DockATot Review

DockATot Review

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This review contains affiliate links. Product was purchased by me and opinions remain my own. For more information, see my full disclosure policy.

dockatotreview004

One of the first baby products on my registry was a cute little swiveling bassinet that sits next to the parents’ bed. I had already decided we would be breastfeeding, and having my baby near me seemed like an easy and lazy way for me to meet his needs during the middle of the night. I couldn’t imagine trudging out of bed every few hours to another room, nursing him, and then getting back into bed. So this seemed like a great solution. My son, however, had different ideas. The instant anyone put him down he was up and crying. We tried swaddling, putting him down drowsy, putting him down when he was in a deep sleep, vibrating function, lullabies, white noise, everything. At most he would sleep 30 minutes and then wake up. After a few sleepless nights of this, eventually we (I) gave in, and he slept on my chest with pillows propping my arms to hold him in place. My husband and I knew this was not an ideal situation, but figured it was more dangerous to have parents trying to function on one hour of sleep. With our son quickly growing, we knew this arrangement couldn’t last much longer.

Enter the DockATot. What’s a DockATot?

DockATot... in all it's glory!
DockATot… in all it’s glory!

DockATot™ Deluxe and DockATot™ Grand are designed to be comfy and ultra-reliable lounging docks for little ones ages 0-36 months. You can use DockATot™ for safe co-sleeping, supervised tummy time, play time, snuggle time, supervised naps, as a changing station, or really just any time you need to put baby down in a comforting spot. The Grand is a cozy spot for toddlers to sleep in overnight and is ideal for safely easing the crib to bed transition. DockATot™ is lightweight and incredibly easy to travel with. DockATot™ provides a cozy, safe and non-toxic environment for tots anywhere they go.

Or as I call it, my holy grail of baby sleep!

Sleeping in the dockatot
Ours even came with sleepy dust

The DockAToT provides a snug fit for infants for that perfect womb feeling. It also helps with the baby’s Moro (Startle) reflex that can wake some babies up. Both the sides and bottom of it are air permeable, meaning should a baby’s head get turned on one of those, he will still be able to breathe. Although the makers suggest baby be placed on their back to sleep, the Dockatot is designed to be safe in all sleeping positions. The bumpers of the bed are high and firm so parents are unlikely to roll over the bed. They are available in two sizes the deluxe (0-8 months) and the grande (9-36 months). I purchased the deluxe.

Seriously, this thing is amazing! The first night we got it my little man slept 7 hours straight. I actually woke up before him (from engorged boobs, haha)!



We take it with us almost everywhere as it is very portable (it even has handles). Grandma’s house, parties, even baby yoga. Mainly, we use it for safer cosleeping. He sleeps between my husband and I in the center of the bed at the top of our mattress. Usually, I end up using the sides as my pillow so I am always close to him. Unfortunately, it doesn’t leave much room in bed for my husband and me, although this may be our bed’s fault rather than his (Our bed is a standard Queen).

It’s also great for play time and just hanging out. He’ll often spend part of his morning in this while I eat breakfast and read him a story. The sides are firm enough that this can also be used during tummy time; just place baby over the bumper.

Hanging out on his dockatot.
Hanging out on his dockatot.

And bonus! Multiple members of our family love it.

Cats love the dockatot!
Cats love the dockatot!

Although the deluxe is intended for 0-8 months, there’s no reason it can’t be used for longer. The bottom of the dock has a buckle that you can leave open or closed depending on the length of the baby. When my son 0-4 months, we kept it buckled; at 8 months he is much longer but still fits in the dock. As long as baby fits width wise, you can continue using it, and keep in mind the fit is intended to be snug to help baby feel secure as they sleep.

8 month old baby in the dockatot, bottom unbuckled.
At 8 months, still fits in his Dockatot. Pardon his bedhead.

