What is the Best Travel Crib: Newton, Guava, or Baby Bjorn?

I managed to try three of the best travel cribs: Newton Compact, Guava Lotus, and the BabyBjörn Play Yard Light. Even though there are a lot of similarities, there are some crucial differences.

As both a well seasoned traveler, and now a mom, I had one clear preference: The Guava Lotus. It was designed with usability and durability in mind. With replaceable parts and accessories that grow with you. I love using it both for travel, and even at home when I need a portable sleep space. Continue reading for my full review and comparison.

Psst! This blog post contains affiliate links in it which sends me a bit of extra money if you use them… at no extra cost to you!

TL;DR Best Travel Crib: Newton, Guava, Vs. BabyBjörn

Here’s a quick comparison on the basics for each travel crib, but continue reading for a more in depth review on each travel crib.

	Newton Compact	Guava Lotus	BabyBjörn
Size Closed	24”L x 10”W x 10”H	24″L x 12″W x 8″H	23.5″L x 19″W x 5.5″H
Size Open	47”L x 34”W x 27”H	45.5″L x 31.5″W x 25.5″H	44″L x 32″W x 24″H
Sleep Surface	38”L x 24”W	41.5″L x 23.5″W x 1.4″H	41″L x 23.5″W x 1.2″H
Weight	13 lbs	15 lbs	13 lbs
Carry Bag	Duffel & Backpack	Duffel & Backpack	Duffel
Side Access	Yes	Yes	No
Replaceable Parts	No	Yes	Yes
Bassinet	No	Yes	No
Return Policy	100 nights with use	60 days with use	30 Days
Warranty	12 month Limited warranty	2 year warranty	10 years
Price	$200 (with fitted sheet)	$300 (but usually $50 off)	$300 (with fitted sheet)
My Review	My Pick	Smaller & Budget	Avoid
Shop	Amazon	Amazon	Amazon

a beige travel crib, the newton compact, is in the front of the frame, it fits in perfectly with the decor of the house. A wood buffet behind it and leaf patterned drapes in the distance. — Newton Compact Travel Crib

directly in the middle of the photo, very plane is the guava lotus travel crib. The legs are white and stick out, while the crib is made out of grey mesh. The wall behind it is pure white, making the travel crib pop. — Newton Compact Travel Crib

My Pick: Guava Lotus Travel Crib

I ultimately chose the Guava Lotus travel crib as my portable crib of choice. It’s the top brand for travel cribs and there’s a clear difference. There was no comparing it to the Newton or the BabyBjörn from the quality to the usability. The downside is the heavier weight and larger size, but it still had the most features.

Why I love it?

Side zipper
Backpack carry bag
Replaceable parts (bag, sheets)
Fitted sheet with holes for straps to easily fit through on set up
Simple set up / tear down with visual instructions on the travel crib itself
Great accessories for sale (bassinet, nap shade)

What could be improved:

Fitting it back in the bag could easier
2 lbs heavier than competitors
No sheet included with price
Least aesthetic design

Shop: Guava Lotus Travel Crib on Amazon.

a close up of the guava lotus travel crib side access zipper. It's half zipped up and half unzipped.

Extra Accessories & Replacements for Sale

The best part about the Guava Lotus are the added accessories for sale. They are the only travel crib to offer a bassinet option, adding to the longevity of the product. Maybe you don’t need it when you first buy the Guava, but I like knowing this is an option if my family grows one day.

On top of that, it also has a nap & sun shade and mosquito net for sale. The nap shade is especially useful for darkening their nap space, and I wish I would have bought it sooner. This can be an alternative to the Slumber Pod which is quite the expensive add on and takes up even more space.

Although it doesn’t come with a sheet, you can buy it separately. Their sheets are also better than the other brands because they’re made with holes to perfectly fit with the mattress straps (not hindering the set up if you’re using a sheet).

Guava also sells the bag separately if you need to replace it.

Must Have Features: Backpack & Side Zipper Access

For a traveler and a mom, you can’t buy a travel crib without both a backpack carry bag and side zipper.

The backpack carry bag gives you hands free traveling. This is very handy when you already have so much to carry and unload. It frees up your hands, to carry something else (like your baby) or even just to open a door.

The side access zipper saves your back. The Guava Lotus (and the other travel cribs I tried) are all floor cribs. This means the mattress lays on the floor, (which means there’s no weight restrictions). The downside is that it’s hard to pick up and put down your baby… especially when they can’t stand yet. This changes with the side zipper access! I’ve used the side zipper to put him in bed when he’s already asleep and take him out to transfer him to the car. But I’ve also used it to lie next to my baby while he’s trying to fall asleep in a strange place and wanted some comfort .

