What You Should Know About Newton's Baby Bassinet

We recently had the pleasure of using the Newton Bassinet to see how it stacked up against others that we've used in the past for our two other children. Newton is a brand that we've long been familiar with as we've used the crib mattress since 2019 – and it's still being used to this day. So we were excited to see what their newly released bassinet had to offer.

If you're not already familiar with their crib mattress, the core is made of a food grade polymer that’s spun together and provides ample air flow throughout the mattress making it “breathable,” which is the term that's most commonly associated with the Newton brand.

The Bassinet Pad

While they've carried that core beyond crib mattresses and into twin size mattresses for kids, they've also been able to implement it into this bassinet. The breathability aspect is a major draw for a lot of parents who often express "peace of mind" on Newton's sleep surfaces in particular. But if you're new to Dad Verb, a firm sleep surface is the most crucial thing that you're looking for and this bassinet is definitely firm even with a base that offers a lot of air flow. 

Getting a closer look, it’s wrapped with an adapted version of their 3D space cover, inside of which is a slimmed-down iteration of their Wovenaire core. Altogether the bassinet pad measures roughly 3.5cm thick and comes with a breathable, dual-layer quilted cloud cover for a little extra comfort.

In comparison to other leading bassinet brands, this is going to be the only one that can claim that breathability factor, but at 41.5” x 22” it’s also one of the largest bassinet surfaces you’ll find.

Regarding the max limits, the bassinet can support up to 20lbs but should generally be used up to the point when your baby begins to push up their hands/knees or can roll over. As a general ballpark, parents will transition out of a bassinet somewhere between 4-6 months.

The Frame 

The birch frame offers a good amount rigidity while still being fairly lightweight. From an aesthetic standpoint, I'm a huge fan of wood being incorporated into designs and there aren't too many out there that push into this visual style. That's a very subjective take, but I had to toss in my stamp of approval for their design choices.

On either side of the bassinet are handles that you can pull out to adjust the height. One thing I noticed when adjusting the height is I haven't been able to raise the level of the bassinet altogether with both of my hands at the same time. It’s pretty large so instead, I've had to raise each side individually – just a small thing I wanted to note. 

Portability

When it comes to portability and travel, I don't think this is the most ideal option that you'll find. But it's not going to be the heavy, lockdown option like the Halo Swivel Sleeper that's not really meant to move.

I think this fits somewhere in between.

Going from room-to-room, it’s lightweight enough to move around but it's not really something that you can quickly collapse since the unboxing and setup required the use of screws, an Allen wrench, and multiple pieces to slot together. 

With that said, the set up and build took about 15-20 minutes and really wasn’t that complicated. In fact, I was actually able to do it while wearing my baby. (I wouldn’t recommend doing that, but just know that it’s possible.)

It does come with a travel bag so technically – yes – you can travel with it. But personally, I would limit it to bringing it along to grandma's house who lives nearby. Full-on air travel during vacations is going to prove to be a little bit tougher to disassemble, bring along, then reassemble.

The Side Walls

One thing that I'm always looking for are mesh sides all around the bassinet. That appeals to me most since it lends itself to more of an open-air feel and gives visibility to your baby from any angle. 

But, another interesting feature with Newton beyond the mesh walls, is how you can unzip one of the side walls to serve as a bedside sleeper. 

For many parents that's incredibly convenient, especially for breastfeeding moms who want easy access along the bedside to their infant during late night feeds.

To share my personal experience, this was never something that we ever did or considered. We opted to keep our bassinets a few feet away from our bed, but either way, the sidewall can adapt to your preference.

Pricing and Buying Decision 

This bassinet in particular is priced at $299 and would largely be considered a premium option.

I would say it has a few similarities to others in its class, but doesn’t push into the next pricing tier of bassinets that start to implement tech like sounds, motions and vibrations.

This is going to be great if you are looking for a dual-function bassinet that is of a higher quality build and has a premium aesthetic with the addition of the birch frame – but don’t necessarily want any sort of tech integrations. It'll bode well for a lot of families, especially breast-feeding moms who like that bedside access and convenience.

Another note is if you fully intend on buying a Newton crib mattress, the transition from the bassinet to the crib might be a little easier since the sleep surfaces are very similar and have the same textures – so there's going to be some familiarity there.

Overall, Newton delivered yet another great sleep option for the first few months and it's definitely worthy of a registry add.

If you read up to this point and think this might be a good fit for your family, use the code DVB50 for $50 off the bassinet.