Hatch Baby Reviews

by ClayK2000

HatchBaby suffers from trying to do everything and do everything poorly. We use HatchBaby to use the hatch grow scale and with a tiny icon in the top corner as the only way to use the scale it makes our daily weigh in much more difficult than it needs to be. Finding past weights is also not straightforward. With tabs at the bottom and icons all over the place there is no consistency in design or focus. More used items or useful functions should have a larger focus and unfortunately adding a picture is the focus. I take pics on my phone but don’t need to add them to HatchBaby on a daily basis. Whoever is head of app product UX needs to take a hard look at what scale users need and maybe just design a more focused app for them or ditch all the extra bells and whistles that 5% of users use.

by IammikeDOTorg

HatchBaby generally works well.

Our biggest issue is the timer “lives” on your local device until you hit the stop button. As such, two parents can’t look at/manipulate the same timer, which is a desire of ours for roughly half of all naps.

The reason I have to give HatchBaby a negative rating due to the Universal Clipboard. My iPad or Mac can copy something and it can be pasted on another of my devices. Recently, it came to light apps were reading this data without users being aware so Apple, in iOS 14 introduced a message any time an app read your clipboard. To my surprise, Hatch Baby is triggering that. Why would Hatch Baby want to know what is in my clipboard when I’m looking at how long my baby has been asleep? What are they doing with that data? Very fishy and a large enough issue I cannot trust or recommend HatchBaby.

by Applelights

While this is one of the more modern and clean looking baby apps lots of room for improvement.

Very difficult for multiples since to switch between babies you would think you would simply tap the babies name to toggle between your babies since multiples will typically be eating, pooping and sleeping at similar times. Instead you have to click more button scroll to top, switch babies, then go back to the screen you were on for the other baby such as feeding. Hopefully this big oversight will be fixed so you can simply switch babies with one click of their name.

Unlike other apps like Glow, you can’t track when your baby is sick, or medications, or vaccinations or appointments, temperature, etc.

The plus button to add things like bowels, pee etc is a tiny plus in top right which is a big stretch on iPhone X. Those primary actions would be better as a floating circle button at bottom.

The major glaring issue is the whole point of baby apps are for tracking so that you can export the data to pdf for doctor visits or others when needed. Currently there is a simple CSV export which not helpful at all compared to the leading baby apps such as Sprout which generates a beautiful PDF with relevant data based on what you need and charts etc. A key feature comes across as more of an after thought and I imagine why there are so few users since it’s such a pivotal feature.

by Theimaginator

Overall, I think this is a good start.

However, the biggest pain point for me is the way HatchBaby synchronizes (or sometimes fails to synchronize data with the server). Some context:

My wife and I both use HatchBaby to track feedings and diapers for our daughter. We take shifts during the night, making sure to log if/when we did a feeding so that we don’t need to wake each other up to get that info when we change shifts.

Unfortunately, most of the time, HatchBaby on one of our devices does not reflect events logged on HatchBaby on the other of our devices. This is sometimes remedied with some tinkering, such as a pull to refresh and/or backgrounding and reopening HatchBaby . But obviously the desired behavior is that a logged event on one device is instantly and automatically reflected on all devices logged in to the same account.

I happen to be an iOS Software Engineer, so I am sympathetic to the challenges of providing a synchronized state across devices (particularly if you’re also relying on CoreData for your local store). My best guess is that you guys are waiting to post user changes to the server until either the modified table view will disappear, or HatchBaby enters the background.

An update where that sync routine is triggered immediately following any modification would definitely get me to 5-stars on HatchBaby!

by Stef072000

HatchBaby keeps crashing on my iPhone but works on ipad. I wish the pad had output directly on the pad without having to log into HatchBaby . Holding a baby, iPad and opening HatchBaby to get their weight is difficult. This may be a user issue, but I could never figure out where to go to see the actual weight when logging a feeding. It tells me how much he ate, but I also wanted to see the before and after weight. Also, I will log a weight entry and it won't appear immediately, even after refreshing and closing and reopening app. This product is still really helpful and I don't regret buying it, although I wish the weight increments were even more precise. I'd like to know when the quarter ounce increments bump to the next number. For example, if it's .49 ounces, is that rounded down to .25? This can make a big difference in feeding amount over the course of a day.