One of the cons of the DockATot is that it is a huge pain to clean. Once you take off the cover, you’ll note the bed is in two pieces; the mattress and the bumper. The bumper is designed to have a really snug fit in the bed so children can’t roll out and adults can’t roll in. It’s a great safety feature, but it makes it difficult to get the bed back into the cover. Which is a huge pain if you have an accident in the middle of the night. It’s not a quick on and off. Having an additional cover would help, but it leads me to my next point.

The DockaTot is not cheap. A Deluxe will run you between $165-185 before tax. This is comparably cheaper then a crib, so in that regard it may actually be a better deal. My biggest complaint is that additional covers run an additional $65-85. They are specially made for the bed, so if you want an additional cover, you have no choice but to purchase from the company. I would love to have an additional cover for when ours gets too dirty, but it’s not something I can justify at this point.

Additionally, once the Dock is opened it is not returnable. It’s a scary thought putting out $160+ not knowing if this will be a product your baby likes or not. I mulled over this purchase for a couple weeks before finally ordering. I finally took the plunge, and my only regret is not doing it sooner.

Overall, I love our DockATot and can’t stop talking about it. I wish we had had this from the time my son was born; it would’ve saved us a lot of stress with our unsafe cosleeping habits.

And as for our bassinet? Well, we placed it in front of a window so our cats can have a nice perch. We consider it an expensive cat bed. At least something’s getting use out of it right?

Ready to get your own? You can purchase on the DockaTot official website. Click here to recieve a $10 off discount code! (affiliate link). You can also purchase one on Amazon. Click here to purchase the DockATot deluxe on Amazon. (affiliate link)

If you purchase one, let me know what you think in the comments below.

56 Comments

    • Brittany

      Thank you so much for this unbiased review and the follow up information you left in the comments section. My baby boy is due 11/1/16 and I have been going back and forth on whether or not I will purchase the dockAtot. Unfortunately it seems a lot of the Amazaon reviews may be biased as I think the dockAtot company was offering a discount for reviews. Like many have mentioned the price is nothing to sneeze at so I really appreciated all of the helpful information that you included.

      • Thank you for your kind words! Yes, I went back and fourth for a few weeks on purchasing the dock because of the price – especially since I was on maternity leave which cut part of my salary. Their lack of a return policy didn’t help either. Overall, it was one of our best baby purchases. Let me know if you have any questions. 🙂 And best of luck with your birth and new baby!

  1. Kelsey

    After reading your review I am now more convinced than ever we NEED one! That being said if you decide to sell yours when you are done with it please let me know (:

    • I’m glad you found the review helpful! We’ve moved on to the grand at this point, but we just found out we have another on the way, so our deluxe will finally be seeing some more action next year. 🙂

      • Jess

        We too have been fighting with our little one to sleep! She was fine in her bassinet for 4-5 weeks and now refuses to sleep in it!
        Like you, we have found ourselves sleeping with pillows proped and it scares me!
        She is 6 weeks today and I’m just not sure it’s worthwhile to spend the $300 (Canadian!) to get one now! But it may also help transition her to the crib later. I wish we would have found this when she was a newborn! Think it would still be worth ordering now?!?

        • Also, how hard has it been to keep clean?
          I’m wondering if it’s worthwhile to just order it with the black and white cover right off the hop instead of the white which I worry about keeping clean!

          • The biggest barrier for us getting the Dockatot was definitely the price and the no return policy. I grappled with the decision for about a week before purchasing it, since I was worried if he didn’t like it we wouldn’t be able to return it. I’m super glad we ended up getting it. I found the snugness of the bumpers on the side really helped his sleep. I don’t think 6 weeks is too old to purchase it. We actually bought ours when Ethan was 8 weeks old, and continued to use it until he was 9 months old and started rolling in his sleep (now he’s in the dockatot grand in a sidecar crib next to our bed). So we did get a lot of use out of it.

            Cleaning it was a huge pain for me. It is machine washable, but getting the cover back on is a challenge due to how snug it is (designed to be snug on purpose). I admit, I didn’t wash it nearly as much as I should have because of this. When Ethan was younger, most of the dirtyness of it came from leaking diapers or a sweaty baby head, rather than dirt or dust. So it usually didn’t look that dirty actually.

