Safe sleep without sacrificing beauty
January 22, 2020
I recently had my second child and seriously stressed about what my baby would sleep in when we brought her home from the hospital for the better part of my pregnancy. What I used for my first child was recalled after numerous infant deaths and that scared me and made me really examine every bassinet, cradle, etc for safe sleep protocols. Thank you Stellar Product Testing Panel for providing me with this bassinet; it has not only met safe sleep protocols, it has given me peace of mind, improved my sleep and my newborn's sleep and elevated our room's style.
The mamaRoo sleep bassinet features five different rocking motions, and one vibrating feature, all of which can be increased in speed. It also includes four realistic sounds (no more electronic loop that drives you crazy). But my favorite feature is the built in timer, so I can set a motion and sound to help my baby fall asleep, or stay asleep, or a sound to help drown out normal noises.
The motions of the mamaRoo are so much better than the traditional back and forth motions that most bouncer seats and cradles provide. When you're holding your baby, you're constantly changing your motion, direction and speed, and this bassinet allows you to mimic that change of speed and pattern of motion. Normal rocking is too monotonous for a fussy infant, so the ability to switch up the motions made soothing my baby easier. Sometimes when my baby is overly tired, the fast swing style and kangaroo motion really help to distract her and get her to calm down. Other times, when she is in between sleep cycles, or right after a night feeding, the vibrate feature and low setting white noise is all it takes to lull her back to sleep. And those are just two of the many combinations I use every day. It's so nice to have different rocking motions, different speeds and different sounds (with adjustable volume) to select from. This is so much more ingenious than the typical limited lullaby and rocking features in other bassinets.
For my first child, I used a sleeper with an incline which was later recalled. I was completely unaware of how dangerous they were for infants. After the recall, I was horrified that I had used it for so long. When I became pregnant again, I was so stressed about trying to find something safe for my baby to sleep in before she moves into her own room and crib. Once I saw the construction of this bassinet, I had total confidence in its safety; it gives me peace of mind knowing that the mattress is completely flat and firm, and the mesh sides have no corners or places that could obstruct breathing. I was a little worried about my baby rolling into one of the sides and not being able to breathe, but once I received the bassinet and set it up, I could tell that there were no areas where her breathing would be obstructed. The mesh sides are doubled so it provides slight light filtering, but would not prevent air flow if a baby was pressed directly against it. The oval shape also prevents any weird spots that a baby could get wedged in, again - peace of mind.
I love that the motions, even in the fastest speed, are never strong enough to physically move my baby. She feels the motions, but her little body is never rocked from being flat on her back. Another thing that is different (and so much better) about this bassinet is that when you don't have any motion setting turned on it is completely stable: no wobble like basically every other rocking style bassinet.
I liked the option of using the app, especially the timer function. The app's timer function really made me feel confident in being able to go back to sleep after a night feeding without worrying that a set motion would end up waking my baby up after initially coaxing her to sleep. I do wish that there was also a timer function on the control panel.
The bassinet as a whole is so sleek and modern looking that it elevated the whole room, which is really nice when you're sharing your bedroom with your infant. The legs are splayed in a nod to midcentury modern styling, and the finish of the base and legs is eggshell so it doesn't show fingerprints or dust, and the color is the lightest grey color imaginable - gorgeous. Even though it's not a safety feature, I really love the accessory basket. It clips onto the legs and has a channel for tucking the electrical cord out of the way - such a smart design. The legs are adjustable; there is a small removable section to make the bassinet lower, but even though I'm only 5'2", I liked the higher setup.
The mamaRoo sleep bassinet has helped me and my baby through the first two months of wild sleep patterns. This bassinet is gorgeous, but more importantly, it has features that help my baby fall asleep and stay asleep safely, which helps me sleep.
This product review was collected by the manufacturer.