https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 12 Jun 2026 00:58:15 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/putting-baby-into-merlins-magic-sleepsuit-or-other-swaddle-weaning-ideas#post-1515275 Sun, 23 Mar 2014 11:07:46 +0000 luckygirl 1515275@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Update: first of all, thank you again to everyone for your responses! They were very helpful in terms of practical tips as well as for providing moral support!</p> <p>@catlady : we were gifted a Baby deedee but I hadn't really looked at it and didn't realize that the arms/shoulders could snap on - which is perfect for my LO who hates getting dressed at night!!! Thank you for mentioning it as a great option. We have the heavier winter one, and even though it's more expensive will probably buy the lighter warmer weather version soon. I wish all arm/shoulders on baby clothes had snaps :) </p> <p>Now for the update: </p> <p>We ended up starting with using a fleece Halo Sleep Sack with Swaddle Arms since we already owned one. We tried it with one arm out for a couple of nights, that went ok. But since the fabric was fleece it ended up being too warm for our LO. We then used the Baby deedee sleep sack that we also had already been gifted, so both arms were out of course, and it went well too! </p> <p>His sleep is about the same overall as before we swaddle weaned (between 1-2 wake ups). He's been having a bit of trouble going down right at bedtime the last few nights, but I'm not sure if that's related or a new issue as he gets older. So I'm still counting swaddle weaning as a victory since the sleep didn't get much worse. He's even had a couple 8 hour stretches which are amazing. And we're really excited that he's no longer dependent on the swaddle. We've been rotating between the Baby deedee sleep sack and a cotton Halo Sleep Sack, depending on how warm/cool it is in his nursery. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/putting-baby-into-merlins-magic-sleepsuit-or-other-swaddle-weaning-ideas#post-1489095 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 11:42:52 +0000 catlady 1489095@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@luckygirl: We don't use Halos anymore because they took a little longer to get on and our LO is like yours, she doesn't like getting dressed. So we use Baby Deedee, which is a sleep sack with snaps at the shoulders to make it a little faster to get them on. She's a terrible sleeper anyway, so she doesn't do well with the sleep sack, but she didn't do well in the swaddle or the merlin suit anyway. Hehe. She is 5 months now and we transitioned her out of the swaddles around 3.5 months when she started regularly breaking out.</p> <p>Btw, we have tried the merlin suit at night and I think if that works for you, it's a great option. I wish it worked for us! The times we used it, we didn't take her out of it if she needed to nurse. It was a little tricky but doable. The main issue we had with it was that sometimes LO wanted to suck on her hand and couldn't get to it because the suit was so thick. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/putting-baby-into-merlins-magic-sleepsuit-or-other-swaddle-weaning-ideas#post-1489083 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 11:39:06 +0000 Mrs. High Heels 1489083@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DD hated the Merlin Sleep Suit (never tried on DS), but both kids loooved the woombie. I like that it's so easy to put on - just one zipper down the middle, and there's still room in there for her to move her limbs so she isn't completely confined like she'd be in traditional swaddles.</p> <p>We transitioned both kids cold turkey to sleep sacks around 4 months, but we also allowed them to sleep on their belly so I think that helped make the transition smoother too. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/putting-baby-into-merlins-magic-sleepsuit-or-other-swaddle-weaning-ideas#post-1488974 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 11:04:30 +0000 kjpugs 1488974@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I had the exact same issues. LO just before 3 months was breaking out of (and halfway rolling over in) the miracle blanket. (If you follow me on instagram you've seen the hilarious photos.) We tried sleep sack with bad results. I bought a used (1 time used) merlin off of HB and it saved our lives. We just transitioned out of it at 4 1/2 months and LO is sleeping great in just sleepers now. We used it from about 12 weeks through 20 weeks I think? About 2 months so that sounds right. When she was more able to flip in the Merlin it was time to transition out, but it really helped buffer the transition from swaddle to pajamas. I put it on her like I did the swaddle- right before her bedtime bottle. No matter WHAT I put on her she freaked because she was tired and wanted her bedtime bottle. But it was no worse than the swaddle. I would put my hand through the hand hole and help guide her hand out- no problem. I definitely recommend it!!!!!!!!!</p> <p>ETA- I initially offered to share but DH just said NO WAY! HAHA he said that thing is not leaving our house. Does that tell you how much we loved our Merlin? I'd recommend searching HB boards, mom groups, and even maybe once upon a child stores. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/putting-baby-into-merlins-magic-sleepsuit-or-other-swaddle-weaning-ideas#post-1488943 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 10:52:29 +0000 Weagle 1488943@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@luckygirl: We transitioned to the Woombie around 3.5 months and she was in it for about a month. She started breaking out of it then, so we went cold turkey. I wish she would have stayed in it a little bit longer. It was great! