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One of my best parenting hacks is white noise. Not only does it signal to my kids that it's sleeping time now, but it creates a peaceful environment that lends itself to falling asleep really quickly.
In fact, most nights even I fall asleep with them because the white noise is so relaxing.
Meet the Hatch Baby Rest. It's a night light, a sound machine and, for older kids, an okay-to-wake notifier. This is a pricey contraption at $60, but I love the idea of one item having multiple functions.
See it in action here:
I also like that it's something that will last quite a long time – at least throughout childhood. It's great for night-time feedings because you can customise the hues and brightness of the lights and sounds (there are 11 different sound and colour options) and then easily switch to another option for sleeptime.
This also helps promote healthy circadian rhythms and melatonin production for a better night's rest (at this point in my life I would believe anything that promised me a better night's sleep, to be honest!)
There is also the option to only have it play for a certain amount of time: I like to only use the white noise for putting my kids to sleep and not as an aid to keep them asleep.
So I like that you can set timers, although it's also safe to keep playing all night. The LED lights mean lamp won't overheat and because it's powered by an electrical socket, there are no batteries that could die in the middle of the night.
Another nifty feature is that you can control the Hatch Baby Rest from your phone, which means you don't need to tip toe into the room and inevitable wake your baby up. How is it that babies have this sixth sense and just know when you've walked into the room, even though they're seemingly fast asleep? What dark magic is that?
You can also use it to create routines: set a program to let your child know it’s time to get ready for bed, or set it on OK-to-wake to let your toddler know when it's okay to get out of bed. Because we all know that children like to wake up at unacceptable times on the weekends and rob you of your precious sleep.
The Hatch Baby Rest is available on Amazon, if you have $95 to throw around.
Would you buy the Hatch Baby Rest? Is it just too much money? Let us know in the comments below or email us at chatback@parent24.com.