          • Jessica Jackson

            Thanks for your advice! I may order, but maybe in the black and white print.. maybe it would help hid any dirtiness 🙂

          • Best of luck! Let me know if it helps your baby (and you!) get better sleep. 🙂

  2. Brigid

    I am curious…my little one will be 6 weeks Saturday and just like you the minute you pick her up she wakes up which to be honest most times I don’t mind but at night it’s the same thing of her sleeping on my chest. I use just a regular pillow to nurse her and she falls asleep on the pillow and if I move her she’s awake…have you breastfeed with kiddo in the dock a tot?!
    If you could e mail me that would be awesome! Thank you!

    • Hi Brigid,

      I think you’ll get a notification of my comment, but I will email it to you as well.

      Yes! I have nursed my little one to sleep in the dockatot. The advantage is exactly what you describe; I didn’t have to move him into the dock after he was done sleeping. I actually wrote an article specifically about nursing in my dockatot. You can read it (including a picture) at “How We Nurse in the DockaTot“. Typically, I would lie not quite on my tummy, not quite my side with him laying on his back or side in the dock. It’s not the most comfortable position, but then he’d already be asleep in the dock so I considered it a small sacrifice. Once he was asleep, I could also move the dockatot by slowly dragging it across the bed (never lifting).

  3. Amy Rogers

    My baby is now 9 months old. We have just started cosleepingbwith him and it had been a great thing for me, but we are wanting to start getting him into a crib. Can this be used in a crib? He is also ridiculously hard to lay down. He just really likes to be snuggled so I am hoping that this might help get him into a better napping routine. The Grande is crazy expensive, but if they can use it until they are three it might be worth it. I’m torn, but really struggling to find a safer option for us.

    • The US Dockatot instructions recommend against placing it in a crib or bassinet, however if you look at the European version of the dockatot (named the Sleepyhead), it states that it IS safe to place in a crib or bassinet (and there are many pictures on their instagram page of doing just so). The difference largely seems to be country regulations (The US’ stricter regulations likely have to do with the now recalled ‘nap nanny’).

      To be honest, we don’t use our grande as much as we did our deluxe. The deluxe is designed to be snug around baby to help them feel secure, however, the grande being bigger just doesn’t do that. At about 7 months, we started having difficulty putting our little guy to sleep. As soon as I would lay him down, he would roll over to his tummy and crawl away! It didn’t matter where I laid him; bed, dockatot, crib – same problem. We have a crib sidecarred to our bed now that the grande is in since it’s much too big to have in the middle of our queen sized bed. Although we still have the crib and dockatot on the side of our bed, Ethan has been sleeping in our bed most nights since he was about 8 months old (he’s 1 now). The only person that seems to be able to get him into his grande is his babysitter who comes twice a week, and only for naps. Occasionally at night when he’s in a deep sleep I can transfer him into it so I can stretch out a little bit.

      Would you still like to cosleep? Dr. Sears has a great article on cosleeping and how to do it safely. http://www.askdrsears.com/topics/health-concerns/sleep-problems/sleep-safety/cosleeping-safely Similarly, Hobo Mama has a great tutorial with pictures on safe cosleeping that helped me feel better with my decision: http://www.hobomama.com/2010/06/how-to-cosleep-safely-tutorial-in.html

      Once baby can roll in their sleep, cosleeping does become safer (with risks reduced) but the risk never becomes 0.

      I hope this helps. If you have the extra money, it might be worth it to try the grande. For us though, it just didn’t seem to help.

  4. Brooke

    My little is. 16 weeks… is it too late? We cosleep and I would feel so much better with her in one of these

    • No, definitely not too late! The deluxe is designed to use with 0-9 month old babies, but if you’re baby still fits and is sleeping well in it, there’s no reason you couldn’t continue to use it for longer.

      We used ours up until around the 9 month mark; we only switched to the grande because my son started rolling in his sleep and the grande allowed him to do so. At 12 months, he actually still fits in the deluxe! (the the clips undone).

