Talk to me about swaddle transition suits

[birch113]

Apr 28, 2015 22:00:29 GMT -5 vigorousbabymama said:

Apr 28, 2015 21:47:49 GMT -5 birch113 said:

Has anyone [successfully] transitioned their LO out of the merlin suit? How'd you do it? I am by no means ready, but I like to be prepared. :-)

You are reading my mind!

It's because our LOs are so similar!!!

[birch113]

Apr 29, 2015 9:18:02 GMT -5 graybaby said:

Apr 28, 2015 21:47:49 GMT -5 birch113 said:

Has anyone [successfully] transitioned their LO out of the merlin suit? How'd you do it? I am by no means ready, but I like to be prepared. :-)

I found someone in a similar thread on the 3-6 mo board and they said they just had to quit cold turkey . I am sucking it up and getting DS out of the Merlin this weekend. I'm expecting at least a few days of little to no sleep.

May the force be with you! Let us know how it goes?

[saintelizabeth]

We have a special situation that I'm going to attempt to take advantage of. LO is having cranial surgery in 2 weeks and will be in the hospital for 4-5 days. Because of the monitor wires she will not be able to wear her Merlin suit while in the hospital so I'm going use that as a jump start to getting her weened off the Merlin suit.

[saintelizabeth]

Apr 30, 2015 8:17:16 GMT -5 @txaggie08 said:

saintelizabeth I was wondering when her surgery was. I'll be praying for you guys (and for a successful transition out of the suit).

Thank you!! The surgeons are so confident with her upcoming surgery that I'm more afraid of how much it's going to suck transitioning her out of that suit than I am them cutting open her head ? She trashes so much as night still, god help me!

[linden25]

saintelizabeth your LO will be in my thoughts!

My transition plan is to get her in the zipadee zip. I've been trying it for weekend naps. No luck yet but I'm gonna keep at it. She hasn't shown any interest in rolling over while wearing the Merlin so I'm hoping we have a good long time in it.

[chicorojo]

saintelizabeth I will be thinking of your lo ! Her smooth surgery and a smooth transition.

[birch113]

saintelizabeth please keep us posted? Sending so many positive vibes for your LO!

linden25 miles has on my rolled tummy to back so far. In holding onto the merlin with white knuckles! Thanks for reminding me about the Zippadee zip! Maybe I'll break it out for another try this weekend.

[2jelplus1]

We are pretty happy with the zipadeezip. Our LO has major Moro reflex issues such that we couldn't even set her down unswaddled without waking a few weeks ago... We are now getting 4-5 hour stretches in the zipadeezip!

[bdk0186]

We have been doing the one arm out of swaddle. We are on night 3. Hopefully tomorrow night we will try both. Anyway it's priceless waking up to her with her fingers in her mouth and me not understanding why it's light out that is all I will say lol.

[birch113]

It's too warm for the Merlin suit tonight. I almost asked H to put in the AC so LO could still wear it! Instead, I put the zipadee on LO. So far, he's been asleep for an hour and 15. Pray for us!

[chicorojo]

May 5, 2015 20:06:11 GMT -5 @kc295905 said:

May 5, 2015 20:01:56 GMT -5 birch113 said:

It's too warm for the Merlin suit tonight. I almost asked H to put in the AC so LO could still wear it! Instead, I put the zipadee on LO. So far, he's been asleep for an hour and 15. Pray for us!

Haha we turned ac on. also he's starting to roll both ways. Shit.

My kid is rolling both ways and he's still in a Merlin. That's really bad but I can't break him :/
Eta: flame free Tuesday confession ?

[nbateman5]

May 5, 2015 20:28:07 GMT -5 @kc295905 said:

Does anyone use a regular halo sleep sack?

Yep when we went cold turkey on the halo swaddle we used the sack but now that its warmer she's just in a sleeper for bed.

[nbateman5]

May 5, 2015 20:50:24 GMT -5 @kc295905 said:

May 5, 2015 20:48:07 GMT -5 nbateman5 said:

Yep when we went cold turkey on the halo swaddle we used the sack but now that its warmer she's just in a sleeper for bed.

So you're saying I don't need it?
Also, so creepy, but your LO sleeps adorable (in last photo thread) and I'm jealous that she can sleep that well with no sleep crutch!

Meah...you dont reeeaally need it but it made me feel better having it just in case it was going to help the transition. I had extreme anxiety about breaking the swaddle but grandma daycare cut the cord for us day before she turned 4mo. She was so scared of her rolling and suffocating so she said no more on a friday and we had the weekend to adapt. 1st day of naps were awful, screaming, short and I was super stressed. Everyday from then on for about a week things got better slowly. You can do it, you just have to expect an adjustment period I think. They will adapt, can't say for sure how long it'll take since each baby is sooo different.

[chicorojo]

May 5, 2015 20:48:54 GMT -5 @kc295905 said:

May 5, 2015 20:37:01 GMT -5 chicorojo said:

My kid is rolling both ways and he's still in a Merlin. That's really bad but I can't break him :/
Eta: flame free Tuesday confession ?

Eek well that makes me feel better. Can he roll in the Merlin? Mine hasn't come close...yet. My mom keeps giving me shit for "wasting my money on fads", and here I am looking up new sleep sacks. can't.quit.

He doesn't move a muscle when he's in it. I don't know if he can't roll or just doesn't want to.

[jesster88]

May 5, 2015 20:28:07 GMT -5 @kc295905 said:

Does anyone use a regular halo sleep sack?

We do. I feel like they help create another sleep cue. I am about to order the next size up for him to use this summer.

[userdeleted]

May 5, 2015 20:28:07 GMT -5 @kc295905 said:

Does anyone use a regular halo sleep sack?

