The Hatch sound machine should be kept below 50 decibels at your baby’s ears, which is roughly the volume of a quiet conversation. At 5 to 10 feet away from your baby, even the maximum volume on a Hatch device stays below that 50-decibel threshold, according to Hatch’s own testing. But “below 50” gives you a wide range, and getting the volume right depends on where you place the machine and how your nursery is set up.
The 50-Decibel Rule
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that sound machines produce no more than 50 decibels at the level of a sleeping baby’s head. For reference, 50 decibels is about the volume of a refrigerator humming or light rain. A normal conversation at a few feet away sits right around that mark. You don’t need the machine to be barely audible, but it shouldn’t sound loud when you’re standing near the crib.
The AAP also recommends placing the sound machine at least 7 feet from your child’s head. This matters more than most parents realize. Sound intensity drops significantly with distance, so a machine that reads 65 decibels at its speaker might only reach 45 decibels by the time the sound travels across the room. Putting the Hatch on a dresser or shelf across the nursery, rather than on the crib rail or a nearby nightstand, is the simplest way to keep the volume safe.
What Volume Percentage to Set on the Hatch
Hatch doesn’t publish a precise decibel-to-percentage chart, and for good reason: the actual volume your baby hears depends on room size, flooring, furniture, and how far the machine is from the crib. Carpeting alone can reduce perceived sound levels by 50 to 70 percent compared to a hard floor. A small nursery with bare walls will bounce sound around more than a larger room filled with soft furnishings.
Hatch states that at 5 to 10 feet away in an average carpeted nursery, even the absolute maximum volume stays under 50 decibels. That means you have some flexibility. Most parents find that setting the Hatch somewhere between 40% and 60% volume, placed across the room, produces a comfortable level that masks household noise without being overpowering. If the room is small or has hard floors, start lower. If the nursery is large or you’re competing with street noise, you can nudge it up.
A practical test: stand at your baby’s crib and listen. The white noise should be clearly audible but shouldn’t make you want to raise your voice to talk over it. If you need to speak noticeably louder, it’s too high.
Why Volume Matters for Infant Hearing
Babies are more vulnerable to noise damage than adults. Their ear canals are shorter, which can actually amplify sound reaching the eardrum. A 2021 study testing 14 popular white noise devices found that nine of them (about 64%) exceeded 85 decibels at maximum volume when measured close to the speaker. That’s the noise level of a food blender, and it’s the threshold where prolonged exposure starts causing hearing damage in adults. For a baby sleeping eight or more hours, even lower levels could pose a risk over time.
Beyond hearing loss, excessive background noise during infancy may interfere with language development. Babies learn to distinguish speech sounds partly by hearing the contrast between voices and silence. A sound machine running too loudly can blur those contrasts, making it harder for developing brains to pick out the patterns in speech.
How to Measure Decibels at the Crib
If you want an actual number rather than a guess, a free smartphone app can get you close. A recent study testing 10 popular sound meter apps found that most achieved high accuracy, with the best performers (including SPL Meter dB and Sound Meter by KTW Apps) correlating very closely with professional equipment. The catch is that accuracy drops somewhat at higher volume levels, and most apps lack the frequency weighting used in professional measurements. For checking whether your nursery sits in the safe zone below 50 decibels, though, they’re more than adequate.
To measure, turn on the Hatch with your usual settings, open the app, and hold your phone at the spot where your baby’s head rests in the crib. The reading should stay comfortably under 50 decibels. If it hovers right at 50, back the volume down a few notches to give yourself a margin.
Getting the Most Out of White Noise
The goal of a sound machine isn’t to create silence or drown out every noise in the house. It’s to provide a consistent layer of sound that smooths over sudden disruptions, like a door closing, a dog barking, or a sibling yelling. A moderate, steady volume accomplishes this just as well as a loud one, because what matters is the consistency of the sound, not the sheer power of it.
Low-pitched sounds (think deep, rumbly tones rather than high-pitched hissing) tend to mask household noise more effectively at lower volumes. The Hatch offers several sound options, and the deeper ones let you keep the volume down while still buffering against disruptions. If you find yourself constantly cranking the volume higher to block noise, switching to a lower-pitched sound profile often works better than simply turning it up.
Run the machine for the duration of sleep, not just at the start. Babies cycle through lighter sleep stages every 30 to 45 minutes, and those are the moments when a sudden noise is most likely to wake them. Consistent background sound through the full nap or nighttime stretch gives the best results.