Transitioning out of swaddle

JuniperGaze

I've swaddled my DD since she was just a couple weeks old for nighttime sleep since she started herself awake all the time. Now that she has started to roll over, I have read that it's best to have her arms free. We are having a horrid time getting her to fall asleep and stay asleep without it. I bought a Swaddleme Wrap Sack which leaves her arms , but still swaddled her body, but she still just thrashes around all night. she sleeps just fine u swaddled in the day in her bassinet at grandmas or in her swing, it's just at night. Has anyone had any luck transitioning? Is this something we just have to wait out?

[Deleted User]

No personal advice since DS1 never really tolerated the swaddle and we're not at the point of having to ditch it with DS2 yet but I'm imagining I'll probably gear myself up for a few nights of crappy sleep and then he'll likely adjust.

I went to the Zipadee Zip website and watched the video but I'm wondering how is that different from a long-sleeved sleep sack, other than having the hands covered? Is it tighter, I'm guessing?

JuniperGaze

TKT17 said:

I don't have advice, but I'm interested as I feel like we're getting close to needing to transition away too. LO sleeps like a dream in her swaddle, 10 pm-6 am every night.

I saw a product on Shark Tank that I think may be our next step, called the Zippity Zip, it's like a sleep sack but gives them enough freedom to move their arms a bit.

Yeah, my brother told me about that and I'm going to order a couple!

ghostof5letters

JuniperGaze hop on over to eBay and get yourself a Merlin's Magical Sleep Suit - it worked great for DD1 in a similar situation and I'm planning on using it again for DD2

Or just go to their website and buy a brand new one. They're awesome but a bit pricy. I have one in each size and will be buying another on eBay

hrgwu2006

So, the website for the Sleep Suit says it's only for back sleeping and that once they can roll over in it, you should transition? Sooo, if your baby is rolling over, this probably wouldn't be the best product?  I'm in a similar boat so I'm looking for solutions as well.

BPer

ghostof5letters said:

JuniperGaze hop on over to eBay and get yourself a Merlin's Magical Sleep Suit - it worked great for DD1 in a similar situation and I'm planning on using it again for DD2

Or just go to their website and buy a brand new one. They're awesome but a bit pricy. I have one in each size and will be buying another on eBay

This.  We just started using it on DS the other night as he's been busting out of the swaddle. He can still move about, but it restricts him enough that he doesn't startle himself awake.

ghostof5letters

hrgwu2006 said:

So, the website for the Sleep Suit says it's only for back sleeping and that once they can roll over in it, you should transition? Sooo, if your baby is rolling over, this probably wouldn't be the best product?  I'm in a similar boat so I'm looking for solutions as well.

My daughter could never roll in it. The position it keeps her in keeps everything weighted down. We used it for a long time (two sizes worth of time). They basically keep them pinned on their back because they can't use their arms for leverage. Rolling in the suit (which is what they say) is way different than rolling over milestones. 

Does that make sense?

hrgwu2006

It does - So how long did you get to use it for?  Basically I want to have a good argument for the cost

ghostof5letters

Well, they grow out of them (I ended up with one in each size). Let me see if I can find a picture of my DD1 associated with a date of use. That'll give me a better idea. 

Also, buy the yellow so you can resell the sucker. 

ChrisB

We just got Spencer tolerating the swaddle again. I hate to think we have to take him out of it soon...good-bye peaceful nights sleep..again! We'll have to try the sleep suit.

It doesn't seem to me that he is close to rolling over yet so we may have a few more weeks ahead of us before we transition.

I hope his development isn't behind because he hasn't started showing signs of rolling...?

ghostof5letters

ChrisB said:

We just got Spencer tolerating the swaddle again. I hate to think we have to take him out of it soon...good-bye peaceful nights sleep..again! We'll have to try the sleep suit.

It doesn't seem to me that he is close to rolling over yet so we may have a few more weeks ahead of us before we transition.

I hope his development isn't behind because he hasn't started showing signs of rolling...?

No way are you behind. We're not even close with our July 3 baby. 

hgtvmom

ghostof5letters said:

ChrisB said:

We just got Spencer tolerating the swaddle again. I hate to think we have to take him out of it soon...good-bye peaceful nights sleep..again! We'll have to try the sleep suit.

It doesn't seem to me that he is close to rolling over yet so we may have a few more weeks ahead of us before we transition.

I hope his development isn't behind because he hasn't started showing signs of rolling...?

No way are you behind. We're not even close with our July 3 baby. 

LO was born June 13th at 37 weeks. She rolled over once 5 weeks ago and it pissed her off tremendously. Then nothing. For 5 full weeks. I was wondering if I should worry. Then bam! She rolled over 3 times yesterday.

It will come :-)

@ghostof5letters‌ does the magic suit cover their hands? LO's are always cold out of a swaddle.

