Silver Cross Nia Stroller & Bassinet Review - Hands-on!

Compact without compromise, the Nia is an ingenious travel stroller with exceptional comfort and versatility.

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  By: Tali Ditye, Ph.D., Co-founder

  Updated: November 8, 2026

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The Nia is a relatively new premium compact stroller with an unusual selling point: its newborn bassinet can fold while attached to the stroller.

We tested the stroller and bassinet together to see whether that clever design works as well in everyday life as it does on paper.

Let's take a closer look!

Full disclosure: Our opinions are based entirely on our own hands-on testing. Silver Cross did not sponsor this article. Product links may earn us affiliate commissions.

Our Silver Cross Nia Stroller & Bassinet Review

The Nia made a superb first impression. It combines upscale fabrics, very easy steering, a comfortable toddler seat, and a remarkably compact fold in both its stroller and bassinet configurations.

✔️  Extremely compact fold.
✔️  Folds with toddler seat attached.
✔️  Folds with bassinet attached!
✔️  True one-handed fold.
✔️  Comfortable toddler seat.
✔️  Luxurious bassinet.
✔️  Deep recline & carriage mode.
✔️  Adjustable legrest.
✔️  IATA cabin compliant.
✔️  Large extendable canopy.
✔️  Generous storage.
✔️  Stable self-standing fold.
✔️  Integrated carrying strap.
✔️  Nimble one-handed steering.
✔️  Four-wheel suspension.
✔️  No-rethread shoulder harness.
✔️  Magnetic buckle.
✔️  Excellent storage access.
✔️  Includes rain covers.
✔️  Car seat compatibility.
❌  Some two-handed adjustments.
❌  Bassinet has a folding seam.
❌  Bassinet not for overnight sleep.

The short version: a beautifully built, exceptionally portable stroller that also offers a genuinely practical newborn bassinet. It is expensive, and a few adjustments take practice, but we found surprisingly little to dislike. We give it a 4.7/5.0, landing it a spot on our list of the best travel strollers!

How We Tested

We unboxed and assembled both configurations, weighed them, measured the seat, bassinet, wheels and folded sizes, and tested the harness, canopy, recline, folding mechanism, brakes, and basket. We pushed the stroller on bumpy sidewalks, gravel, a brick road, and cobblestones. A 5'5" mom and 6'3" dad also evaluated handlebar comfort and stride clearance.

Specifications & Dimensions

The specifications identified as "ours" were measured ourselves during testing; published limits and list prices are from the Silver Cross U.S. product information and instructions.

For comparison, Silver Cross publishes folded dimensions of 21.5 × 17.5 × 9.5 inches. Our measurements were very close without removing accessories or adjusting the wheels.

We verified the fully equipped stroller weight on our own scale, and photographed the official stroller law label for reference:

Here is the law label for the stroller:

Unboxing & Assembly

The stroller and bassinet arrived in separate boxes. Unpacking revealed neatly organized components, including the stroller frame, wheels, seat pad, bumper bar, manuals, canopy pieces, foot cover and rain covers.

Here are the two boxes, followed by our complete unboxing layout:

Here are all of the parts out of the boxes:

For a closer look, here are the individual stroller components (frame, seat pad, front wheels, bumper bar, rain cover, and user manual):

Here are all the bassinet parts ready for assembly (folded frame, foot muff/cover, canopy extension panel, rain cover, and user manual):

Everything felt well made, from the fabrics and zippers to the adjustment mechanisms.

Removing the toddler seat to install the bassinet, or putting the seat back on, took us about two minutes each.

The finished stroller looks elegant and compact.

These photos show its right and left sides, followed by an overhead view of the faux-leather handlebar and canopy:

And now from the other side:

And here it is from the parent's (top) view:

Build Quality, Seat & Harness

Fit and finish are outstanding.

The stitched fabrics, sturdy frame, smooth zippers and brown leatherette accents all look and feel premium.

We liked the refined branding on the frame, shown here:

The toddler seat is generously padded and more supportive than we expected from a compact travel stroller.

Its 9-inch seat depth and 13-inch lower width gave our child plenty of space, while the 20-inch backrest and 25-inch canopy clearance offer ample headroom. Silver Cross says the removable seat liner is machine washable.

The magnetic buckle is a little fiddly at first, particularly compared with the best competing buckles (like the ones on the Mockingbird travel stroller, or Nuna TRVL LX stroller), but after a few minutes of practice it became easy.

The shoulder harness adjusts in height without rethreading, and both the shoulder straps and crotch strap are nicely padded.

This close-up shows the complete buckle:

Here is a close-up of the magnetic closure, opened:

Here are the nicely-padded shoulder straps:

We also liked the bumper bar, which can swing open on one side to make loading a toddler easier.

