Through the years of working with families, I can say there is no product more commonly used than the Hatch Baby Rest - Sound Machine, Night Light & Time-to- Rise! It is found in the nurseries of the smallest sleepers and the rooms of “big kids” as well. I can understand why – The Hatch’s many functions and easy-to-use interface is super appealing! Show
Pros The Hatch is Multi-Functional The Hatch is sound machine, a nightlight, and an OK-to wake clock all in one! This limits the need to register for and stock up on too many gadgets. Hey, it makes baby proofing pretty easy too – one cord instead of 3! The Hatch is Easy to Use The Hatch is easy to use, and with it’s own app, access to it’s multi-functions couldn’t be easier. What I love best about this feature is that if you are using the Hatch as an ok-to-wake clock, you are able to delay the timing, should your little one decide to sleep in! The Hatch is Affordable With all the jobs the Hatch can tackle, the price is phenomenal, saving you money (and what parent doesn’t love to save money?!) Cons The Hatch Baby in all it’s multi-function glory can hinder, rather than support healthy sleep…the same sleep it promises to promote. Lighting The Hatch offers an array of lighting options. In fact, you can personalize your light setting thanks to the app. The problem here is that cool-light options (white/blues/greens) are read by the brain as natural light. This can interfere with sleep! Sound Sound machines are an important component to a sleep environment that is conducive to sleep! However, sounds other than plain white noise (or brown noise or pink noise or who knew there were so many colors of noise) can limit the restorative power of sleep as your little one’s brain is busy processing the variance in sound of other sound settings (rain, waves, lullabies.) Do I recommend, the Hatch? Absolutely! As I said, the Hatch is multi-functional, easy to use, and is available at a great price, but I only recommend the Hatch when it is used in way that promotes sleep What is the right way to use the Hatch Baby Rest Sound Machine, Night Light & Time-to- Rise in order to promote sleep? Lighting At Well Rested Baby we recommend a dark room to promote sleep. However, the Hatch’s nightlight function can come in handy when needing to change a diaper or offer a feeding to your littlest of sleepers! If an older kiddo insists on a nightlight – that’s ok too! The Hatch is small and can easily fit behind a piece of furniture to limit it’s illumination. However, the light must be set to a warm tone (red/orange) in order to not interfere with melatonin production and sleep overall. Sound White noise is a great tool to set your baby up for sleep success! The Hatch can be used as a sound machine, but should be set to white noise only. White noise does not interfere with sleep as varying sounds do. Ok-to-Wake Clock If you have successfully introduced an ok-to-wake clock, that’s great! If you’re looking to introduce an ok-to-wake clock, the Hatch is a great option. However, before introducing an ok-to-wake clock, I would encourage you to set and enforce sleep rules with your toddler or preschooler. Consistently enforced sleep rules have the same effect of an ok-to-wake clock, but leaves the start of your day in your hands, rather than a device’s. Ready to implement sleep rules in your home? Book a parent coaching session to learn how.Before waking up, they’ll have to fall asleep! Download our FREE Bedtime Guide to ensure your little one is falling asleep for the night on time. This can help prevent bedtime battles and overnight wakings. Amanda As a parent, I see the appeal of the Hatch Baby Rest Sound Machine, Night Light & Time-to- Rise. Fun colors and fun sounds make this appealing for all ages! As a Certified Sleep Consultant I have a love/hate relationship with the Hatch Baby Rest Sound Machine, Night Light & Time-to- Rise. I love its convenience and that’s about it! Clients always come to us at Well Rested Baby who use the Hatch as a night light. Using a night light in general isn’t the problem, the problem is the color light they are using. Hatch provides a wide array of colors. (There’s even a custom color wheel so you can choose whatever shade of color you are wanting.) Colors such as blue, green, and violet are known as “cool colors.” Cool colors are colors your body and mind treat as natural light and this keeps your body and mind stimulated. The Hatch also provides “warm colors” such as red, orange and yellow which are relaxing and won’t stimulate the body or mind. Parents who use this product are often surprised that blue light they are projecting brightly in their kids rooms is actually keeping them awake. For a company who is marketing this light as a “night light” in some situations, it’s frustrating they don’t add a warning about using warm or cool lights. Then comes the sounds! When you’re at a spa it’s nice and relaxing to hear a stream or some waves crashing. But when you try to sleep to it, you aren’t falling into that deep sleep you would like. This goes for the kiddos as well. Their minds will always be on high alert with sounds other than plain white noise. Do I own the Hatch? You bet, but I also know the correct way to use it thanks to my background as a certified Sleep Consultant. Don’t think this is a product you have to steer clear of - I just want everyone to know how to use it and get the best sleep possible for everyone in your family! Kristen The popular nursery “must have”, the Hatch, can be a very useful item… if used in certain ways. The Hatch has many settings for both the sound machine and the light options. Since we know a few things about the ideal sleep environment, we can use the Hatch to our benefit by only using the white noise setting during sleep times and if any light setting is needed, we must choose a warm red/orange glow as opposed to the white or blue light. The Hatch Baby Rest can also be used as an “okay to wake” clock for older toddlers who are learning