P.S. The lack of a backpack and side zipper are the main reasons why I can’t recommend the BabyBjörn travel crib. It doesn’t have either of these features. If you’re looking for a lighter option from the Guava, the better travel crib is the Newton travel crib (my review is coming up next, or jump straight to it!).

a woman stands with her back to the camera, she's about to walk out the front door. The Guava Family backpack sits on her back, it's pretty much the size of her back, going from the bottom of her neck until just above her bum. — Guava Lotus travel bag

the newton travel crib backpack, you can see the strands are coming out of the bag. It sits in the front of a door, outside of a house, just waiting to be picked up. — Guava Lotus travel bag

Easy Set Up & Tear Down

The travel crib set ups are all very similar and straightforward. The main factor that changes is how you attach the mattress to keep it flat on the floor. This preference can be different for everyone, but I liked the clip system from the Guava Lotus travel crib the best.

On top of that, it has the set up and tear down instructions sewed as a tag on the crib. This way you always have them with you when you need them. This is especially useful when you haven’t set up the crib in a while. They also provide symbols on the crib itself to make tear down even easier.

As I mentioned, you don’t need the sheet, but if you decide to buy one from Guava, it has intentional holes in it for the straps to go through. Having set up other floor laying travel cribs with a sheet, this was a game changer, making it even faster to set up.

Larger Size

It’s important to note that the Guava is the largest and heaviest of the travel cribs. But the larger size of the Guava is by no means LARGE. It’s still very much a compact travel crib. And the slightly larger size means it will last that much longer for your baby, as they won’t grow out of it as quickly. The heavier weight I also don’t mind because it felt sturdier which hopefully means it will last longer.

two travel cribs sits side by side in the middle of a large den . The one of the left: the guava lotus travel crib, a grey with white, fully mesh design. There's a tag still attached to it, and there's a moon symbol on the top. Next to it on the right is the beige Newton compact travel crib, looking like it's slightly smaller (despite the dimensions) that should mean it's bigger. You can't completely see through the crib because there's solid fabric blocking your view.

Smaller & More Budget Friendly Option: Newton Compact

The Newton Compact travel crib is very similar to the Guava; it has a side zipper and backpack carry bag. But it’s also a full 2 lbs lighter than the Guava and the size when closed is much smaller. This makes it even easier to travel with, and I won’t lie, the smaller size was very tempting. It’s also about $100 cheaper than the Guava and BabyBjörn, and includes one sheet.

If you’re looking for a lightweight and budget friendly travel crib, you can’t go wrong with the Newton Compact travel crib.

P.S.: Newton makes two travel cribs, a compact version (which I’m reviewing) and a much larger deluxe travel crib. If you’re interested in the larger Newton Deluxe Travel Crib, you can see it on Amazon.

Why I love it?

Cheapest
Most aesthetic design
Fully washable (even the mattress)
Side zipper access

What could be improved:

Quality (felt a little wobbly when set up)
Mattress had a smell
No replaceable parts for sale (bag)
Velcro attachment
Not completely mesh
Largest size when open, but smallest sleep surface

Shop: Newton Baby Compact Travel Crib on Amazon.

the newton compact travel crib sits on the floor in the den, with a large tv behind it and an armchair with a poof directly in front of it, fitting right in to the house.

The Newton Travel Crib Design

Even though the Newton travel crib looks similar to the other two travel cribs, I like their design the best. I love the soft light colour offered (I got it in beige) compared to the harsher darker colours. It looked like it matched every room and didn’t immediately draw your eye to it.

Unfortunately, what I loved about the design was also to its detriment. The Newton is the only travel crib on this list without a completely mesh siding. This actually makes it so that there are blind spots. If your baby finds themselves sleeping in the corner (which mine often does) then you won’t be able to see them.

Normally, if this is your permanent set up, you would mount your camera on the wall so you can have a top down view. Of course, if you’re traveling and changing spaces this isn’t exactly an option. It’s already hard to set up the camera on the go, you don’t want anything hindering your view to start with.

Another factor that I don’t love about the design is the velcro. They use velcro under the mattress to keep it flat. I read reviews where people complained that their toddler was able to lift up the mattress. Velcro isn’t exactly a strong locking system. I also don’t like velcro because it can ruin fabrics if it’s rubbed too many times against it. The use of velcro doesn’t seem like the best tool for this, and ultimately felt like a way to save on costs.

a closeup of the newton travel crib where you can now clearly see the name, newton on the top of the travel crib, written in a darker, complimentary beige brown.