  5. Tammy

    I am looking in to getting a dockatot but my son is 6.5 months. We just transitioned him to his crib from a rock n sleeper a couple of weeks ago. He is at times hard to settle in the crib and actually still likes to be swaddled. I want to get him out of the swaddle but still make him feel secure. Long story short, what size dockatot would you recommend? He is over 20lbs! And about 27inches long. Thank you!!

    • I would recommend the dockatot deluxe. It’s smaller size and more rigid bumpers make a more snug and secure feeling for baby. Keep in mind you want it to be snug so baby feels that closeness. The bottom of the dockatot can be clipped or unclipped to accommodate a taller baby. We started keeping ours unclipped at around 5 months. Although it’s recommended for 0-9 months, if your baby still likes it, you can use it much longer than that. Our 1 year old still fits in it (He’s 24 pounds and 32 inches). The only reason we got the bigger one, was because he started rolling in his sleep, and would become upset if he couldn’t.

      When we transitioned out of the swaddle, we left one arm out for about a week, then 2 arms out, before finally ditching it completely. Worked great for us.

      Best of luck!

  6. Missy Duncan

    My little was has been sleeping her dock a tot since she was 3 months and I have loved every minute of it. Now she is almost 8 months and she is rolling to her stomach. Do you suggest buying the bigger dock a tot? She is still pretty small.

    • If she’s still sleeping well in the deluxe I would stick to using that as long as possible. The bottom of the dock is breathable, and okay for tummy sleepers.

      We got the grande when my son started rolling over in his sleep, as it seemed to make him angry he couldn’t move. Although, size wise, he could still fit in the deluxe with it unclipped. Although my son will occasionally sleep in the grande, we didn’t find that it helped him sleep quite like the deluxe did.

  7. Lisa

    We love our DockaTot, but I too get frustrated with taking it off to wash. I am wondering if your cover feels like it shrunk at all? I have washed it a few times and it seems like the fabric is so tight that when my baby is laying on it, the fabric isn’t flat against the bottom pad if that makes sense. Where his head would go it’s so tight that his head doesn’t lay flat on it. Is this normal??

    • I’m not sure if this is normal. The DockaTot cover definitely is a snug fit which makes it difficult to put back on, but I don’t think it should be so snug that even when baby is laying on it it’s not against the pad. Can you get it zipped up all the way?

      • I ended up ordering a new cover. The white one seems to be a better material and fits great

        • That’s great! I loved the patterns they offered, but bought both of mine in the plain white. Are the covers made out of a different material than the plain white?

  8. Courtney

    My baby wont be born until December but I was imagining using the dockatot in the bassinet next to our bed. Do you think its okay to try it right off the bat? Or wait a few months to see if she can sleep with just a swaddle in the bassinet? I bought a barely used dockatot on Craigslist for a great price so now I just need to figure out when to introduce it. I just worry about creating a dependency. Would love to hear your thoughts!

    Thank you!

    • It’s hard to say – it will really depend on the temperament of baby. My son (now 14 months) can pretty much sleep anywhere, but he has always slept better when he was in the dockatot (now in the grand, but he was previously in the deluxe). So it’s fully possible your baby won’t need it at all and will sleep anywhere, or it’s possible they will only be able to sleep in it.

      Our next baby is due 3/2017 and I plan on using the dockatot from the beginning. It’s fairly light and portable so if I need to I can transport it elsewhere, although for us, I don’t think it will be often.

      I have heard it makes the transition from bassinet to crib easier since you can place it in both. My son hated the bassinet so we skipped it, but it did help us to transition him into a crib that is sidecarred next to us.

      Sorry that wasn’t a definitive answer, but I hope it helps!

    • My baby sleeps in his DockaTot in his bassinet. That’s the only way he sleeps. It also keeps him nice and snug so he’s not wiggling all around the bassinet

  9. Meredith

    I just ordered one this week – do you think I can order an extra cover and put it over the white one it comes with? Would that make it easier to get back on?
    Thanks!!