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/putting-baby-into-merlins-magic-sleepsuit-or-other-swaddle-weaning-ideas#post-1488906 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 10:42:27 +0000 ChitownRo 1488906@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@luckygirl: My LO was also breaking out of swaddles right around 11 weeks. I had the same concerns re: extra fabric as you... so bought the Merlin Suit. If your LO doesn't like getting dressed, he won't like this either. But, I haven't found it particularly hard to use. We love it so far. His sleep improved significantly - both naps and nighttime. We don't take him out of it for nighttime feeds. Overall, I'm a big fan :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/putting-baby-into-merlins-magic-sleepsuit-or-other-swaddle-weaning-ideas#post-1488816 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 10:10:16 +0000 luckygirl 1488816@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks all for your responses and thoughts so far! They are very helpful. Another thing I'm wondering about is if at 12 weeks our son is a little young to be swaddle weaned/transitioned. </p> <p>Does anyone have experience at around 3 months old transitioning out of the MB or swaddle, and how did it go? </p> <p>@weagle: That's interesting that you went from the MB to the Woombie, since that's something we're considering. How old was your LO when you started using the Woombie, and how long did you use it for? </p> <p>@sammyfab: That's great to know that your LO fit just fine in the MSS. And I'd be happy if it worked for 6 weeks! How old was your LO when you used it?</p> <p>@catlady: Good idea to look at the bright side! How is the transition into the Halo sleep sacks going for you all at night? And how old is your LO as well? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/putting-baby-into-merlins-magic-sleepsuit-or-other-swaddle-weaning-ideas#post-1488620 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 09:16:02 +0000 catlady 1488620@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just transitioned out of the swaddle recently. LO is a crappy sleeper, and I was excited to try the merlin suit, but it really did nothing at night (we do still use it for naps). So we decided to just put her in a regular sleep sack and see how that goes. Our LO hates being put in clothes right before bed too, so I bought a baby dee dee since it was easier to get on than the halo sleep sacks that we already had. The one silver lining is that I have heard that it can be tough on some kids to transition out of the merlin suit, so at least we won't have to do that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/putting-baby-into-merlins-magic-sleepsuit-or-other-swaddle-weaning-ideas#post-1488606 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 09:11:28 +0000 Sammyfab 1488606@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We were huge fans of the MSS!</p> <p>My son was a really chubby baby and we had no problems getting him dressed in it. We did use the sleepsuit in the summer though so he was only in his diaper and then the MSS. I didn't take him out of it to nurse him in the middle of the night.</p> <p>He was a decent sleeper when we transitioned and the MSS didn't affect his sleep at all. I just wanted to get him out of the swaddle and he still had a strong reflex so I knew that putting him into a sleep sack would be disastrous. We used the MSS for ~6 weeks and then transitioned into a sleep sack without issue. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/putting-baby-into-merlins-magic-sleepsuit-or-other-swaddle-weaning-ideas#post-1488562 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 08:55:42 +0000 lawbee11 1488562@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We used the Zipadee Zip when we swaddle weaned at 4 months, and we're still using it (LO is 7 months now). We love it! I actually like that the hands are covered because my LO used to stick her entire fist in her mouth and that would cause her to gag and sometimes spit up. But if your LO is a thumb sucker then it may not be the best solution. It's also very easy to put on--just zip it up! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/putting-baby-into-merlins-magic-sleepsuit-or-other-swaddle-weaning-ideas#post-1488554 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 08:53:32 +0000 yin 1488554@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Unfortunately it did not work for us. It did not improve his sleep, and he desperately wanted to reach for his thumb. It was a losing battle, and we got rid of it. He was much happier in a normal sleep sack with access to his thumb for self comfort. He was never a fan of swaddles either. