Cariboo Gentle Motions Bassinet in Mahogany

Like many new parents, my wife and I agonized over what kind of bed to provide to our newborn. We did not have the advantage of having friends or family to provide a hand-me-down crib and we were concerned with safety; it seemed at the time that we were hearing of a crib recall nearly every other week as our daughter's due date approached. We spent hours and hours shopping, testing, and 'kicking the tires' of new cribs and didn't like what we saw. There were the bassinet/cribs that tried to do everything that ended up being massive. (they were bassinet/crib/daybed/changing table...) There were so many that were just plain cheap, covered in plastic top to bottom. And nearly all of them seemed to come with cheap, flimsy plastic casters on the legs to provide 'convenience' although it was beyond me why I would be wheeling baby and/or bassinet from area to area; all of these casters seemed to be of the cheapest kind, destined to break off or seize up at the earliest opportunity.In our search we came across the Cariboo line of bassinets. In our experience, this is what we found:* Natural materials: This really appealed to us. The frame is made of real wood and the cloth portion is washable cotton. I'm old fashioned in the way that I like things that are made of real wood and was especially concerned about various kinds of plastics surrounding where my baby will be sleeping.* Simple design: The frame is nothing complicated, just simple and very strong. There are no fancy latches or catches or locks to jam or break or pose a hazard to your little one. The frame is easy to set up and also very easy to take down:* Portability: No, this one can't roll around on cheesy plastic casters like an inexpensive office chair. But the frame does fold easily enough that it's no problem to throw it in the car (small Rav4 in our case) to take to the grandfolks for a sleepover. This is nice, as it provides baby a familiar place to sleep even when spending the night away from home. Though strong, the frame is lightweight enough to allow you to move the bassinet from room to room to keep baby close if you are doing an activity in another part of the house during nap time. If you are planning on having more than one bundle of joy, this unit folds very flat making it easy to store out of the way until the next stork delivery.* Quality: This is not a disposable piece of furniture, something I cannot say of the vast majority of cribs and bassinets that we saw. Indeed, ours is waiting to be used for our next child after being loaned out to a cousin for her baby. The bassinet frame is made of nicely finished wood and the basket of breathable cloth canvas. Workmanship and finish were excellent.* Function: This particular model is called 'gentle motions' because the cloth bedding is actually suspended from the main frame. This makes it very easy to rock the baby to sleep and it also provides some soothing motion due just to the baby's natural movements while sleeping. From the picture you can see that the cloth 'basket' is attached to two poles on either side of the frame that are in turn suspended by four straps. I was concerned at first that these would hold up; they did, of course and seem to be very, very strong.* Safety: This crib is JPMA (Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association) certified, which gave us peace of mind knowing that it met the latest safety standards. I also liked the fact that the construction was largely of natural materials; we wanted to keep plastics to a minimum in baby's environment to the extent possible.* Results: The key bottom line: Our daughter slept very soundly and comfortable in this bassinet. No matter what other good attributes it may have had, it would have failed had baby not liked it. For us, the 'gentle motions' feature was great and really soothed her to sleep. There are other models of the Cariboo that are less expensive without the suspension feature, but we were happy to have this one.* Cost: I've got to ding it for the cost. We were very fortunate to have been able to afford this bassinet, but the price these sell for really puts them into a 'boutique' category for me, and I think that's too bad. I believe this is a great product and while I do think it is worth it, there are many, many people who just can't afford to spend that kind of dough. Having a baby is expensive enough and it's miserable to have to pass up a great product for your tiny one just on account of cost. But price does matter.Other thoughts:As stated in the documentation that comes with this bassinet, it is only suitable up to a certain weight and/or until your baby learns to stand up - as with any other bassinet where the baby will need to move on to a larger crib. I do feel that our daughter slept better in this due to the motion and we really liked being able to take along with us on overnight trips. And, unlike many of the other products we saw it doesn't have gimmicks attached that require batteries. (what ever happened to good old air-powered mobiles?) For us, this is without question a five-star product and we love it and we'd get it again without doubt. Value is important to me, however, and as cost is an inescapable feature of any product that I have to spend my own dough on I've got to go with four stars; I don't mind paying more for value or for higher quality, but when something is two, three, even four times more expensive than alternatives, then it's got to cut into the rating, in my view.

I had to write about this bassinet that I just received. It is not only gorgeous, elegant, well made, earth-friendly, and incredibly practical for our lifestyle, I also just had the best experience with customer service on the phone. One piece got damaged in shipment, and I had no problem having them immediately send out a replacement, no questions asked. You get what you pay for, people. This is definitely worth it!