by Hgibbo

I like the user interface and options. It works well with the changing pad though the weight accuracy is all over the place it gives me a fair general idea of where the baby is at. But what drives me crazy, now two kids in is how it won’t sync across caregivers easily. Ive found if you try repeatedly with putting your phone on airplane (obviously won’t sync) but then taking it off then 50% of time it won’t sync. Such a pain. Trying other apps now so I don’t have to manually get details from my spouse or other caregivers. This has been true for two kids. So disappointed it hasn’t been fixed since the first kid.

by Mr Cool Fly Guyyy

I have the Hatch rest and wanted an easy to use app to track feedings and diapers. I use another app to log pumping. I think HatchBaby would be 100% my fav if it could include a pumping log and the option to put breast milk and formula bottles together in one entry. I use mostly formula but I also pump some milk and often mix half formula and half breast milk but you have to make two separate entries if you want to keep track of how much of each baby is getting which messes up the total feed number. I love being able to keep track of all these things especially because my son has weight gain issues and I know I’m not the only mom who uses formula + breast milk!

by VondieGoose

My husband and I track feedings, sleep, and my pumps since I’m an exclusive pumper. We love HatchBaby and that you can easily add other caregivers to an account BUT for whatever reason pumping records are not synced with the servers and are only stored locally. This means I always have to tell my husband when I need to pump next since he can’t see it and also can’t see the data for ounces pumped each day. This seems like a bug to me since everything else syncs across multiple users. Please fix this! Also a feature suggestion: for Feedings, add a field to enter the ounces offered and one for ounces drank. This helps someone who is exclusively pumping account for any missing ounces.

by Vpal28

I like HatchBaby. It does exactly what you need it to do, it gives tips, and let’s you add photos.

Though, I wish it did more. Other tracking apps have ways to see data in different forms (ie. baby has fed on the left a total of X minutes today and right a total of X minutes today) and offer ways to help baby’s sleep schedule. I’d also like a usable “cancel” button on the sleep feature (right now the button is available before you start the sleep but not while timing it - that makes no practical sense). Same with feedings. It would be nice to be able to cancel those timers without submitting then deleting them.

Otherwise HatchBaby is great and use it constantly. Would recommend if you want basic functions when tracking baby’s things.

by Egsh 1234

I really like HatchBaby so far. It tracks mostly what I need and some of the charts are helpful. I really like the daily schedule section the best (ability to hide and show different things that are being tracked is super helpful) and the weight trends. I also like the weekly averages that are on the stats page.

It would be extremely helpful to be able to track food as another person suggested. It would also be good to see stats on dirty vs wet diapers (my doctor always asks this question) and longest sleep per week (again a question my doctor asks).

At some point it would be nice for the parent to be able to set goals for nap times a schedule or for HatchBaby to offer some suggestions based on the babies trends if possible.

by ShonTyWill

HatchBaby has been very helpful for my wife and I to track our newborn’s activities. However, logically, there should be a way to start and stop, or find out how long an activity has been going on, regardless of where the activity is started. For example if I start a nursing from HatchBaby , Alexa cannot tell me how long the nursing has been going on. Same thing the other way, if I start an activity through Alexa, this should start the timer in HatchBaby . I should be able to check HatchBaby ’s timer or ask Alexa.

Fix this, and HatchBaby is golden.

Edit: Another example, if I start a nursing with Alexa, baby falls asleep, I don’t want to have to speak to Alexa to stop to risk waking. Should be able to go to HatchBaby and stop it from there.

by EHodgman

I used the glow app suites for conceiving and tracking pregnancy but a couple months after my son was born I switched to Hatch Baby because I thought the interface was much easier to view. Now that we’re going through a night time sleep regression, I would love to be able to see the full night time in the daily schedule view to compare nights easier. It works pretty well for the size of a phone screen but I just want to, for example, see 7 or 8pm and scroll right to see all the way through to the morning, rather than having to scroll all the way left to see info after 2 am easily. I’d also like to have a solids tracker to keep track of which days we started new food items. Thank you for the all the other features though, it’s been so helpful to keep track in our sleep deprived haze!