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/putting-baby-into-merlins-magic-sleepsuit-or-other-swaddle-weaning-ideas#post-1488546 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 08:51:15 +0000 Foodnerd81 1488546@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We are those people who tried every swaddle product on the market. No joke-- A&amp;A blanket, SwaddleMe velcro, Miracle Blanket, Woombie, Merlin sleep suit, and Halo Sleep Sack with the arms. My kid was not a good sleeper! </p> <p>SO, with all my "experience" I will say I found the Merlin sleep suit easy to get my baby into-- I didn't think the arms were that small, but we also used it when she was still on the smaller side of the weight guidelines. Perhaps if she was bigger it would have been harder? I didn't take her out of the swaddle or sleep suit for night feedings, but I imagine it would be equally disruptive as the MB. The sleep suit worked GREAT for us for about 2 weeks, then it just stopped. I think she had finally figured out sucking on her fingers to self sooth and the sleep suit made it too hard for her to reach her hands. And it's expensive. </p> <p>After that stopped working we went to the Halo Sleep sack with the swaddle arms. We wrapped the arms around her chest, but left her arms free, so she still had that tightness but could get her hands to her mouth. The first night, she woke up a bunch of times, after that, she figured out how to get her hands to mouth and was happier. Since you already have those, personally, I start with that, or with the one arm out option. </p> <p>Oh, and the woombie was nice because it's super quick to get her into it, she cannot bust her arms out of it, but she could push her hands up to the top and suck on them a little through the fabric. It worked for a little while for us. Or you could put baby in a swaddle then zip the woombie over the whole thing, if he still needs the swaddle. </p> <p>Um.... can you tell we tried EVERYTHING? :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/putting-baby-into-merlins-magic-sleepsuit-or-other-swaddle-weaning-ideas#post-1488505 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 08:43:24 +0000 Weagle 1488505@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We went from Miracle Blanket to Woombie to nothing. I have no experience with magic sleep suit, but we really liked the Woombie. As far as swaddle weaning, cold turkey was te best way to go in our house. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/putting-baby-into-merlins-magic-sleepsuit-or-other-swaddle-weaning-ideas#post-1488479 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 08:34:21 +0000 Mrs. Oatmeal 1488479@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We're swaddle weaning now (at 6.5 months...kiddo liked her swaddle), and we've been using the Zipadee-Zip. Its less structured than the Merlin, much easier to get on, and so far, its been working well. </p> <p>It comes in a huge range of sizes, too - so there isn't the additional transition once they can roll over. Not saying its a miracle product by any means (different things work for different babies), but it might be worth a try! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/putting-baby-into-merlins-magic-sleepsuit-or-other-swaddle-weaning-ideas#post-1488474 Wed, 12 Mar 2014 08:28:45 +0000 luckygirl 1488474@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My 12 week old son recently started breaking out of his swaddle, the Miracle Blanket. He is a great nighttime sleeper, but not so great at daytime naps (he mostly takes them on me or in the stroller/car seat, though we get occasional crib naps now and then). He sleeps in the crib every night. On good nights he’s had 1-2 wake ups, but sometimes he has 3. </p> <p>Because the Miracle Blanket has all that extra fabric and he can move around in his crib a bit, we aren’t comfortable using it any longer now that he breaks out (a couple of times there was a lot of loose fabric up by his face/head.) It also seems to wake him up when he gets out of it. He got his legs out first on a couple nights, then eventually both arms and legs, so we stopped swaddling him with legs in. But now he can still get his arms out, and then the whole thing falls apart. Back when he was much smaller he was also able to get his arms out of the Halo Swaddle/Sleep Sacks and any other swaddles we tried pretty easily, so they aren’t great options either.</p> <p>So we are trying to figure out what to do now! We don’t think he’s quite ready to sleep in just a sleep sack, as he still flails his arms around and hits himself in the head sometimes. Though he has discovered chewing on his hands, which we hope will help him self-soothe. </p> <p>We are considering buying Merlin’s Magic Sleepsuit, but we are on a budget, so we can’t try every option out there!</p> <p>My big concern about Merlin’s Sleepsuit is getting him into it at bedtime. I’ve read that the arm holes are pretty small. He HATES getting dressed, especially anything going over his arms. At night before bed putting on a onesie and then pjs can send him into a meltdown. Usually we nurse after we put on pjs, then put him in the swaddle, then nurse again before putting him in the crib. He doesn’t really mind getting the swaddle on at that point. </p> <p>We are also thinking about using a Halo Swaddle/Sleep Sack again (we already own one) with one arm out to see how that works. Maybe he would self-soothe a bit? And because if he breaks out of it, there is less fabric that could cover his face.</p> <p>My question is: does anyone have experience with the Merlin’s Magic Sleepsuit that could speak to getting their baby into it at bedtime, as well as during nighttime feedings? We usually unswaddle at the start of night wake ups, then swaddle again after nursing and before putting him back down. Is it a battle to get baby into it, in particular the arm holes? Or is it worth it as a way to transition from the swaddle? </p> <p>I’ve read through the archives a bit, but if anyone has any other swaddle weaning suggestions please feel free to chime in! We’re also considering the Woombie or the Zipadee Zip, but again are trying to avoid buying every baby product that is out there : ) Thanks! </p>