Magic sleepsuit

dmathis10

Also posted on 9 to 12 month board

Anyone use the Baby Merlin's magic sleepsuit? How did it work for your LO? If it worked but you are no longer using it, was it a hard transition to stop using it?

DS is 3 months old and still sleeps swaddled in his RnP. I ordered the sleepsuit to try to get him to sleep more flat in a bassinet first. I should receive the suit in a few days...

k8edgerton

I ordered it and used it because my LO rolled back to belly first as opposed to belly to back. She had turned over in her sleep and face planted -- not able to turn herself back over yet (it scared the heck out of me). I was up 100 times a night flipping what I fondly or not so fondly called "The Pancake"

It worked great until she learned to roll the other way (4.5 months). Then she was miserable in it. I transitioned her with little problem. Meaning 3-4 nights of heck while she figured out how to sleep on her own.

I will say with the sleep suit she slept soundly all night and now she will wake 1-2 x's a night without.  That is not because she isn't swaddled -- You will find that once you solve one sleep mystery, you will be presented with yet another. Current battle at my house = teething, before that it was the fact that she would wake up on all 4's in the middle of the night rocking, and before that it was the 4 months wakeful... and so on and so on... Yes the sleep suit helped me, however it was just another crutch -- Like the swaddle, pnp, paci, etc...

Baby sleep mysteries are hard. You have to decide if you want to ween them now or later. I personally wouldn't see issue with weaning from the swaddle in the PnP -- go with one arm out then the other and then remove the swaddle. Then transition to crib -- perhaps with baby swaddled from the waist down in the crib and then work to a sleep sack. You are correct in weening form the swaddle now.

 

 

acaudill75

Your kid stays in a swaddle still? Babies are great in that they let you know when they are ready to move on. DD1 was Houdini when it came to the swaddle. We would literally watch her inch one arm out, and then the other and then kick her legs free. We just got her footed pjs at about 3 weeks. Luckily, she was a good sleeper. DD2 had colic, so sleeping was a little more tricky. We swaddled her and put her on her side. But she didn't want to be swaddled for very long either, maybe 6-8 weeks. Try a really soft plush blanket and footed pjs. Something about the softness against their face seems to lull them to sleep. The women at my girls daycare actually partially cover the babies faces when napping and the kids all nap, and no one has suffocated. I wouldn't worry about overheating in the winter, unless you keep the heat on high, then I would keep a fan on in the room to keep the air circulating. Maybe sleep LO on their side? Sometimes its the position that makes all the difference. Obviously, I won't tell you to put LO on their stomach, because I don't want to hear the fallout from that, but some babies sleep better that way. My DDs hated anything that didn't allow them to move their little chubby legs and arms, and they regularly "spin" around in their respective beds at night, so anything that inhibits that will wake them. Babies need to learn to self soothe and if you put them in something that keeps them from that, you are only making it harder for yourself in the long run.

jennyelf

Our LO was swaddled until 4 months when he started being able to roll over. After a week of misery, we got a sleep suit. We found it worked as well as the swaddle did in that he typically only woke about once a night for feeding. At 5 months, LO started STTN. Around 6 months we decided to start weaning from the sleep suit and using heavy pjs and a sleep sack instead. It took about 2 days and LO was sleeping pretty well w/o the suit.

Overall, I'd say the suit helped because our LO had an intense startle reflex that would cause him to wake up every time he moved in his sleep. The swaddle and sleep suit both muffled this. Finally at 6 months, LO outgrew the startle response and now I've seen him move in his sleep, touching his face and not waking up in the process. Once the reflex response died down, LO no longer needed the suit so weaning was pretty easy.

LO currently isn't STTN (1-3 feedings), but I'm blaming a combination of growth spurts, sickness, and teething that he's been going through for the past month. Hopefully once these teeth are through, we'll be back to sleeping again. 

shellpie84

I love love love the sleep suit! it really was magic! I bought it becuase at 3 months LO was getting up 4 or 5x a night and was rolling on her belly and getting stuck. Once we got the suit she slept through the night and stopped rolling. Around 6 months she was able to get up on her hands and knees so we stopped using it then. Since then we're back to getting up 4 or 5x a night. I know people think its a crutch but i'm much more comfortable sleep training a 7 month old vs a 3 month old. Definitely well worth the money!

dmathis10

acaudill75:

Your kid stays in a swaddle still? Babies are great in that they let you know when they are ready to move on. DD1 was Houdini when it came to the swaddle. We would literally watch her inch one arm out, and then the other and then kick her legs free. We just got her footed pjs at about 3 weeks. Luckily, she was a good sleeper. DD2 had colic, so sleeping was a little more tricky. We swaddled her and put her on her side. But she didn't want to be swaddled for very long either, maybe 68 weeks. Try a really soft plush blanket and footed pjs. Something about the softness against their face seems to lull them to sleep. The women at my girls daycare actually partially cover the babies faces when napping and the kids all nap, and no one has suffocated. I wouldn't worry about overheating in the winter, unless you keep the heat on high, then I would keep a fan on in the room to keep the air circulating. Maybe sleep LO on their side? Sometimes its the position that makes all the difference. Obviously, I won't tell you to put LO on their stomach, because I don't want to hear the fallout from that, but some babies sleep better that way. My DDs hated anything that didn't allow them to move their little chubby legs and arms, and they regularly "spin" around in their respective beds at night, so anything that inhibits that will wake them. Babies need to learn to self soothe and if you put them in something that keeps them from that, you are only making it harder for yourself in the long run.

Yes, he still stays in a swaddle. But, he is starting to wiggle a lot in it and the top of it gets very loose by morning. So, it makes me think he might be ready to give up the swaddle. But he sometimes still jerks his hands in his sleep, so that's why I thought about trying the sleepsuit.

ktpaladino

We started using the suit at 4 months to help the transition from RNP to crib. It got us some longer stretches of sleep for about 3 weeks, then the 4 month wakeful hit for us and it stopped working. We continued to use it up until 7 months because it still fit and it had become part of our bedtime routine. I also liked that it kept LO nice and cozy. We had no problems transitioning out of it, but we did have to move to warmer footie PJ's layered over an undershirt onesie for warmth once we took the suit away.