Venture Hush Bedside Crib at a glance
The original Hush bedside best crib by Venture was our first foray into the world of co-sleeping. It's been a fantastic item and is loved by parents all over the Uk as seen with it's raft of reviews and award winning pedigree. However as we always do at Venture we are constantly striving to improve our products when we can, so the Hush had recieved a huge update. The latest version of our Hush bedside crib takes all that made the first great and improves on them tenfold by offering two versions to suit peoples budgets.
We spoke to these real parent testers to get their review...
How did this product make your life easier?
Hannah: I love this product. The Venture hush bedside crib was brilliant as a beside me crib to lay my little one while they slept next to me. The side was able to be dropped to allow co-sleeping and to be able to get the baby out of the cot to feed during the night with ease. The size of the cot is great, it is much bigger than my normal beside me cot which meant that there is more room for them to grow and it will last longer than my previous one.
Maria: I love that I can have a bedside cot like this next to my bed that also allows me ease of co-sleeping. As a breastfeeding mother the fact that I can roll over and get my LO out of the cot without having to get out of bed is so helping for feeding my baby girl and then heading back to sleep myself with a bit more ease. Another feature I found useful was the height adjustment, with the SnuzPod4 which I’ve also tried, this adjustment needs tools to move the next-to-me style cot up or down, however the Venture Hush Bedside Crib can be done with a click of a button on either side.
Ruth: The Hush by Venture is a well-designed product and has some features which really help you out as a Mum. Firstly, the product can be easily moved around the room as comes with wheels. Therefore no lifting required once in location. Each wheel has a brake so can fix in one place. The product is fairly light-weight - not quite as light as a moses basket but more moveable than a full size cot. Secondly, the six height settings make the Hush very convenient to use, whether you are trying to attach to the bed or prefer as a stand alone. The full height of the Hush is great, especially for anyone with backache or sore arms from lifting. It definitely helped with the ‘roll’ of the baby into their bed with minimum disruption. Thirdly, the basket on the bottom is really convenient for storing change gear, spare blankets or sleeping bags, and/or a change of clothes. Finally, if you did have a baby with colic or reflux this product tilts, so can help little ones sleep better and safer.
Would you recommend this to other parents?
Kat: This product was super easy to put together and you could feel it was very high quality and stylish - it fit in with my decor easily. The crib is quite large so if you are concerned about outgrowing a Snuzpod and you have the space, then this will seemingly last much longer. I loved that it was on wheels and the Snuzpod is very heavy and clunky to move, and you wouldn't want to move with baby in it so found this a good feature. Also the visibility is much better on this product than the Snuzpod. The mesh is more see through so if you want to keep an eye on baby, it is much easier with this.
Katherine: Yes. There are many similar products on the market now. This one looks sophisticated and smart and would fit in with any bedroom. The storage tray is an advantage over some of the other similar products I have seen. The adjustable height makes it suitable for a range of beds. The sleeping surface is a good size.
Hannah: I would absolutely recommend this product to a friend or mum. It was great value, came quickly and the instructions were easy to follow. The grey colour was neutral and worked well within our room. It has an adjustable frame which meant that it was easily adapted to any size bed and folded down easily so we can travel with it or move it between rooms. It also came with a travel bag, which was great.
Would you choose this product above all others on the market?
Ruth: The co-sleeper crib is a good-size and would last longer than a Moses basket. The mattress appears to be a superior product to other moses baskets and cribs that I’ve seen. The product materials are really nice and as a product is enjoyable to use. The product is well-considered for Mums with some great design features – including the storage basket, six height settings, four wheels and tilt. Our little one has tested a range of products out; this was the only product where I felt he would go down relatively awake and be content to lie there without stimulation. I think the height settings, size of mattress and the mattress design can be credited with this. I am confident that our baby had a good night sleep in this co-sleeper. We did not test the co-sleeping element. However, the co-sleeper was attached to bed and was extremely easy to put in place. Unlike Chicco Next to Me does not come with travel bag but would pack to similar size.
Maria: The Hush is not too heavy and I can lift by myself to move it from upstairs to downstairs – the wheels then help manoeuvre the crib from one side of the bed/room to the other. This is a great feature when LO is sleeping and I need to bath my toddler, as I can bring the crib to the same room, or just outside. I do love how spacious the cot feels, there seems to be a lot of room for my LO to stretch out.
Hannah: I particularly loved that it had a tilt to it that helped reduce reflux and colic, as I used to have to put a towel under one side to support him and this was a safer and easier fix. There is also a storage compartment underneath the cot which was fab as it was so useful to put those items, like nappies, under the cot for easy access in the middle of the night. The cot is stylish, useful and looked nice and I would be very happy to have it in my bedroom. The grey colour keeps stains to a minimum and won't make yellow milk stains. It also had straps to strap the cot to our bed to ensure that the cot stayed safe.
What changes would you make to this product?
Kat: There are a couple things that I would change : The next to me function I couldn't really use as the flap doesn't lie flat. You would still need to pick your baby up out of the crib rather than slide the baby along. The straps going across the whole bed frame make it difficult to set up on your own. The height bars need 2 people to adjust, my husband caught his finger in it. The metal bar is cold at night when you're lifting your baby in and out of the crib which is quite uncomfortable. Would be better with a tilt function and a rocking function.
Katherine: A storage / transport bag would be useful (although I am aware that I received the product direct from manufacturer so it may well come with one when purchased commercially). As with all products of a similar nature the availability of appropriate sized and priced bedding is important, as is the ability to buy replacement mattresses to allow use with subsequent children.
Maria: I would love to see a tweak to the drop down feature on the side of the Hush. With other next-to-me style cots I’ve used the side comes down easily, without disturbing baby. The Hush is dropped down by the click of a button on either end, lifted off its attachment then brought down – it’s not ideal when I’m trying to be especially stealth mode at 3am and not wake my baby girl up. If I'm being picky, I'd also like to see a design change to the base/wheels as this feels like an office chair style.