Transitioning out of the Merlin suit

[abbyroad]

DS will be 5 mos on Saturday. He's not a great sleeper and I want to get him out of the Merlin sleep suit because I believe it's preventing him from learning how to self-soothe (it's one factor at least). We tried a few weeks ago and at 3am I gave up and put him back in the suit. Tonight I put him to bed in a regular sleep sack at 7 and he's woken up at 8, 9 and 10 (it's 10:20 at the moment). Has anyone been through this so far? Am I just going to have a rough night or two or should I take this as a sign that he's still not ready?

[everyusernameistaken]

Oy, my kiddo is still in the suit and waking up 6x a night. He is cutting teeth #3 and 4 so that could be part if it. Just wanted to say I feel your pain, I am DREADING transitioning out of it
Edited because I fail at reading comprehension.

[abbyroad]

Eff it. He just woke again at 10:45. He's back in the suit. I have no resolve.

[everyusernameistaken]

Don't feel bad! It sounds like maybe LO isn't ready. And as long as baby isn't rolling in the suit you have some time to play with. Good luck!!

[tch4lfe]

The first attempt we made my dd failed miserably. We then waited a few weeks, and put her in the halo sleep sack and started out with just naps. After a few days she started to get used to it and we were able to get her sleeping better at night than she was in the sleep suit within a weeks time! Good luck!

[anewadventure]

why mess with a good thing? if LO is sleeping fine in the suit, not rolling over, and isn't really approaching "too old" for the suit, i'm not sure why you want to take it away.

no advice on transitioning as we are still using the suit happily.

[abbyroad]

Feb 13, 2015 8:58:01 GMT -5 anewadventure said:

why mess with a good thing? if LO is sleeping fine in the suit, not rolling over, and isn't really approaching "too old" for the suit, i'm not sure why you want to take it away.

no advice on transitioning as we are still using the suit happily.

Well it's better than when he sleeps without it, but I wouldn't necessarily call it a good thing.  He still wakes 3-4x/night in it and usually winds up spending the last few hours before wake-up time nursing in bed with me.  The reason I want to transition him out of it is because I'd like to think about sleep training him soon and I believe that the whole goal of sleep training is for the baby to learn to self-soothe and he can't do that in the sleep suit.  

[bella2425]

We had to transition about a month ago because he was rolling over in the thing. The first night or two were pretty rough with constant wakeups. But once he figured out that he could easily roll over and be comfy he did just fine and seemed a lot happier (no more grunting!). My advice is to give it at least two nights (weekends are good so you can nap during the day if the night is a total shit show) and if he's not ready, stick him back in for another week and then try again.

[anewadventure]

Feb 13, 2015 9:51:42 GMT -5 abbyroad said:

Feb 13, 2015 8:58:01 GMT -5 anewadventure said:

why mess with a good thing? if LO is sleeping fine in the suit, not rolling over, and isn't really approaching "too old" for the suit, i'm not sure why you want to take it away.

no advice on transitioning as we are still using the suit happily.

Well it's better than when he sleeps without it, but I wouldn't necessarily call it a good thing.  He still wakes 3-4x/night in it and usually winds up spending the last few hours before wake-up time nursing in bed with me.  The reason I want to transition him out of it is because I'd like to think about sleep training him soon and I believe that the whole goal of sleep training is for the baby to learn to self-soothe and he can't do that in the sleep suit.  

ah i couldn't tell from your original post that he was waking so much. that stinks!! good luck with your transition attempts, and extra coffee to you.

[abbyroad]

I often put DS in it in just a onesie and socks for nap time but at bedtime I put him in it in PJs. I think he's around 14 lbs or a bit more and I think I need the larger size as well as he's getting too long for it and his shoulders are starting to peek out. He also cries when I put him in it, but he usually does start to cry whenever we start nap time or bedtime routine - I think it's just his personality to get a bit cranky when he knows it's bedtime. I don't think there's any way I could put it on him after he's asleep tho. Putting his arms in would surely wake him up.

[tch4lfe]

My daughter was around 13 lbs when we stopped using it, and at that time it started to seem a little snug. You more than likely will need to go up a size. We live in Texas so I always just put a onesie and socks on underneath. Make sure you get the cotton one and not fleece. If I had kept her in it over the summer, I would have just made sure to keep the air down and fan on in her room. As far as laying her down, I too found her to seem uncomfortable rocking in it. I say if she lets you put her down drowsy go for it! Hope this helps!

[queenbabee]

We had the same problem. DS couldn't reach his hands so he just flailed around and woke himself up even more trying. 2 nights in a row, I caved and put him back in the suit halfway through the night. Then I just put him in fleece footed jammies and boom. Slept awesome.
He still wakes up to eat around 2, but then right back down because he can reach his fingers. He still isn't rolling and he just turned 5 months. So there is hope if you wanna keep trying lol.

Does he where it for naps?

[abbyroad]

Feb 15, 2015 21:15:53 GMT -5 queenbabee said:

We had the same problem. DS couldn't reach his hands so he just flailed around and woke himself up even more trying. 2 nights in a row, I caved and put him back in the suit halfway through the night. Then I just put him in fleece footed jammies and boom. Slept awesome.
He still wakes up to eat around 2, but then right back down because he can reach his fingers. He still isn't rolling and he just turned 5 months. So there is hope if you wanna keep trying lol.

Does he where it for naps?

He is currently wearing it for naps except that he sometimes pees through his overnight diaper and his jammies (!) so when the suit is in the wash I lightly swaddle him for a nap or sometimes I go without it and then his naps are noticeably shorter.  He rolls but he rarely rolls back to front and he can't roll in either direction in the suit so I guess we're sticking with it.  Now the only unfortunate part is that I think I'm going to have to buy the larger size.