Also, I see that they start at a 3-6 mos size. I realize it's a product recommended starting at 3 mos. What do you think about putting a 16 week old (so totally age/developmentally appropriate) in it when they are the size of the average newborn? (She's 9 pounds, but 0-3 mos are still huge on her. She can pull her legs up into the body of a cotton sleeper and pants just fall right off.

ghostof5letters

Pup4gdb

Hands and feet are exposed. 

I'll take mine out tonight and put DD2 in it to check for size. Overall, I think you'd be ok. Her legs wouldn't be able to be tucked in like a ball. 

argonne

I am going to try our Sleep Suit again this week.  She's getting damn close to rolling all the way while swaddled and she gets pissed when her hands are close and covered, yet she can't get them (she can get her hands up to her mouth in the Woombie and Halo Swaddlesack I've been using).  I tried the suit last week and she seemed to get pissed that her legs got bound up, but after more nights of crappy sleep, I think she was just pissy in general.  Last night I put it on her after she woke up twice between 7-10PM and she went down for 3 hours before waking again (this is a sleep win as of late!).

What do y'all dress them in when you put them in the suit?  We keep our house right at 70°.  I bought the cream cotton one, which is supposedly more breathable/less hot than the traditional.

Kelannmat

I got the magic sleep suit as a shower gift. The person I received it from swears by them. We just started using it this week and she's sleeping the same as she was swaddled. I normally just put her in a onesie, but I know plenty of people who put them in a sleeper. It just makes me too nervous to try it. I've heard the suits are more breathable than they look.

ghostof5letters

I use onesies and cotton sleepers. Just no fleece ones. 

keshupe29

I am fearful of this step too. My LO sleeps like a champ at night swaddled. I heard start with one arm our for a few days. Then both. Till you are just swaddling body. Then gradually out of that. That is how I plan to attack it. Hoping for the best!

melissaquinn106

So my baby girl will be 3 months tomorrow and she has rolled over front to back but not back to front just yet, although she's close. She sleeps so well in her swaddle but recently has been breaking out of it and her hands are so cold! I saw the zippadee zip on shark tank so I ordered a couple to try out. It was no 12 hours but she slept a solid 9. Which is what she had been sleeping swaddled so I guess we can call it a success. It was only one night though so we'll see how it goes. And her hands weren't cold!

cookieinva

We weaned older DS from being swaddled one arm at a time...for anyone looking for a different approach. A little different because he was only ever swaddled for naps, not overnight, so we didn't start weaning him until a few months later than this.

mamaloaf

Thanks ghost. Just spent 75$ on something I've never heard of and didn't know I needed.

You deserve a finders fee.

honeybee434

I joined the bandwagon and ordered the magical sleep suit today. Thursday can't come soon enough! I pray this is what we need to get DD to sleep longer.

JuniperGaze

I found the sleepsuit on an eBay auction. MIL is watching it for me. It can't come soon enough!

ghostof5letters

So I used the sleep suit DD2 last night. 

I had her in a footed sleeper so her feet didn't get cold. When I woke her up this morning, her hands were normal body temp, not cold. 

She slept the same time/pattern as she does with the swaddle. 

10:00-5:30

2 for 2 with my kids. 

ghostof5letters

LolaSimonLove said:

We used it last night. No different than normal. Still one wake up around 1 and then two more between 3-6. We are going to keep using it and see if it gets better. At least he doesn't fight like he did in the swaddle. He did manage to suck his thumb all night with the suit on though.

Ugh...

How old is your baby?

ghostof5letters

LolaSimonLove said:

@ghostof5letters‌ he's 12 weeks. Someone told me that big babies sleep better.... But at 16 lbs now, he still wants to eat overnight. We've tried increasing his daytime ounces and a bigger bottle before bed, but nothing has worked.

do you know how many total ounces he's eating over the course of the day?

How many ounces per bottle?

I'm just curious. I've heard similar things about big babies, but my niece is a huge baby and she doesn't sleep through the night. She nurses (they bed share) all.night.long. 

I EP and bottle feed, so I relate more to formula feeders. 

ADC1979

We pretty much stopped the swaddle cold turkey with LO because he would break out of the Halo sleepsack swaddles.  Sometimes he startles but he seems to go right back to sleep from it usually.  He's been sleeping unswaddled since he was pretty small, though--I think he started breaking out at around 4 weeks or so.  Now he likes to sleep on his side and roll around the pack n play like he's one of the Three Stooges, but as long as he's asleep I'm happy!  He's not STTN but this works for us currently.

Salsera29

PSA: Keep a close eye on your LO if you think there might even be a CHANCE that he or she can roll over. DS had never rolled from back to front before I woke up one morning to find him face down, swaddled, in the RnP. It was scary as shit and we haven't swaddled him since.

