Transitioning from Baby Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit to a Sleep Sack

 If you are think about or currently using the Baby Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit are you worried about how the transition out would be?

All good things must come to an end and I was hugely dreading the time when Penny would have to transition out of the sleepsuit.

Once baby can roll over in the sleepsuit they need to be moved out. Penny was not quite rolling in it, but she was able to get on her side. So I decided it would be better to transition her out slowly than to have to do it cold turkey once she rolled to her stomach. 

I searched high and low on the internet to find exactly how to transition out of the sleepsuit. I had no luck. I knew it had to be strategic because of how comfy and cozy the suit was on Penny. That is why I am writing this post. I hope that it is helpful to anyone who might be apprehensive about trying the sleepsuit because they are afraid of the transition out. I am here to tell you, the months of great sleep thanks to the suit were definitely worth the few days of rough sleep.

Here is a breakdown of how I transitioned Penny from the Baby Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit to their new Baby Merlin's Magic Dream Sack.

Step 1

I started with the first nap of the day. Babies typically master the first nap and then the next and then the next. I used this logic to assume this would be the best place to start. 

I did our normal nap routine and then simply placed Penny in the dream sack instead of the sleepsuit. It took more help from me than usual to get her to sleep, but we got there. At first I did not attempt at her additional naps that day as she was already beginning to fight me more the later in the day it got.

Step 2

After skipping her additional naps I proceeded with our normal bedtime routine and again placed Penny in the dream sack instead of the sleep suit. Once again she required a little bit more help than usual to go to sleep. Once she was asleep she did so but I was still nervous to leave her in the dream sack all night, but I decided not to make it harder than it needed to be and let her stay in it until she woke up. She ended up not waking, but if she had I would have switched her to the sleepsuit before feeding her. 

Step 3

I repeated steps 1 and 2 for three or four days until I felt like she had really gotten comfortable in the dream sack. There were a few times where she was just not having it so I switched her back to the sleepsuit. Once she had successfully slept in the dream sack several times in a row I moved on to step 4.

Step 4

Once Penny was comfortable in the dream sack I simply stopped putting her in the sleepsuit for all of her naps. By this point she was used to it at her first nap and over night so it was no longer an issue for her.

After awhile Penny figured out how to roll onto her stomach and it seems like she enjoys that quite a lot. I cannot blame her! I still place her on her back as that is the safest for a baby in their first year of life, but per the AAP, once baby rolls themself to their stomach they are fine to stay that way. However, you should still speak to your pediatrician about what is best for your baby.

I have since found that the Halo Sleepsack works just as well for Penny. Please do not feel like you have to use the Baby Merlin's Magic Dream Sack!

I hope this was helpful for easing your mind about the difficulties of transitioning out of something your baby is so used to using. Let me know below if you have any tips for transitioning out of the sleepsuit.