and sets up easily, preferably without lots of separate pieces.
How long you can use it: Traditional bassinets have a relatively short useful life. A travel crib or bassinet that converts into a playard may make more sense if you travel frequently and want something you can continue using as your baby grows.
Easy-to-clean fabrics: Babies are messy even when you’re not traveling. A removable, washable mattress cover or fabric can make life considerably easier on the road.
Car trip or airplane trip: This may ultimately be the deciding factor. For road trips, I wouldn’t hesitate to choose a larger bedside bassinet with more features. If I were flying, I’d prioritize a lightweight model with a compact carrying case.
The Best Travel Bassinets
Each of these travel bassinets have been ranked and reviewed by moms! You can rest assured that these bassinets are the best for lots of different reasons and all you need to do is look through the pros and cons to see what works best for you!
Dream on me travel bassinet
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The Dream On Me Karley Bassinet is a good choice if you want a travel bassinet that is portable enough for trips but substantial enough to use at home, too.
It has a lightweight aluminum frame and a quick-folding design, so you don’t have to completely disassemble it every time you travel. The mesh sides provide airflow, while the double canopy can be particularly useful if you’re taking the bassinet outside.
At 12.4 pounds, it isn’t the lightest travel bassinet on this list, but it’s still manageable for a road trip or vacation rental. Dream On Me recommends it for newborns up to 25 pounds.
Best for: Families who want one bassinet for home and travel Weight: 12.4 pounds Weight limit: 25 pounds
Safety 1st Sleepy Traveler Bassinet
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The Safety 1st Sleepy Traveler Bassinet is a good option if you want a portable bassinet without spending a fortune on something your baby will quickly outgrow. It folds flat for storage and travel and later converts into a play yard, so you’ll get more use out of it than a traditional bassinet.
The bassinet has a firm, flat sleep surface, a washable mattress cover, a partial canopy for shade, and can either rock gently or be locked into a stationary position. It also includes a sound, light, and vibration module. Safety 1st says the bassinet is designed for babies up to 20 pounds, while the play yard can be used for children up to 35 inches tall. It’s also JPMA certified.
Best for: An affordable bassinet that converts to a play yard Weight limit: 20 pounds in bassinet mode Best feature: Folds flat and continues to be useful after the bassinet stage
The Baby Joy Portable Bedside Bassinet
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The Baby Joy Portable Bedside Bassinet is a good option if you want something that can work at home but still pack up for a trip.
Current Baby Joy models have breathable mesh sides, adjustable heights, and a foldable design with a carrying bag. Some models can also be configured as a bedside sleeper or rocking bassinet, which gives you more use out of it when you’re not traveling.
This isn’t the bassinet I’d choose if packing as light as possible were my main concern. Depending on the model, Baby Joy’s current bedside bassinets are around 8–10 kg (roughly 18–22 pounds), so they’re much better suited to a road trip than something you want to carry through an airport.
Best for: Road trips and families who want one bassinet for home and travel Downside: Heavier than the ultra-portable options
The Maxi-Cosi Iora Bedside Bassinet is a good choice if you want a bassinet that feels substantial enough to use every day at home but can still pack up for vacations.
It has four height positions and three slide positions, so you can adjust where the bassinet sits beside your bed. The mesh sides provide airflow and visibility, and the large basket underneath is handy for keeping diapers, pajamas, and other baby essentials close by.
For travel, the Iora folds flat and comes with a travel bag. At 24 pounds, though, I would consider this more of a road-trip or vacation-home bassinet than something I’d want to carry through an airport. It’s designed for babies up to 20 pounds or until they can push up on their hands and knees, whichever comes first.
Best for: Home use plus road trips and vacations Weight: 24 pounds Weight limit: 20 pounds or until baby can push up on hands and knees Best feature: Adjustable bedside positioning Downside: Heavier than most of the other travel bassinets on this list
The Munchkin Ultra-Lite 3-in-1 is a great choice if you want a travel bassinet that won’t become useless after just a few months. It starts as a bassinet for a newborn and then converts into a travel crib and playard as your baby grows.
It weighs 13.9 pounds with the carrying case and folds down surprisingly small. I especially like that the carrying case can be worn as a backpack, which makes it much more manageable when you’re already juggling a baby and luggage.
The bassinet mode is designed for babies up to 15 pounds or until they can push up on their hands and knees, whichever happens first. After that, you can use the crib/playard mode up to 30 pounds.
Best for: Families who want a travel bassinet they can continue using into toddlerhood Weight: 13.9 pounds with carrying case Downside: More expensive and larger than a simple folding bassinet
The Graco Pack ‘n Play Travel Dome
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The Graco Pack ‘n Play Travel Dome is one of my favorite options for families who want something they can use long after the newborn stage. It’s more than a travel bassinet: you get a removable bassinet for the early months, a changing area, and a playard that can continue to be useful as your baby grows.
The Travel Dome bassinet can be used on or off the playard and folds into its own carrying bag. When it’s attached to the playard, it sits higher so you don’t have to reach all the way to the bottom to pick up your baby. The bassinet is designed for infants up to 15 pounds.
The downside is size. At around 33 pounds for the complete system, this isn’t what I’d choose if I were trying to pack light for a flight. But for a road trip or longer stay, I really like that one piece of baby gear can serve several purposes.
Best for: Road trips and longer vacations Best feature: Converts to a playard as baby grows Downside: Much heavier and bulkier than a simple folding travel bassinet
BabyBjörn Travel Crib Light
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The BabyBjörn Travel Crib Light is technically a travel crib rather than a bassinet, but I think it deserves a place on this list because it can be used from the newborn stage through about age 3. That makes it a great option if you don’t want to buy a travel bassinet your baby will outgrow within a few months.
At just 13 pounds including the carrying bag, it’s one of the lightest options on our list. It also sets up in one movement with no loose pieces to attach, and the mesh sides make it easy to see your baby. When you’re ready to leave, it folds down to about 19 × 23.5 × 5.5 inches and packs into the included carrying bag.
I especially like this one for families who travel frequently because you’re getting years of use out of something that’s still relatively easy to carry.
Best for: Frequent travelers who want something that grows with their baby Weight: 13 pounds including the carrying bag Best feature: Works from newborn through approximately age 3 Downside: Your baby sleeps at floor level, so you’ll have to bend down farther than you would with a traditional bassinet.
Are Travel Bassinets Safe?
Travel bassinets can provide a safe place for your baby to sleep as long as you choose a product intended for infant sleep that meets current federal safety requirements and use it according to the manufacturer’s instructions. In the U.S., products marketed for infant sleep must meet an applicable federal sleep standard.
Whether you’re at home or in a hotel, the same safe-sleep rules apply. Place your baby on their back on a firm, flat sleep surface and keep the bassinet bare except for a properly fitted sheet. Don’t add pillows, blankets, bumpers, positioners, or other soft items.
This is also why I would choose a true travel bassinet or approved travel crib rather than a baby lounger or similar product that isn’t designed for sleep. If your baby falls asleep in a lounger, swing, bouncer, or other product not intended for sleep, the CPSC recommends moving them to a crib, bassinet, play yard, or bedside sleeper.
One more thing: Always check the manufacturer’s age, weight, and developmental limits. Babies can outgrow a bassinet developmentally before they reach its maximum weight.
I hope this list has helped you in your quest to find the best travel bassinets. Traveling with babies can be hard so make sure you all the right gear for you trip by check out my posts on:
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