Sleep… help!!
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I second the magic merlin suit! My son had a hard time sleeping in a sack. We transitioned him to the suit and he sleeps so well in it!
Start the transition on the swaddle for naps first! We did one arm out then two. It was like 3 days of him waking himself up by hitting himself in the face as he tried to get himself to sleep, but after that the Moro reflex goes away pretty quickly. For sleep training, I’m doing the sleepy but awake or “pick up put down.” It’s one of the methods you can start early because it’s basically just helping them fall asleep on their own but still offering all the soothing they need. It takes a TON of patience, but it actually seems to be working. So we rock/pat/snuggle until he’s super calm and drowsy but he ALWAYS has to go in the crib awake. We then soothe from the side of the crib if he still needs it. And we pick him up and rock him again if he gets super upset. I also found that he needs a couple of contact naps a day with this, otherwise it’s just too much solo time with the overnights too.
The Merlin suit is not safe for rolling babies, just mentioning that because others are recommending it. But I wouldn’t go for a sleep consultant quite yet just because if you choose to sleep train it doesn’t really work till closer to 6 months. Babies circadian rhythms begin to develop around 4 months of age, which is partly why the 4 month sleep regression sucks so much. Honestly if she’s already not sleeping great I would just put her in a sleepsack and get the hard part over with. You don’t wanna get her sleeping good then hve to start all over when you’re forced to transition. The first few nights will probably suck, but it will get better. With my first kid we did it starting with naps one arm then 2 and the first couple nights sucked and then he slept better than he ever did in a swaddle. Made me question if I even wanted to swaddle this baby. But we used love to dream swaddle which still allows slight movement in the arms. And then this week we started using the halo easy
Easy transition sack for naps and bed and she is still sleeping like normal. I even used a regular sleep sack for her last nap of the day today and she slept perfectly fine.
I paid for the Annual Pampers sleep training program... its slowly helping for us! I also got her a snug sleeping bag where I can let her arms out.. so she feels sort of swaddled but she's not.. the Brand is Kidira.. and the Size medium and larger has the option of opening the arms and feet. Transition Swaddle, Baby Swaddle 3-6 Months 12-18 lb, Arms In/Out Swaddle Sleep Sack with 2-Way Zipper Moisture-Wicking Fabric, Improves Sleep Snug Fit Helps Calm Startle Reflex https://a.co/d/7t5r758
For those of you doing the drowsy but awake, how does it work?? When I do it, my baby’s eyes shoot open immediately when I lay him down. Then when I try to soothe from the side he doesn’t even try to close his eyes.
@Jessica mine is the same! 😩
@Jessica It takes SO much patience and time. We started at about 11-12 weeks and we’re just starting to see him fully get himself to sleep sometimes now. So, the process: we have a solid nap and nighttime routine. Naps we put in sleep sack, say “goodnight light”, and then rock him with a pacifier. At night, we do baby massage, pjs, lullaby, then rock with a pacifier. In the beginning, it was rock until eyelids droop, put in crib, his eyes open and we try and soothe from there but he would freak out a little, we need to pick him back up, start over with rocking. I wouldn’t leave the room or even the side of the crib. It was mostly soothing in my arms rather than in the crib, but he always went back in the crib when his eyes start to droop. Eventually, it got to soothe from the side of the crib (hand on chest, shush, maybe a Little Rock side to side with my hand). Now for the most part, we rock until eyes are heavy, put him down, if he’s calm, we leave the room.
@Jessica If he fusses, we wait a min, then go back in. We go back in immediately if he cries.
They are still so young and changing so quickly from week to week, I feel like sleep consultants are kinda scams at this age idk. My daughter is using the Magic Merlin Sleep Suit and it’s been great.