Chicco Next2Me Dream Review

This is my top newborn must have, so I just wanted to go through exactly why I think it’s so amazing. In the UK, it’s recommended that babies are in the same room as their parents, or their caregivers, for the first six months, to prevent SIDS as much as possible. And obviously babies love being next to their parents and appear to sleep much better when they can almost feel you breathing on them!

A bedside crib is ideal for that. After doing our research, we decided to go for the Chicco Next2Me Dream. It has breathable mesh side panels so that if a baby does press their face up against it, they won’t suffocate. One of the sides drops down so that you can have the crib right up against your bed or you can use it as a stand alone crib. We didn’t use the stand alone option but the crib was pressed up against our bed for quite a few months; firstly as a next2 me crib that Babybel slept in, and then later on as a rather expensive bed guard once Babybel decided she needed to sleep in with me.

It has 10 height settings so should be compatible with most beds, and the legs fold in, meaning that you can use it with a divan bed, as it just butts right up against it. Ours is a divan, and we didn’t have any problems with getting it to fit nicely. The description says it’s twice the size of a Moses basket, meaning that you should be able to get plenty of use out of it. The recommendation is to stop using it once your baby is 9kg or can pull themselves up, whichever comes first. Although Babybel stopped sleeping in it not long after the four month sleep regression hit, I would often put her in the while I was getting dressed or doing things like putting washing away, until she was able to pull herself up.

It’s got a rocking option as well. It’s really easy to switch into the rocking mode, but we only used that once or twice as it was always up against the side of our bed. It’s got wheels so it’s easy to move around and comes with a travel bag as well so that you can take with you if you go away.

It was an absolute essential for me in the early days. It meant that Babybel was right next to me and I could reach out and touch her if she was just stiring, but not actually waking up properly. I could just pat her back to sleep and she liked to sleep with like our hands resting on her stomach, which was easy to do when she was only a few inches away from me. 

It also meant that I didn’t need to get out of bed when she needed a feed as I could just reach over and lift her out. Ideally, you would be able to breastfeed your baby while they were in the crib, but the design of it means that the crib is not supposed to be completely in line with your bed, for safety reasons, making it a little awkward to feed in the side-lying position.

I found that the sheets that came with the crib, that were supplied by Chicco, didn’t actually fit properly. When you put the sheet on the mattress, it bent the mattress as it was too small, so I ended up buying some sheets from Amazon that fit really well.

The crib retails at around £150.00 and for me, it was definitely worth the money. If you use a mattress protector, the crib stays in almost pristine condition, as babies barely move while they’re in it, meaning that you can reuse it, sell it on, or pass it to someone else.