    • No, unfortunately due to the way it’s structured I don’t think it would be possible. The inside of the dockatot is in two pieces, the bumper and the mattress, each which are stuffed into the cover and zipped up separately. (For a visual, look at DockaTot’s Spare Parts page)

  10. Clayton

    Hi there, thanks for the review. Still n the fence re: this, but I ain’t the one breastfeeding, you know? ?. Question: What do you mean by this: “The sides are firm enough that this can also be used during tummy time; just place baby over the bumper.”. I’m sorry, bit I can’t visualize what you mean. Thanks!

    • My husband wasn’t sold on it working either, and honestly I wasn’t too, but I was desperate enough to try almost anything and thankfully it worked out for us!

      The sides are firm enough, so if you put baby half in and half out of the dock it can be used to prop them upright so they can enjoy tummy time. Similiar to tummy time with the boppy. I don’t have a picture of my son using it this way, but the DockaTot website has some great images of it here.

      • Clayton

        Gotcha! Thanks!

  11. Lindsey

    Thank you for your great review! I have a couple ponderings…I don’t want to co-sleep forever. We are on baby number 2 and with baby number 1, we moved her out of our room at 4 weeks because I was constantly worried of whether she was breathing right/wrong/too quiet/too loud etc. She was just a mere 10 feet away in the other bedroom with the door open so I could still here her breathing, but I couldn’t watch her every breath so I finally was able to get some sleep between nursing sessions.
    My “plan” for number 2 is to start them in the dockatot beside our bed. Do you think a sturdy table/night stand is OK to have them on? Obviously double checked for structure/size and what not. My love language is physical touch, so having baby between my husband and I in our king size bed makes me sad to think about it, however, when baby comes, I am sure this will be my smallest concern? Is it ok if the dock fits in our bassinet or cradle to place in there?

    My next question is transitioning to the crib…like I said, I don’t want to co-sleep forever, I have read on the website about not having the dock in the crib…this concerns me as where else would I have my 6 month baby sleep? On a mattress already on the ground? Does the transition to a bed come sooner with the use of a dock if it’s sole purpose isn’t to co-sleep but rather just sleep?

    Thank you!

    • No, I wouldn’t use a table/nightstand or anything without a side. Since you plan on using a crib in the future, I would just use the crib from the start with the dockatot. You can remove one side of the crib and place it against your bed, and place the dockatot in that. That’s actually how we have it set up now with our 1 year old, and how we plan on setting up our room when baby #2 arrives in March.

      I don’t have a picture handy of our setup, but it’s pretty similiar to this setup just with our dockatot inside: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/226517056236542662/

      It should work fine in a bassinet, cradle or pack and play too, but if you start with a crib the transition would be a lot more minimal.

      We use our dockatot in our toddler’s crib no problem (used when he was a baby too). The warning not to use it in a crib seems to be to comply with US baby manufacturing laws (influenced largely due to the Nap Nanny recall). If you look at the European website (http://www.sleepyheadofsweden.com/faq/), it carries no such warning.

      I hope this helps. 🙂

  12. Jill

    Hi stephanie!
    I know that this is a super old post but I was wondering at what age did you move your son from the deluxe to the grande? My 7 month old still sleeps in the deluxe but he seems really smushed in it on the sides (I have the bottom unbuckled) so I’m trying I decide if I should just wean him from the dock a tot all together or if I should purchase the grande. We are also right smack in the middle of a horrible sleep regression/teething/learning to sit on his own/etc. so I’m desperate to find a solution for the nighttime wakings. I’m so sleep deprived! Ugh!

    • We switched to the grande at around 9 months. My son has typically been pretty tall, so he didn’t so much outgrow it, rather, he started rolling over in his sleep and needed the extra space. Around that time, he also started having sleep issues. Once I got him to sleep he was okay, but it would literally take hours and hours to get him to go to sleep (or the worst was when he would sleep for 30 minutes, and then wake up and refuse to go back to sleep until midnight).