Here is the bumper bar installed:

Here it is with one side swung open for access:

Recline, Leg Rest & Canopy

The continuously adjustable recline is intuitive and easy to operate.

Our seatback measurements ranged from 35° behind vertical to just 13° above horizontal. The deepest position was comfortable for naps, although the most upright position is still somewhat laid-back.

Here is the rear recline control:

Here is the deepest recline level:

And here's what that looks like from inside:

Our toddler also napped comfortably in the reclined seat, as pictured below:

The leg rest has three raised-to-lowered settings and can also tuck completely beneath the seat.

Changing its position requires both hands, which is a little awkward.

Here are the lowest-to-highest positions:

The canopy is excellent: a flip-out visor and separate zip-open extension deliver substantial coverage, while a ventilated peekaboo window lets you check on your passenger.

Opening the canopy extension to use the peek-a-boo window is a minor inconvenience.

Below are the fully extended canopy, its peekaboo window, and a close-up of the smooth zipper hardware:

Here's the peek-a-boo window, which is part of the extension panel:

And here's what the extension panel looks like when it's closed - beautiful:

A fitted stroller rain cover is also included.

It packs into a pouch for storage and provides welcome protection when the weather turns.

Here is the compact rain-cover pouch:

Here's the rain cover installed on the stroller:

Storage, Brakes & Suspension

Silver Cross did an excellent job with the basket.

With the toddler seat installed, it's accessible from both the front and back. The bassinet sits a little lower and limits front access somewhat, but rear access stays excellent.

These photos show the overall storage basket, its front opening, and the useful pocket on the back of the seat:

Here's the front access view:

Here's a convenient parent pocket on the back of the toddler seat:

The parking brake is refreshingly easy to engage and release, without the noisy or cumbersome action we have experienced on some other strollers (like most Nuna strollers).

The suspension is visible at both axles.

Here's a close-up of the front suspension:

Here's a close-up of the rear suspension:

Here's the foot brake in action - press down to engage, flip it up to disengage:

Bassinet Design & Comfort

The Nia bassinet (Silver Cross calls it the Nia carrycot) is its most distinctive feature.

It weighed 9.7 pounds on our scale and measured 32 inches long, 15 inches wide, and 24 inches tall with the carrying handle extended. Its shape is compact but it feels reassuringly rigid once expanded and locked.

Here's the bassinet from the side, an alternate angle, and directly from the front:

Look how beautiful this bassinet is!

Look at all the privacy:

The raised support feet on the underside help keep the fabric base off the ground when set down on a level surface (nice touch!), as pictured here:

Inside is a 28 × 11.5-inch mattress, about an inch thick by our measurements.

It is a little narrow but should be adequate for most babies during the relatively short bassinet stage.

The big trade-off is a center seam between two lengthwise mattress sections. This allows the bassinet to fold, which is a key feature. It may affect comfort slightly; we cannot say that babies actually notice it.

Here are the bassinet interior and the central mattress seam:

A close-up of the mattress seam:

The mattress cover removes for hand washing; the bassinet fabric care label specifies sponge cleaning. The labels identify polyurethane foam in the mattress, and our sample was made in China.

For reference, we photographed the bassinet law label, mattress label and fabric-care label:

Here's the mattress label (the mattress comes with a removable cover):

Here are the care instructions for the mattress:

The bassinet clicks onto the chassis once the toddler seat is removed. The first time you remove the toddler seat, it's a little tricky - after some practice, it will only take about 2 minutes.

The bassinet sits relatively low and feels securely attached. We appreciate the low center of gravity for stability purposes.

We liked having the baby-facing arrangement and a clear view from the handlebar.

Here is the bassinet attached to the stroller:

Here's another angle:

And here it is from the parent's perspective:

And here is our baby tester inside the bassinet, providing a useful sense of its scale:

Bassinet Ventilation & Weather Protection

The bassinet canopy has a flip-out visor and zip-open extension, and the zip-on foot cover creates excellent coverage from sun and wind.

At the baby's head end, a large zip-open mesh panel provides welcome airflow and can be closed in cooler weather. We liked the flexibility, though parents still need to watch for overheating.

The exterior ventilation panel and the view through its mesh from inside the bassinet are shown here:

A separate bassinet rain cover is included.

Remember that the Silver Cross bassinet manual explicitly says this product is not intended for overnight or unsupervised sleeping.

Folding, Carrying & Travel

Folding is where the Nia truly shines.

With the toddler seat installed, we measured just 21.5 × 17.5 × 9.25 inches.

The bumper bar, seat pad and leg rest stayed attached, and we did not have to reposition the wheels to make it stand nicely on its own.

To achieve the tightest fold, the manual calls for partially reclining the seat and retracting the canopy; otherwise the upright seat protrudes.

Here's the folded stroller from two angles, showing its compact thickness and width:

The clever part is that the bassinet folds with the stroller.

