toddler bedtime help

daniellecleasby

Our twin girls (2yrs this month) are in a bad bedtime stage and I need some help, they don't want us to rock them anymore but they won't just stay in their beds and go to sleep.  They are in toddler beds.  We have tried leaving the room with the door open they run out, so we put them back in bed and this would go on for the whole night.  We have tried closing the door and they cried really hard and started kicking the door and each other.  We don't know what do to because sitting next to their beds takes forever for them to quiet down and fall asleep, last night we were in their rooms for 2 hours after our 30 min destim reading time. They will do anything to stay awake, they will almost be asleep then they start kicking the wall to wake up or roll themselves out of bed.  Their bedtime is 7:00/7:15ish and lately we've been sitting in their room fighting with them until 8:15-9:00.  We have tried letting them stay up later and it is just the same thing but happens later at night.  I have thought about getting them up earlier or taking anyway nap (we fight at nap) to see if that would make them a little more tired at bedtime. Right now they get up around 6:30-7:00 Nap around 11:00 or 12:00 depending on how long we fight it- they nap for 45 mins to 1 hour then bedtime at 7:00/7:15.

TIA!

ThatWasAHoot

Wow, that's rough, dude!  They're kind of too young to take a nap away, too.  My son is a super sleeper, so I don't know how this would work.  What about a baby gate so they can't escape the room?
Also...do they have a defined bedtime routine?  Kids love routine!

daniellecleasby

We do have  a routine, or did.  now it is just crazy.  they try to climb over the gate so its worse than closing the door because they could hurt each other pretty bad.  They just seem to get each other so wild up before bed then lay there and won't stop.  which I'd be fine with if they'd let me leave the room without them throwing a huge fit.

daniellecleasby

Mullenem- I think we are going to try taking a few books in tonight and trying this.  We've talked about it in the past.  It is worth a try.  Thanks!!!

sgutweinWed85485

Has bedtime always been rough? What made you switch them to toddler beds? My son (26 months) is still in his crib, he loves it. I think it gives him a sense of security. Right now, he associates a toddler bed with fun and jumping. He doesn't grasp that it is a place to sleep yet.

kgs0505

Can you put them in separate rooms?  I dread this, I have twins too, but right now they are only 4 mos old.  But if we are still in this house, they have to stay in the same room together.

The only other suggestion I could have is timeouts for getting out of bed, but it might backfire as now they will be taken to the time out spot which keeps them up and out of bed, but they aren't allowed to play, so maybe it's worth a shot.  I like the suggestion of playing quietly in bed rule.   I'd try that before the timeouts for sure.   

suzieq9980

Girl...I'm in the same boat as you right now:-)  DD just switched to toddler bed and it has been a royal S*&^!show at bedtime! She pulls everything in the book...I have to go pee pee, I'm hungry, I want to rock a minute! I tried the sitting in there for a number of days and it took well over an hour. (Nap time I can sit in there and she will fall asleep quickly but not bed time). I don't want to rock her completely to sleep either...but she does exactly as your twins are.

This week, I'm trying a new approach. I do our routine...rock, pee pee, etc. Then she is permitted ONE get out of the room for whatever excuse. After that, if she comes out of her bedroom (I don't care if she's in bed so long as she's in the room) then the baby gate goes up. Currently she's standing at the gate saying "I want Mommy." I'm hoping she learns...and yes this does stink, but at least I am on The Bump and not sitting at her bedside:-D  Good luck to you and I'll be following this post.

Notenoughair1

My son did this he was just not ready for the big boy bed. He told us when he was ready for a bed instead of a crib.