      Unfortunately, I didn’t find the grande to be helpful for these issues. Rather moving back his bedtime seemed to help a little bit, and then in a few weeks he seemed to outgrow the issue (but oh man, was I exhausted for those weeks).

      So it’s really hard for me to say if you should upgrade to the grand. Although I didn’t find it helpful for 9-12 months (Ethan actually just slept right in bed with me), I absolutely love it now (my son is 16 months). When we sleep together if he rolls over he’ll notice if I’m gone, and wake up and complain, but with the grand, he feels the bumper and puts himself back to sleep.

      If you have the money for it, I say definitely try it; even if you can’t return it, they have a pretty good resale value. If you’re on the fence, it might be a good idea to try some other things first. Have you read the no cry sleep solution by Janet Lansbury?

      • Jill

        Ugh I can’t imagine going through another sleep regression at 9 months, this one has been so bad, I wish he would sleep with me but he will only tolerate sleeping with me for an hour at a time :/ I will definitely check out the no cry sleep solution-did it work for you?
        Your blog is so so great, I come here often, thanks so much for the great advice!

        • Hopefully it’s just this regression for now (most likely your son is hitting the 8th month sleep regression early, and mine hit it a little late). Once Ethan was past the regression, things got pretty back to normal. It was a little rough making the transition from 1 naps to 2 naps around 14 months, but nothing compared to those sleepless nights when he was younger.

          Honestly, I haven’t read the first no cry sleep solution, as I thought it was a CIO method type book (but it’s definitely not!). Currently I’m reading the No Cry Sleep Solutions for newborns (for my baby on the way), and it’s full of information and ideas I wish I had thought about before my son was born. The other books in the series are on my to read list after I finish this one. It might be a good try before spending money on the grande (not that I’m saying the grande dockatot isn’t worth it – it’s just expensive!)

          And thank you! That really means a lot to me that you find my blog helpful. 🙂

  13. Hi Stephanie! Your blog is wonderful! My baby is 5 months and has been sleeping in his Dockatot Deluxe for a couple months (in his crib) . I don’t feel like it has been a miracle product for us, but when I put him in the crib without it he was all over the place and I felt like he liked the closeness of the Dockatot. He just rolled over in his Dockatot today! So he is currently sleeping on his tummy in it. I saw one of your previous comments said it is safe for babies to sleep on their tummies in it. So you feel it is fine even if it looks like his face is pressed against the sides and bottom? Do you think I should buy the grand? I’m thinking of trying him out in the crib without a Dockatot again, but I’m scared he won’t sleep well. (He’s been rolling over to his tummy for like a month or so, but hasn’t done it in his Dockatot until today). I also feel he is long, because I have had it Un buckled for a long time. I just want to know it is safe to have him sleeping on his tummy in it and now I’m wondering if I should buy the bigger one. I think he likes the sides.. sorry if I’m rambling! I hope to hear back from you! Thanks

    Sincerely,
    Kristi

    • Thank you so much! ❤

      I tried my son in a crib without the dockatot a few times, but he really seemed to like the snugness that it provides. Even now (at 17 months in the grande) the bumpers provide something for him to snuggle up into.

      Yes, they are safe for tummy sleeping. It has been designed for air permeability (see the safety standards at: https://dockatot.com/pages/safety). I’m not going to lie though; even though the mattress and bumper are air permeable, I moved my son a few times just because it made me feel better. 😉

      I’d wait on the grande until baby is over 9 months (and even beyond). My son was quite tall (in the 95th percentile for height), and we kept him in the deluxe for as long as possible. It’s fine for their feet to hang out; my son didn’t mind at all. The grande is wider too, so it doesn’t provide that same sense of snugness that the deluxe does, and the bumpers are also a lot softer meaning it’s easier for baby to get up over them.

      I hope this helps. 🙂

      • Thank you so much for the quick response and helpful advice!! I hope you have a wonderful rest of the week!! ♡♡♡

        Sincerely,
        Kristi

  14. ExhaustedMomma

    My daughter is 15 months and not sleeping through the night. Am interested in buying the Grand for her but am worried about her not liking it. Is your child still sleeping in theirs? Anyone else have any insight?