to stay in their bed until an appropriate time in the mornings! Having the light change to a certain color can signal to the child that it is okay to get out of bed now! As with many products geared for sleep, we need to ensure that we use them in line with what a healthy sleep environment looks like (dark, quiet, and cool!) For more sleep tips, support, and more from Well Rested Baby join our FREE Parenting Community. Well Rested Baby also offers a New and Expecting Parent Consultations! You’ll learn everything you need to know to develop healthy sleep habits from the start. Well Rested Baby is a team of Family Sleep Institute certified sleep consultants that help families like yours identify, address, and correct their children’s sleep issues (such as schedules, short naps, waking frequently at night, nap and bed transitions and more). WRB also offers breastfeeding support with a Certified Lactation Counselor and parenting support with a Certified Parenting Coach/Behavior Specialist. HI, I’M ASHLEY! THE WELL RESTED MAMA OF TWO SETS OF TWINS.Yes, you read that right, two sets of twins, and they’re just 15 months apart! Knowing that I can rely on a sleep schedule and a full night’s rest for my entire family has changed my life. I have quiet time in the evenings to spend with my husband! I can plan (successful) outings and appointments confident my well-rested little ones will be at their best! Bedtime is a breeze and once they’re tucked in, they’re asleep for the night. I wake up well-rested and spend quiet mornings drinking coffee while (get this) it is still hot! You can have this too! Are you ready to find your sleep solution?  Dig It? Pin It For Later!Should I change my baby’s diaper overnight? It’s a question we get asked a lot! Understandably so. As adults it can be hard to imagine sleeping with pants full of, well you know. Yet our answer is both yes and no. What came first the turkey or the nap? …wait, that’s not how it goes! This time of year we get plenty of questions all about sleep and the holidays. With travel, dinners, and family…we get it! It’s a lot to keep in mind and it’s a lot to balance with your little one’s healthy sleep habits. Here are our top tips for balancing sleep, travel, and family during the holidays. Did the time change leave you with a little one that wakes entirely too early? Whether your baby is 4 months old or 4 years old these three strategies may stop them from waking in the early morning hours so that they (and you) can sleep later. While dark is best to promote healthy, restorative sleep sometimes a nightlight isn’t avoidable. That’s ok! With a few simple rules you can minimize the impact of your little one’s nightlight on their sleep. Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone stimulated by darkness. along with a lowered body temperature melatonin is responsible for helping us and our children fall asleep at night. Synthetic melatonin is increasingly being used by families to promote the onset of sleep for children. In the United States, melatonin does not require a doctor’s prescription, although some will prescribe it as an antidote to troubled sleepers. Is melatonin safe for children? Can a newborn be afraid of the dark? No. A 13-month-old? Not likely. A 2-year-old? Could be. Branches brushing against a window, a shadow cast against the floor, a sound from the floor down below…with vivid imaginations and little to occupy their mind, it is easy for young minds to go into overdrive. It is no wonder so many children are afraid of the dark! Fear is a normal part a child’s development and is first exhibited at 2 – 3 years old, as imaginations begin to thrive. How do you help your child overcome their fear of the dark? As a new mom you’re starting to understand what people meant when they said, “babies grow up so fast!” One minute you were bringing baby home and the next they’re 12 weeks experiencing their third mental leap. Prior to this leap your baby’s movements were jolty and uncoordinated, but now you see a change. Welcome to Leap 3 – The World of Smooth Transitions. Are babies afraid of the dark? In short, no. If your child is under 2 years old, any upset overnight is not due to the darkness in their room. Developmentally, they are not yet capable of being afraid of the dark. Why don’t you want to want to use a reward chart? “We used a reward and it worked for a little bit, but now we’re right back where we started.” Gosh, I can’t tell you how common this is to hear when families with toddlers and preschoolers reach out to us and that is exactly why we don’t recommend using a reward chart in sleep training, potty training, and any other goal-based behavior shift. Here is why…. Whether it be the summer, the holidays, or a planned get-away, travel with kids is almost inevitable, but that doesn’t mean sleepless nights are too! Is it OK to leave Hatch on all night?Our recommendation for using the Hatch Rest for older toddlers and preschoolers is to continue using the TV static with no light throughout the night (unless needed for the reasons below) and the birds and green light at their designated wake time. Can you use the Hatch as a night light?You can adjust and control all the settings for the Hatch Rest, including the night light, sound machine, and Ok-to-wake feature from the convenient Hatch Sleep app from your own personal cell phone or by your personal touch to the Hatch Baby Rest itself. Does the Hatch sleep really work?It effectively muffles everything—including occasional cat meows—and keeps me asleep all night long. If you only want white noise for 30 minutes or so, as you first doze off, Hatch still has you covered. Does Hatch red light help baby sleep?A red night light, like the one on Rest, will help keep them reassured that they aren't in a totally dark environment, keeping those nighttime monsters at bay. Even if they do wake up, red light will keep their melatonin levels regulated and their pupils dilated, making it easier for them to fall back asleep. |
