We Tried It: Hatch Grow Smart Changing Pad and Scale
CR's usability specialists and a mom of five used the Hatch and talked to doctors to find out whether it’s a useful device or an anxiety inducer for parents. Spoiler alert: It might be a little of both.
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I remember the first time I learned that my new baby’s weight would go down, not up, in the days after birth. “That’s the wrong direction,” I said to the pediatrician, genuinely confused. Now, five babies later, the initial dip followed by the weight gain seems like a normal occurrence.
Those first few days, weeks, and months can bring lots of questions, including: How much does my baby weigh? Is he gaining weight? Is she getting enough breastmilk (for those who are nursing)? The Hatch Grow Smart Changing Pad and Scale aims to give parents some answers, doubling as both a changing station and a scale, with an accompanying app.
“Hatch was right on target combining two of the most common needs a parent has with a new baby. Every new parent has to have a changing area and most parents are curious, to say the least, about the baby’s weight and growth,” says Sheila Dukas-Janakos, a co-founder and CEO of Healthy Horizons in Burlingame, Calif., a corporate lactation program, and a consultant certified by the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners. “Hatch uses the same surface to accomplish both tasks.”
But it might not be a necessary or positive experience for all parents. For some, it might even induce more anxiety, just as a bathroom scale can if you step on it a bit too often. For others, it might be an unnecessary tool when visits to a pediatrician will suffice.
Consumer Reports’ consumer experience and usability research team, along with myself, a mom of five—three of whom are still in diapers and one who is breastfeeding—gave the Hatch Grow Smart Changing pad a thorough evaluation. We also spoke to pediatricians and lactation consultants to get their take on the device.
What Is the Hatch Grow Smart Changing Pad?
It’s a simple, easy-to-clean foam and plastic pad with a safety belt to secure the baby during changes and an integrated scale that’s used with the Hatch Baby app. The product comes in two colors, white or gray. It can be wiped clean with a damp cloth, is lightweight at 7.5 pounds, and comes with a one-year full manufacturer’s warranty. The app performs multiple functions:
- It keeps track of feeding times, their length, which breast the parent last fed with, and total ounces consumed (or milliliters if you so choose).
- It tracks diaper changes, allowing parents to input information they can share with their pediatrician via email if they’ve been asked for it.
- It records the baby’s weight and provides growth charts, with an option to export the data.
Who Is the Hatch Best For?
The Hatch isn’t a product that parents would routinely need to register for or purchase when it comes to home health monitoring, according to Chandani DeZure, MD, a board-certified pediatrician in the San Francisco Bay Area. “Home monitoring can be done on a case-by-case basis, and was done during COVID to limit exposure for babies, but routinely I never recommend home monitoring in healthy babies,” she says. Instead, it’s more of a nice-to-have option, not something that all parents will need. In particular, parents whose babies are having growth issues might think they need this product, and for some, it might ease concerns. But for others, it might cause more anxiety because weight alone doesn’t provide a full picture of the baby’s overall health.
“There are times when feeding/weight needs troubleshooting, so there may need to be adjustments made, but speaking to the baby’s doctor about the concerns, the weight, and overall health is the best way to determine what the baby needs,” DeZure says. “We look at a full exam, activity level, wet diapers, and overall trend to understand whether a baby is just being a baby or if there is something else more concerning. There is a lot of variation in what a healthy baby looks like, and it’s more than just pounds and ounces on a scale that determines health, but looking at a number in isolation can lead to unnecessary worry and unnecessary changes in a baby’s feeding regimen.”