    • It’s hard to say. We purchased the grande (I’ll hopefully have a review of it soon) when he was 9 months old, but it wasn’t quite the holy grail baby item that the deluxe was for us. He actually spent a few months cosleeping in the same bed as us before we got him to sleep in the grande.

      My son is 17 months now, and has been sleeping in the grande for about 5 months now, which we have in a crib that is side-car-ed to our bed. He definitly wakes up less, since when he rolls, he’ll hit the bumpers and snuggle up to the bumpers (similiar to when he cosleeps and snuggling up to me), but it took time for us to get there.

      Are you still breastfeeding? A lot of breastfeeding toddlers will still wake up in the middle of the night for a few sips of milk. My son didn’t start sleeping through the night (he does still occaisionally wake up during sleep cycle transitions, but for the most part puts himself back to sleep) until he self-weaned 4 or 5 months ago due to my drying up from pregnancy hormones.

      It’s a big investment when you don’t even know if your child will like it. Occaisionally I’ve seen some people selling used ones on eBay, Craiglist or Facebook. You could try getting one used at a lower cost. (Or if she doesn’t like it you could try selling it. They actually have a pretty decent resale value).

      I hope this helps. 🙂

  15. Niki

    I really hope you wash your Dock A Tot after having your germ infested cat lay on there. Gross.

    • Thank you for your concern. The cover gets washed with the rest of our bedding.

      Also, there are many things in the world that are much germier than our cat, so I’m not concerned.

  16. Dana

    Thanks for the dockatot review. Great info! And same as we’ve heard from many friends (who are using currently) No one has the Halo Bassinest though, so still trying to figure out if dockatot fits inside the Halo Bassinest? I’m figuring since it ended up being your cat’s perch, not, but can you expand on that?
    Thanks in advance for your reply.

    • Yes! The dockatot is actually a perfect fit inside the halo bassinest. The only reason we ended up not using it inside our bassinest was height issues with our bed. Otherwise, very snug and secure!

  17. Shannon hartline

    Hi Stephanie,

    Thank you for this review. I need help deciding between the grande and the deluxe. My baby is almost 7 months old. Average size baby. Which would you suggest I purchase?

    Thanks so much

    Shannon

    • That’s a tough one. The deluxe is recommended for babies 0-9, as the sides are firmer and snugger. This really helps baby feel secure, while maintaining a safe environment for them. Many babies are comfortable in it even longer.

      The grande is a lot bigger with less firm sides. Is your baby rolling over in their sleep yet?

      I’m in the process of writing a post on the grand. My son likes it now, but it wasn’t quite the miracle that the delux was for us. The only reason we ended up switching was because he started rolling in his sleep and would wake up if he couldn’t.

      I would say the delux would be a better and safer option for you and baby RIGHT NOW, but you may or may not find yourself needing to upgrade in a few months, depending on baby’s preferences.

      Pricewise, they are both expensive so I definitly understand it being a tough decision, but they do have a pretty good resale value.

  18. Katie

    I agree that this is the best to keep baby sleeping well. My only concern is how much my baby daughter (now 8 months old) sweats in it. I know that sweaty heads are normal for babies but it soaks into the cushions so washing the cover doesn’t seem like enough. We’ve washed the cushions once but now they’re not as flat as they should be. Any suggestions on how to keep the DockATot clean from sweat?

    • Unfortunately, I don’t have any suggestions. I wouldn’t recommend adding anything over the dockatot as that could decrease the safety of the dock. The cushion will reflatten back with more use.

      Sorry this wasn’t more useful! It sounds like DockaTot should consider creating a water proof mattress cover.

  19. naoberle

    Hi! I’m wondering if you place the dock on top of your bedding you sleep under or underneath? Or do you and your husband have to use two separate blankets? I’m trying to picture the safest way to sleep next to it without disturbing each other pulling blankets around.

    • When we had our dock in between us, we had it pushed up to the top of the bed near our heads. It was small enough that it didn’t disturb our blankets.

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