Not yet, but I plan to when we transition out of the merlin. Also, as said, as another sleep cue. We'll see how it goes!

[jesster88]

May 6, 2015 13:03:40 GMT -5 @kc295905 said:

May 6, 2015 11:36:07 GMT -5 jesster88 said:

We do. I feel like they help create another sleep cue. I am about to order the next size up for him to use this summer.

What size do you have? Can they still roll in them? Do u think cotton one is too hot for summer?

DS wears mostly 6 months clothes from carters and the small sleep sack fits perfectly. I find the halo size chart to be pretty accurate although a tall baby would need to size up. I dont think they restrict movemet at all because there is a lot of space around the legs. He can roll and rotate no problem. I was thinking about getting a muslin sleep sack for summer so it would be cooler, but DS tends to be more of a cold baby so he would probably be ok in the cotton. I try to buy the more neutral colors so we can use them on future babies.

[cassielynn20]

Total lurker here but I Can't say enough good things about the 50/50 swaddle up! It allows the baby to have their hands up and able to put them in their mouth to self soothe and keeps them from startling them-self awake... We didn't have much luck with the Merlin but this has been a life saver! It even has "wings" that u can zip off to allow one arm to be free and then the other and then it's just a sleep sack!

[fergie17]

May 6, 2015 13:03:40 GMT -5 @kc295905 said:

May 6, 2015 11:36:07 GMT -5 jesster88 said:

We do. I feel like they help create another sleep cue. I am about to order the next size up for him to use this summer.

What size do you have? Can they still roll in them? Do u think cotton one is too hot for summer?

There's a Muslin one that is nice and cool for summer!
Edit: should have kept reading since pp mentioned that. We have a heavy cotton one too that I think helps LO feel more secure.

[2jelplus1]

May 7, 2015 17:07:55 GMT -5 @katylou91 said:

Got the Merlin today! So... It seems kind of bulky. We usually nurse to sleep. Do you ladies have success with nursing while LO is wearing this thing? I couldn't imagine nursing to sleep and then trying to get her into it.

We used the Merlin suit exactly once because I couldn't get LO latched in it quickly enough to avoid a hysterical meltdown during MOTN feeding...but I read several places around the internet indicating many women do it without incident. I have a very high needs baby who only nurses side-lying.

[linden25]

May 7, 2015 17:07:55 GMT -5 @katylou91 said:

Got the Merlin today! So... It seems kind of bulky. We usually nurse to sleep. Do you ladies have success with nursing while LO is wearing this thing? I couldn't imagine nursing to sleep and then trying to get her into it.

I nurse her in the suit at night. She has no problem latching while wearing it. It would definitely wake her up if I nursed and then put her in the suit.

[chicorojo]

We had succesfulish sleep sack sleep last night. He woke up twice and slept all night in his crib.

[chicorojo]

May 9, 2015 8:57:49 GMT -5 @kc295905 said:

May 9, 2015 8:53:20 GMT -5 chicorojo said:

We had succesfulish sleep sack sleep last night. He woke up twice and slept all night in his crib.

That's great!! two wake ups is def manageable. That's about where we are at. I find him waking up and just playing in his crib, but he puts himself back to sleep! Sometimes..

Lo does one little cry.. And if I'm not there in point two seconds he gets pissed. And then if he has to wait for a bottle longer than what he thinks is acceptable (me pouring formula in and shaking it) he is a beast !
I'm pretty sure you aren't starving kid.

[2jelplus1]

May 9, 2015 7:03:03 GMT -5 @kc295905 said:

May 7, 2015 17:07:55 GMT -5 @katylou91 said:

Got the Merlin today! So... It seems kind of bulky. We usually nurse to sleep. Do you ladies have success with nursing while LO is wearing this thing? I couldn't imagine nursing to sleep and then trying to get her into it.

We side lied nursed a million times in that thing.

Maybe I should try again, I think it seemed to elevate her too far up off the bed away from my boob-- is there a modification that needs to be made or am I just incompetent?

[jesster88]

@kcnumbers here is DS in the small

[jesster88]

I wonder if there is a size gap from the small to medium? DS doesn't have much length left in the small and he is really short at 23"

[nbateman5]

May 10, 2015 14:17:37 GMT -5 @kc295905 said:

May 9, 2015 18:50:37 GMT -5 jesster88 said:

I wonder if there is a size gap from the small to medium? DS doesn't have much length left in the small and he is really short at 23"

I haven't actually put LO in it yet, it just looks super big but I'm sure it's fine.

Ours was big but it worked, I got the med too just in case she'd be too long for the small. I don't think the length matters too much
This is the only pic I have of her in it. We haven't been using it anymore since she's rolling all over the place. We used it for a good few weeks though

[chicorojo]

We have successfully transitioned Lo from the swaddle and Merlin! He's just in a sleep sack now yay !

[birch113]

May 12, 2015 9:03:50 GMT -5 chicorojo said:

We have successfully transitioned Lo from the swaddle and Merlin! He's just in a sleep sack now yay !

How?! Share with the class! :-) Our Merlin-less night was a disaster. I made DH put the AC in the very next day!

[chicorojo]

May 12, 2015 20:31:27 GMT -5 birch113 said:

May 12, 2015 9:03:50 GMT -5 chicorojo said:

We have successfully transitioned Lo from the swaddle and Merlin! He's just in a sleep sack now yay !

How?! Share with the class! :-) Our Merlin-less night was a disaster. I made DH put the AC in the very next day!

We had a couple of terrible nights, but I have been letting him splash in the bath tub for at least thirty minutes every night then we drink a bottle, and I put him down awake in his sleep sack. Turn his sound machine on and he plays with his hands until he falls asleep. We still have two wake ups though.