First, collapse the empty bassinet, then fold the stroller frame with the bassinet still attached.

Our finished package was the same 21.5 inches tall and 17.5 inches wide, with only about a half-inch more thickness. That extra material is compressible, making the published 9.5-inch depth realistic.

Below, the bassinet is collapsed first, ready for the stroller to be folded; the next photo shows the whole stroller folded with the bassinet still mounted:

Both folded configurations stand independently with exceptional stability; neither the handlebar nor bumper bar touches the ground. Excellent!

The built-in shoulder strap works well, and the regular handlebar does sit near the top for an easy hand carry.

Here is a close-up of the integrated shoulder strap (when the stroller is unfolded, it drapes down into the storage bin):

Silver Cross markets both folded configurations as airline-cabin compatible.

That is promising for jet-setting parents, but always check your airline and aircraft requirements before traveling.

Real-world Performance

The Nia is extremely light-feeling, nimble and easy to steer one-handed.

Its 5-inch front and 6-inch rear wheels and four-wheel suspension handled bumpy sidewalks, gravel and a brick road exceptionally well for a travel stroller.

It was less happy on cobblestones.

Both front wheels can lock to track straight on uneven surfaces.

We also had no trouble with stride clearance: neither our 5'5" nor 6'3" tester kicked the wheels or rear axle.

The fixed 42-inch handlebar could still be high for significantly shorter parents, but neither of our testers had any complaints.

Newborn Use & Car Seat Compatibility

Silver Cross also allows newborn use in the stroller's deeply reclined carriage setup, subject to the manual's instructions, including the properly fastened harness and required foot-end barrier.

The seat doesn't recline completely flat, so the dedicated bassinet remains our preferred newborn setup for stroller walks.

Here is the deeply reclined stroller in its near-flat position with the carriage mode engaged:

Optional Nia car-seat adapters ($59.99 list price) allow the stroller to connect to selected infant seats. Silver Cross currently lists these U.S. compatible models:

Always confirm compatibility with the current Silver Cross adapter listing before purchasing. The adapters are an additional accessory, not included with the stroller.

What Could Be Improved

1. A few controls take practice. The magnetic buckle is initially a little fiddly, and both the leg rest and bassinet handle require two hands to adjust.

2. The seat does not sit fully upright. Even its most upright position is reclined about 35° from vertical, according to our measurements. The canopy must also be retracted and seat partially reclined before folding neatly.

3. Very minor travel-stroller compromises remain. The handlebar is fixed at 42 inches, the toddler seat only faces forward, and cobblestone performance was less impressive than on smoother uneven surfaces.

4. The bassinet has minor limitations. Its mattress has a noticeable center seam and a hand-wash-only cover. More importantly, it is not intended for overnight or unsupervised sleeping.

Our Conclusions

We fell in love with the Silver Cross Nia!

Its fabrics, finishes, harness, canopy, storage basket and easy steering feel genuinely premium, and the smooth ride on everyday rough surfaces is better than we expected from a travel stroller with modest wheel diameters.

Most of all, the folding design is exceptional: both the toddler-seat and bassinet versions pack down to nearly identical dimensions and stand securely on their own. The stable self-standing fold and shoulder strap make the Nia easy to live with, not just easy to store.

The two-handed adjustments and bassinet mattress seam are real but very minor, and there is no other bassinet that can fold with a stroller like the Nia can. And we think that's worth the trade-off!

We would strongly recommend the Nia to families seeking a premium travel stroller, particularly those who want a folding bassinet for newborn outings and compact travel.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does the Silver Cross Nia weigh?

We measured 18.5 lb with the bumper bar, seat pad and leg rest installed, plus the rain cover in the basket. Silver Cross quotes 15.7 lb excluding the bumper bar.

How small does the Nia fold?

Our stroller measured 21.5 × 17.5 × 9.25 inches with toddler seat attached. With the bassinet it measured about 21.5 × 17.5 × 9.75 inches, including a compressible protrusion.

Can the bassinet stay attached when folding?

Yes. Collapse the empty bassinet first, then fold the stroller with the bassinet still attached. Both configurations stand securely when folded.

Can the Nia bassinet be used overnight?

No. Silver Cross specifically states that the bassinet is not intended for overnight or unsupervised sleeping.

Can the Nia be used from birth?

Yes, following Silver Cross's required newborn carriage-seat setup, with its optional bassinet, or with a compatible infant car seat and separately purchased adapters.

Does the Nia fit in an airplane overhead bin?

Silver Cross markets the stroller as cabin compatible with either the toddler seat or bassinet. Acceptance varies by airline and aircraft; we recommend checking the exact permitted dimensions before flying.

Is the handlebar height adjustable?

No. Our sample measured 42 inches tall. Both our 5'5" and 6'3" testers were comfortable, with no rear-wheel or axle kicking.