by Heshy777

Really love the functionality of HatchBaby helps me keep track of everything going on when I forget the last time I’ve fed my baby or changed him. Some changes I would really love to see for improvement is being able to update time manually rather than having to scroll through the numbers to input time. Another issue I’ve had is every now and then the last time fed won’t update to tell me right away when the last time I’ve fed the baby instead I’ll have to go and look at the last fed meal instead of the hourly update it gives you without having to look at the last meal. These issues are not horrible but would love to see these fixes.

by HeatherCrowell

I LOVE HatchBaby! It’s so great to be able to track how long my baby eats when nursing as well as tracking her sleep. I love the daily schedule view to see how she’s meeting our parenting goals.
However, I do wish HatchBaby would change a few things. I wish the nursing timer buttons were larger (Left/Right) & the save button was smaller or in a different place so I didn’t accidentally hit it while trying to switch sides.
I also wish you could customize your “most used” features at the bottom of the dashboard. I don’t track diapers now that she’s older. I would, however, prefer if the pumping option were there instead.

Thanks for such a great, app, though! I still highly recommend.

by Starlagreen

Highly recommend HatchBaby. It tracks type and length of feedings, number and type of diapers changed, allows for editing if needed. Has timers for pumping and nap times. The fact that it syncs with Alexa devices is a game changer, you can prompt commands while you’re actively caring for your baby. My husband and I both use it through Alexa but it has a difficult time creating some timers so we still need to use HatchBaby to edit what we really intended. If HatchBaby could actively see the timer counting based off the Alexa command that would prompt me to give it 5 stars. But I have to end the timer command first before I can see its line item in HatchBaby . Still a great app and it has helped me tremendously keep a track of my babies feeding and sleeping

by My Nickname Attempts Wont Work

Love HatchBaby ! I had a excel spreadsheet Printed off to track diapers, feeding times/dates/amount and types. HatchBaby covers everything and more!!!! I LOVE IT! So excited to capture weight and length and pumping time and amount too! So convenient!

I will say our daughter does not like the Hatch Baby Grow without a covering of some type because it’s cold. But with recommendation from a friend we stick a puppy pad on it so it doesn’t weigh much and it’s not as chilly. The Zeroing feature allows you to zero it out. The puppy pad also doubles for when she randomly decides to pee when she’s getting weighed.

by AWOLP16

HatchBaby has been super helpful for tracking everything! My baby is 2 months old now, we just recently stopped nursing (slow let down, early bottle introduction) and I’m now exclusively pumping. It helps to see what her patterns are starting to be for eating and sleeping so we can prepare and to track my pumping times and amounts. I’ve had dips in supply and this has helped me to understand what I and the baby need. A couple helpful features: me and my husband have HatchBaby and can input data individually and data can be timed or manually entered.

We also have the Hatch scale and sound machines (we have 2 because they’re the best). You do not need the products to find HatchBaby helpful at all, but that’s been nice for us too!

by Jrutemers

My husband and I started using HatchBaby because we purchased the hatch changing pad. The combination of having HatchBaby and the ability to weigh our baby and not only track wait but measure feedings is incredible. I would recommend HatchBaby to anyone looking for a place to capture all your necessary day-to-day feeding/diaper/sleeping data. One other fun thing we love about HatchBaby is the ability to put a picture of our baby in HatchBaby every day and then we can see a slideshow overtime (so when you’re feeling nostalgic and want to go back to day 1 and see how your baby has grown, you can easily do it here).

by Hunter LA

Hatch Baby is there for my wife and I.
Considering how much we’re keen on keeping up with every detail of our baby, Hatch helps us do just that.

After reading about some sync issues, I was slightly apprehensive that it would be AS good as I would like it to be, though being a software engineer myself, I was really pleased to see the developers respond to those concerns. Since using it for the past week, I’ve noticed no issues like that myself, and feel confident that if any issues were to come up they would be addressed.

The one suggestion I would have is to make it easier to view daily summaries of the past few days, at least 3, but I don’t see a need to stretch that anymore than the past 5. I really enjoy the daily summary view, especially when interacting with my pediatrician, but having to sort out the sometimes confusing bar graph to determine the past X number of feeds / diapers in the past few days is a bit more difficult than I’d like it to be.

