Night 2 of twin beds

So night 1 went ok. It took them one hour and 15 minutes to fall asleep, we went back in once, after which they calmed down and slept fine until 7.30am... but by the time we put them in bed it was 2 hours past their bedtime already.

Day 2... they didn't nap. Not surprised there. So we put them in bed earlier because DD kept asking for it and even fell asleep on the couch, which she had never done before. Well, it's almost 3 hours later and she's still at the door, knocking at the door, screaming and calling us. She's been going on for 2 hours. We've gone back in 3 times already. We stay 10 minutes... as soon as we leave, even if she's ok in her bed when we go, she starts again. DS fell asleep after about one hour.

I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm exhausted and I just want to cry. She just went through this phase while still in her crib, doing the exact same thing really, and she finally got over it and was sleeping ok again. I don't know why she's doing this. She doesn't speak well and just won't say anything except calling us. They have a night light, she has her lovey, what are we supposed to do??? We can't sit there because it's too dark and there's just nothing we could do, plus they just want to play if we're in the room (heck DS won't even get in his bed half the time). They only slept 8 hours last night, and with no nap today she's going to be totally sleep deprived again. They were awful tonight because of the lack of sleep.

Any advice? I don't understand why she has to make EVERYTHING so difficult. Even during the day when she doesn't get her way she gets mad at times...

 

Maybe she misses the security of being in her crib and she just needs a little time to work it out? I thought the transition would have gone smoother with my daughter, but she ended up being scared of having everything open around her. She needed a lot more comforting. Maybe you can go in after your son is sleeping (if being in there keeps him awake) and stay with her until she falls asleep and gets used to it for a few days?

 

I agree with Denise. Some kids need time to adjust to change and she might be one of them. Does she understand a reward system well? Maybe you can tell her that if she stays in her bed and goes to sleep tonight, she can have a special treat tomorrow (her favorite breakfast, a candy she might like, time to watch her favorite show, a sticker, etc.). Also in any books that the kids read or shows that they watch, when characters are going to sleep, can you point out, see how he/she is sleeping in their own bed and reassure her that there is nothing scary about it. It will take time but I think she will get the hang of it.
:hug:

 

Our girls have been in toddler beds for a long time now - shortly after they turned 1 because Madison climbed out of her crib. One thing that helped us was we let them start taking 2 small books to bed the same day they started sleeping in their big girl beds, which we had never done before. They were so excited by that that we had no problems. We dimmed the lights and looking at the pictures helped them fall asleep too.

Just wanted to share what worked for us. Good luck!

 

It's so hard when they won't use their words and my ds is the same way. He's also speech delayed and it's so hard to figure out what's wrong with him when he's upset.

I agree that she might miss the security of her crib, have you tried surounding her with blankets, pillows or stuffed animals? My dd LOVES to sleep in a bed full of stuff. I have no idea why and as long as she plays quietly in her bed and then falls alseep, I could care less.
I hope something works soon!

 

It took us a while to get our DS and DD to stay in their twin beds (we transitioned them just before their 2nd birthdays). It was awful at first - with both of them refusing to stay in their beds at both nap and bed time - and instead playing or repeatedly coming out of their room. They were eventually falling asleep about 2 hours - or longer - past their bed time.

What worked for us was time outs - and my husband was more consistent with this than I was. If either of them didn't stay in his/her bed, it was time out (downstairs). If they moved out of their time out zone, we added another minute to the time out, and so on. It took many trips down the stairs for time outs - and it was tiring - but so worth it. Now, if they start getting out of their beds we just ask them if they want to go for a time out, and they stay put. Also, bedtime is a bit later - we make sure they're pretty tired out before we even attempt to get them to sleep!

Good luck!
Elizabeth

 

Thanks. It's been better. We've only had one nap this week though We just put them down like we used to and close the door. Bedtime is much easier and they fall asleep pretty fast (30 minutes of play top so far, and two nights they fell asleep right away).

So all in all it's a success I guess. They just play instead of sleeping at nap time, but they're still in their room so I still get a break, kind of. They've been waking up earlier though (or it's just more obvious because they can get out now).