My son has been sleeping through the night since he’s been 9 weeks old (as in he slept 10 hours) and by the time he was 11 weeks he was sleeping 11-12 hours a night and he consistently stayed asleep that long through all the regressions/”leaps.” A huge part of this is thanks to the miracle Snoo, so obviously I was very worried what the transition would be like out of the Snoo and into the crib.
Because babies can’t roll in the Snoo, you can keep a baby swaddled until he or she outgrows the bassinet, which is typically around 6 months, though for my son it happened around 5 months. I tried every option you can think of. If you know it… I tired it. My son was double swaddled in the Snoo, so going from that cozy, womb-like environment where he was lulled to sleep with movement and white noise – to a crib…. that was not going to be easy! Or so I thought.
The first few nights/naps were a bit rocky as I tried out the various sleep sack options, but once I found the best ones (and threw a bit of Ferber at the problem), he was back to sleeping like the dream baby he is.
So which sleep sacks were the winners?
Hands down: Nested Bean and Magic Sleepsuit.
This may not be conventional, but I don’t do naps in the crib. I want my baby to associate the crib with his 10-12 hour stretch of sleep, and that’s it. All naps happen in the stroller or on his play mat. In keeping with that, I didn’t want to use the same sleep sack for night and naps.
In the stroller he obviously just sleeps in his clothes. His first two naps almost always happen in the stroller, which I know experts say is a no-no but there’s no way around it for us and we have not had any issues. His third nap of the day – or any nap that is at home – happens in the Magic Sleepsuit in the 6-9 month size because, as I said, they’re on the play mat so I want him warm and cozy. He almost always instantly falls asleep when I zip him into this sumo-like suit – which is safe for baby until he or she is able to roll wearing it.
At night we use the Nested Bean Zen Sack and it’s fantastic. Not only is it easy to put on with a two-way zipper, but it has grow-with-me-buttons and, most importantly, a weighted “bean” on the chest area, which helps calm and sooth baby. My son also just loves playing with it. There are many times I put him down and while he would start screaming were he in another sack, with the Nested Bean he’ll just start “playing” with the bean. We use it in the size 6-15 months.
I cannot recommend these two options more highly!
