The best sound machine with a night light for most kids is the Yogasleep Dohm Nova at $64.99: a real fan for natural white noise, ten speeds, an adjustable amber night light and a sleep timer, with no app to manage. For babies and toddlers, the Hatch Baby at $79.99 is the better pick because you can control it from your phone without walking into the room. For preschoolers learning when it is OK to get up, a time-to-rise model like the Hatch Rest+ earns its place. Here is how I would match them to each age.
Why One Device Beats Two
With five kids in three bedrooms, every nightstand in our house has had a sound machine and a night light at some point, and that means two plugs, two things to knock off the table, and two things for a toddler to play with. A combined sound machine and night light cuts that in half.
The sound helps in a busy house. A baby napping while the older kids come home from school, a shared room where one child goes to bed an hour earlier, a teenager on the phone in the hall. Steady background noise covers the sudden sounds that wake light sleepers. The light, kept low and warm, gives a child enough to see the room without waking them up further. I wrote about getting the light right in each kid's room in kids' room lighting for every age.
What I Compared
- Type of sound. A real fan makes a natural, non-looping whoosh. Digital machines play recorded sounds, which gives you more choice but can loop.
- Night light. Is it adjustable, and can it go warm and dim? Amber and red tones are gentler at night than white or blue.
- Controls. Buttons on the device, or an app. Apps are great for babies and annoying for older kids who want to work it themselves.
- Extras that matter by age. Time-to-rise colour signals, timers, subscriptions.
- Price and trial. From the brand's own site on October 14, 2026.
Quick Picks by Age
| Age | My pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Newborn to 2 | Hatch Baby | Phone control, so you never open the nursery door to adjust it |
| 2 to 6 | Hatch Rest+ or Yogasleep Light to Rise | Colour signal for when it is OK to get up |
| 6 and up | Yogasleep Dohm Nova | Buttons a child can work, real fan sound, amber light, timer |
| Any age, sound only | Yogasleep Dohm Uno | Simplest, cheapest, pair with a separate night light |
The Picks
1. Yogasleep Dohm Nova: Best Overall
The Dohm is the fan-based sound machine a lot of parents grew up with, and the Nova is the version with a night light added. Yogasleep lists it at $64.99 on the product page. It uses a real fan motor, so the sound is natural and does not loop, and it has ten fan speeds where the classic Dohm has two. On top there is an amber night light you can dim by holding the button, and a timer that turns it off after 45 minutes, 90 minutes or 8 hours.
There is no app, which is the reason I like it for kids from about six up. They can turn it on, set the light and adjust the sound themselves, and there is nothing to pair or update. The fabric cover is removable and machine washable, which matters more than you would think. It measures 5.6 by 5.6 by 3.7 inches and weighs 18 ounces, so it fits on a small nightstand.
Yogasleep gives a 30 night trial and a 1 year warranty. It measures up to 62.2 decibels at 6 feet on the highest setting, so keep it on a low speed in a child's room (more on volume below).
2. Hatch Baby: Best for Babies and Toddlers
Hatch's current baby model is the Hatch Baby, listed at $79.99 with three months of the Hatch+ subscription included. It combines a soft light and a sound machine, and you control both from the Hatch app. It comes in several colours, and Hatch offers free shipping and returns, a 30 night trial and a 1 year warranty.
Phone control is the whole point at this age. When a baby has finally gone down, the last thing you want is to open the door to turn the sound up or the light down. With the app you can do it from the hallway, the couch or the other kid's room. You can also set it on a schedule so it runs the same way every night, whoever does bedtime.
Check what happens when the included subscription ends. Hatch's FAQ covers what you keep after three months if you do not renew, and it is worth reading before you buy so the renewal is not a surprise.
3. Hatch Rest+ (2nd Gen): Best for Teaching "Stay in Bed"
From about age two, the problem changes from falling asleep to staying in bed. Our toddlers did not know 5:30 from 7:00, and they were all up at 5:30. A time-to-rise light changes colour at the time you choose, so "you can get up when the light turns green" becomes a rule a small child can follow.
The Hatch Rest+ second generation combines sound, a night light and time-for-bed and time-to-rise cues, controlled from the app. Pottery Barn Kids has listed it at $89.99. Prices on Hatch products move, so check Hatch's own site and a couple of retailers before buying.
4. Yogasleep Light to Rise: Best Time-to-Rise Without the Hatch Price
Yogasleep's Light to Rise does the same job as a time-to-rise light: a sleep trainer with custom schedules, a sound machine and an adjustable multicolour night light. It has been listed at $69.99. If you like the idea of a colour signal but want to skip a subscription model, it is the one I would look at.
5. Yogasleep Dohm Uno: Best for Sound Only
The Uno is the simplest Dohm, at $39.99 with one fan speed and tone control, and no light. It is here for older kids and teens who want white noise but sleep in the dark, and for anyone who already has a night light they like. Pair it with a plug-in night light and you have the same setup as the Nova for a little less, at the cost of a second plug.
Side by Side
| Machine | Sound | Light | Controls | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yogasleep Dohm Nova | Real fan, 10 speeds | Amber, dimmable | Buttons | $64.99 |
| Hatch Baby | Digital | Adjustable | App | $79.99 |
| Hatch Rest+ 2nd gen | Digital | Adjustable, time-to-rise | App | about $89.99 |
| Yogasleep Light to Rise | Digital | Multicolour, time-to-rise | Device | about $69.99 |
| Yogasleep Dohm Uno | Real fan, 1 speed | None | Switch | $39.99 |
How Loud Is Too Loud?
This is the part people skip. Sound machines can be louder than you would guess: the Dohm Nova reaches 62.2 decibels at 6 feet on its highest setting, by Yogasleep's own figure. Pediatric guidance generally suggests keeping a sound machine in a baby's room at a low volume, often given as around 50 decibels, and placing it well away from the crib rather than on the rail.
A simple test: stand by the bed. If you have to raise your voice to talk over it, it is too loud. Set it as low as still covers the noises you are trying to mask, and use a free decibel meter app on your phone if you want a number.
Where to Put It
- Away from the bed. Across the room, between the bed and the door, so it masks hallway noise before it reaches the child.
- Out of reach. On a dresser rather than the nightstand for toddlers, who will play with the buttons.
- Cord tucked. Run the cord behind furniture, never across a crib or within reach of one.
Shared Rooms
In our shared rooms, one machine between the beds works better than one per child. Two machines playing different sounds just make more noise. Set the light for the youngest child, since older kids generally do not mind a dim amber glow. Our shared kids' bedroom setup has more on making one room work for two kids on different schedules.
Night Light Colour
Keep the light warm and low. Amber, orange and red are the gentlest at night. White and blue are the colours to avoid near bedtime. If your machine has a colour choice, set it once to a dim amber and do not let the kids change it to rainbow mode at 9 p.m. For toddlers who are scared of the dark, a slightly brighter amber is fine for the first few weeks, then dim it gradually. See our toddler room lighting post for the rest of the room.
Make It Part of the Routine
A sound machine works best when it is a cue. Turn it on at the same point in the bedtime routine every night, after teeth and books, and the sound starts to mean sleep. We put it on the bedtime routine board as its own step, so the older kids do it themselves.
The Short Version
For most kids, the Yogasleep Dohm Nova at $64.99: real fan, ten speeds, an amber light and a timer, no app. For babies, the Hatch Baby at $79.99 for phone control. For early risers aged two to six, a time-to-rise model like the Hatch Rest+ or Yogasleep Light to Rise. Keep the volume low, the machine away from the bed, and the light amber.
