So with the release of the newest Orbit Baby product, their lovely bassinet cradle attachment that fits with their amazing Orbit Baby stroller system - it begs the question, do you really need a bassinet?

The answer to that questions is most definitely no!  But do you want a bassinet?  ABSOLUTELY!

I never had a bassinet with my first born.  We snapped his carseat in and out of the stroller, occasionally lay him down in his stroller for walks and overall this worked fine.  With my second child, however, I had a bassinet and loved it.  We slept Nathaniel often in the bassinet during the day so I could play all around the house with my older son and still keep the baby close by (away from dogs, his little brother’s smothering hugs - you get the picture.)  I also felt like it made Nathaniel a more flexible sleeper.  During the day he got used to the normal sounds of our busy household and learned to sleep through all of it.  It was easy to pop him onto the stroller chassis for a long walk and gaze at his beautiful sleeping face the whole time.  And at the end of walks - I could carry him into the house without waking him at all.

Also another big plus was that my husband used to stay up late and walk Nathaniel to sleep while I went to sleep earlier for some uninterrupted shut-eye.  Once he was asleep - my husband lay him in the bassinet, did some work on the computer, then brought him up to our bedroom and set the whole bassinet into our co-sleeper.  It was a the best way to transport a sleeping baby through our house we found.

Lastly - while you might only have a few fleeting months with your tiny baby in the bassinet before they are sitting up, looking around and interacting more with the world - I have such fond memories of those times.  I remember my neighborhood walks with my son in the bassinet and I felt like English Royalty pushing a “pram” through our neighborhood.  So whether you go all out for an English style pram - of just enjoy one of the lovely bassinet attachments made to fit many high quality strollers (Valco, Baby Jogger, Inglesina, Bugaboo, to name a few), you might want to consider treating your prince or princess to their own bassinet ride.