Prncesta

I too jumped on the bandwagon to order this miracle suit! LO is breaking out of her swaddles every night so I'm thinking its time to transition. I'm looking forward to getting it next week!

honeybee434

We got to try the sleep suit last night for the first time. (The first night went tried she had a poop explosion in the suit. It was not fun,)

She was super fussy last night so didn't get to sleep until 11pm, and then slept until 1, wanted to eat because she wouldn't eat when she was fussy, and now we are on a stretch where she has slept 5 1/2 hours! She hasn't slept this long at one time in over a month! I'm wondering how long she will go and slightly jealous DH will get crazy good sleep compared with my 6 hours.

Hoping that tomorrow is the same way and that this isn't a first night fluke!

JayBzo

I just bought that damn thing. I would spend ALL the dollars for sleep. Like literally, I might make us broke. Get the F'ing thing here now and go the f to sleep! I should have caved long ago when you suggested this @ghostof5letters

ghostof5letters

honeybee434 said:

We got to try the sleep suit last night for the first time. (The first night went tried she had a poop explosion in the suit. It was not fun,) She was super fussy last night so didn't get to sleep until 11pm, and then slept until 1, wanted to eat because she wouldn't eat when she was fussy, and now we are on a stretch where she has slept 5 1/2 hours! She hasn't slept this long at one time in over a month! I'm wondering how long she will go and slightly jealous DH will get crazy good sleep compared with my 6 hours. Hoping that tomorrow is the same way and that this isn't a first night fluke!

Have you tried it again? How's it going?

JuniperGaze

I freaking love this thing! We've used it 3 nights now and she's slept 8-10 hours each night. The first night she woke up at 1 bc she was hungry. The next 2 nights she slept right through. I've even been putting her down early by herself. I've always gone to bed at the same time since I was uncomfortable leaving her alone. I've been putting a long sleeved cotton sleeper under it. Her hands feel cold in the morning, but her body feels warm.

hrgwu2006

Last night we tried keeping 1 arm out of her swaddle.  She did really really well! I could hear here sucking on her hand throughout the night, but she didn't wake up or seem bothered by it.  We'll see how it goes for a few days...if things start sucking, I'll probably by the suit.

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Prncesta

I am obsessed with the Merlin sleep suit! We got it over last weekend and I was a little apprehensive to try it bc it looks like a snow suit and I was worried LO would sweat to death. I tried it for a nap on Tuesday and she slept 2.5 hrs in her crib without a fight and Then the last two nights have been a success. 9:30-6:45 on Wednesday and 8:30-7:30 last night! My LO usually wakes up at least once a night around 3.

Everyone needs a sleep suit. I don't know what goes on in that thing, but it's a miracle!

ETA: I put LO in only a diaper under the suit with socks and she was perfectly fine.

ghostof5letters

I'm so relieved no one hates the thing and is cussing me out. 

cookiemomma14

I'm interested in this merlin thing. . But wouldn't we then have to (eventually) transition out of that?

DS naps in the swing with no swaddle but likes a blanket near his hands and face. I'm of course always around him and watching him with it. This week I've been trying to put him in the cribs for naps (in hopes of transitioning to the crib asap) but they haven't been super successful yet. He may just be swaddled in the rock n play forever. Long live the baby burrito.

Prncesta

ghostof5letters said:

I'm so relieved no one hates the thing and is cussing me out. 

No, I LOOOVE this thing. My husband jokes that it has milk in it that infuses into the baby overnight.

I assume eventually we'll have to transition, but right now the sleep is so good that I'm not going there.

honeybee434

ghostof5letters said:

honeybee434 said:

We got to try the sleep suit last night for the first time. (The first night went tried she had a poop explosion in the suit. It was not fun,)

She was super fussy last night so didn't get to sleep until 11pm, and then slept until 1, wanted to eat because she wouldn't eat when she was fussy, and now we are on a stretch where she has slept 5 1/2 hours! She hasn't slept this long at one time in over a month! I'm wondering how long she will go and slightly jealous DH will get crazy good sleep compared with my 6 hours.

Hoping that tomorrow is the same way and that this isn't a first night fluke!

Have you tried it again? How's it going?

-----------------------

It's been working great until last night. I think she's just having a bad night, though. Wants to wake up every hour. But usually with the suit she will wake up twice, where before it was 4 times. I think she gets cold, though, which I don't know how to fix. We bought the cotton white one and put a sleeper ok her and she still wakes up with her arms freezing and her chest/back are a little warm, but not that warm. I don't really know how to fix that. I've put an A&A blanket around her lower half but that isn't doing much good. I think if I could make her warmer she would wake up less.

hrgwu2006

OK - I'm sold...Ordering today!

[Deleted User]

I keep going back and forth on whether to drop the money on this suit or just suck it up and wean from the swaddle without it. Gah. This was one challenge I never had with DS1 because he didn't like the swaddle.