Looking forward to continue using this application through the first few years of my babies life!

by User98363636367

I’ve used HatchBaby with 2 babies and it is very helpful and works great. Never had any bugs, the features all work as they are supposed to. Really helpful to track last side used with breastfeeding, sleep and the daily view gives you the whole picture. You can also see your statistics over time which helps for things like how many hours a day the baby is sleeping or eating.

One suggestion I would give to the developers is that the timers be show. On your phone’s Lock Screen. When you use HatchBaby all the time it gets annoying to have to open your phone and go into HatchBaby to check time.

Thanks!

by ElBarto247

Feeding are measure in oz only not able to include milliliters and doing the math when trying to add information and attend to my baby is frustrating. Also should allow me to input time feed without using the timer if I know I feed for 10 minutes let me just input it without quickly!

Also purchased the hatch grow scale as I needed to measure my baby weights gain and did not want to wait for ever doctors visit. HatchBaby again is unable to tell me waights gain in any other measurement other then lbs and oz. (I can do the math but would rather spend my time and energy attending to my baby or getting sleep)

Very frustrating and should be an easy fix. Not sure why this didn’t come up in bata testing.

by WindowShopper717

Update: hatch customer service has been amazing in helping me resolve this issue. However, we were not able to fully resolve the problem so I had to register the device with a different email address to circumvent whatever the issue was which is why I’m giving it a four star review instead of five. The scale is awesome I highly recommend it!

There must be a bug...I got the $130 hatch changing table/scale but I can’t even open HatchBaby to see the data. If it doesn’t work this week I’ll be returning the scale. Otherwise it’s just a very expensive changing pad :( very frustrating experience!!!

by Santaclaus3

Really pleased with HatchBaby! My husband, mom, and I all use it to track baby. The biggest thing I would change is on the sleep timer. I like to know how many hours per 24 hrs baby sleeps, but also how many hours at night consecutively. My complaint is that the timer does not know to start counting hours for a new day at 12am. If she goes to sleep at 8pm and sleeps through until 4am, it will add all those hours to the day before. It will not count the hours after 12am for the new day. I have to go in and split up this sleep chunk in HatchBaby which is kind of annoying

by Townshae

I love HatchBaby but I think there are a few easy fixes that could make it more user friendly:
1) make it easy to share the same platform with a partner or caregiver;
2) when a sleep recording is “paused,” HatchBaby should record the time that it is paused - not the actual time you go back and remember to hit save. Who knows if baby is going to go back to sleep?!
3) record the actual sleep baby gets in 24 hours, not the sleep that is started in that day and then carries over to the next; and
4) record and display the total day-time/nap sleep a baby gets in any given day!

by IfYouDontKnowNowYouDo

I love the trend charts just wish they were simpler to read. It would also be nice to have HatchBaby ask the user feeding type formula, breast milk, supplementing (both) and have it hide all pumping options or sleep options if you don’t desire to use HatchBaby to track sleep or pump and just formula feeding and diaper change. This would make the UI less clutter for the people that use this to track certain specific things only. Otherwise is great. I also like the daily pic feature just wish the pic was not hidden behind navbar instead size it underneath it..

by MeatballSubs

... is to have the timer just pop up once your baby is weighed after clicking “start a feeding”. This would make it much easier to time and track the feeding at each breast. Other wise a user needs to track the feeding separately then once done transpose the information to he weighed feeding and delete the timed feeding... make that happen and you have a perfect app :) (except that the daily picture can’t be cropped or placed, my baby’s head gets cutoff most of the time especially when choosing from my photos library)

by Abronkie

The Hatch app is great. It’s brought us a lot of peace of mind and kept my baby breastfed for much longer than he would have been otherwise. For that alone I give it 5 stars. However HatchBaby can be really bright in the middle of the night when I’d rather keep light sources to a minimum—even with my phone brightness turned all the way down. I’d love a dark version of HatchBaby . Moving the scale button down to the bottom of HatchBaby so that it can be accessed with one hand would be helpful as well.