Fully Washable

The Newton travel crib however was a favourite because it’s fully washable, and the only one that is. No joke, you can wash the actual mattress too. At first, I loved this idea, especially when my baby was peeing through his diaper every night.

But once I saw the mattress (and smelled it… which wasn’t great), I realized that I would never actually wash the mattress. When do I ever feel the need to wash is daily crib mattress at home? So it’s a bit of a useless feature. And it also just seems like a hassle. To wash it you have to hose it down either outside or in the shower… and then you’ll have to wait for it to try before using it again.

And on top of that, the mattress also had a plastic smell to it. Maybe this would air out over time but it didn’t feel right to let my baby smell that while he slept.

the closeup of the inside of the mattress. The cover has been unzipped and a hand is holding it open to show the wovenaire mattress, which looks like squiggly plastic strings all intertwined.

Avoid: BabyBjörn Travel Crib

The BabyBjörn travel crib is a good option if you’re looking for a flatter size and shape in the carry bag. The carry bag is much slimmer than the other two, allowing for easier packing. The BabyBjörn is also the only travel crib where you can also buy a mattress replacement.

Why I love it?

Lightweight
Replaceable Parts
Slim packed design

What could be improved:

Carry bag awkward size
Hook & loop mattress attachment
No side zipper access

Shop: BabyBjörn Travel crib on Amazon.

Fully Replaceable Parts

Every item from the BabyBjörn travel crib can be replaced, I’m talking the sheet, mattress, and the carry bag. This is very useful if you plan on keeping this for a long time and using it a lot. Now you don’t have to worry about stains or it wearing out, you can just replace it when you need to.

the babybjörn travel crib is sit up ready to be used in a bedroom with a bed behind it. The legs are black, which doesn't match the grey fabric of the crib.

Carry Bag

The BabyBjörn travel crib folds up into a flat briefcase style carry bag. This is different from a more thicker rectangle style duffel that turns into a backpack. It’s slim design makes it easy for packing away, you can easily stack on top of it in your trunk (or slide it under a bed for storage). But it’s a bit awkward to carry. The handles are very small especially when compared to the larger size of the travel crib.

Set Up & Tear Down: Mattress Attachments

As I’ve mentioned, each travel crib has their own unique way of attaching the mattress to keep it flat on the floor. I liked the Guava’s clip method the best, and it was the easiest to install and uninstall, the velcro from the Newton was a cheap design. But the Babybjörn was by far the worst with a hook and loop system.

Babyjörn colour coded the a hook and loop red to easily identify the tab to pull out. Unfortunately, to put the small loop on the even smaller hook proved a tedious task – especially when you’re bent over and can’t really see what you’re doing. On top of that, there’s also no side zipper, which would make this task easier.

the clip system of the guava lotus , unattached. — Guava Clip

closeup of the velcro underneath the newton travel crib, with a hand that is holding the tab from the mattress that needs to be attached to it. — Guava Clip

Baby Travel Essentials

I cannot recommend the Uppababy Minu V3 travel stroller enough. The only negative is that the basket is a bit on the smaller size, but otherwise it’s perfect for an every day stroller at home and a travel stroller. It has a single hand close, it can fit a bucket car seat, it’s newborn friendly, and it fits in the overhead bin.

With the travel stroller, I also recommend bringing a carrier, like the Ergo Baby Classic. This is great for boarding a plane, and for when the stroller isn’t accepted (or just when the baby is being fussy and needs to sleep!).

I bottle fed my baby and used a Reduce 40 oz water bottle to store his bottle for the day. I used Dr. Browns Bottles and the Reuse Bottle. It fit the bottle with a few ice cubes to keep it cold for the day. The reusable bottle also fit in the Uppabbaby cup holder to keep the bottle up right and easy to carry.

To travel lighter, you can ask your accommodation for a crib or my travel crib of choice is the Guava Lotus. It is on the pricier side, but I like that it has a zipper side opening, a backpack bag for hands free carrying, and is very light.

See all my baby travel essentials on my Amazon Storefront.

What is the Best Travel Crib: Newton, Guava, or Baby Bjorn?

TL;DR Best Travel Crib: Newton, Guava, Vs. BabyBjörn

My Pick: Guava Lotus Travel Crib

Extra Accessories & Replacements for Sale