Help Me :(

K has been in a toddler bed since we moved into this house so for almost 5 months. We tried to transition C at the same time, but she didn't take to it so we put her back in her crib since she wasn't climbing out. Well now she has figured out how to climb out so we converted her bed to a toddler bed. Since then, bed time and nap time are a battle. We have tried putting them to bed later, earlier, letting them CIO and it's very frustrating. I'm worried that K is beating C up a little so when C cries, I have a hard time not going up there. We got them a night light and that seemed to make things worse. We have been talking about separating them (putting one in the playroom which would mean we have to put all the toys somewhere else), but we would eventually want to put them back together. Has anyone ever separated just for a short period of time? I just want C to get used to her toddler bed. K gets in her bed and stays in, but C gets out and runs around and plays. They went from going to bed at 730 to now falling asleep at midnight! Any advice is helpful!

 

I've temporarily separated my girls a couple of times, as needed. Usually it's only been for a week or two before we've been able to put them back together but it has worked really well for us.

Also, it sounds like you're trying a lot of different things, but I would pick one thing & stick with it for a week or so before evaluating whether it's helping or not.

I know some families have had success with one of the parents sitting in the room & silently, without interaction, putting the kids back into their beds every time they get out. You could try that for a while & see if it helps, or just winds them up more.

 

We're in the same boat as you right now! I have been thinking about separating too, but it would be a pretty major ordeal to clear out a second room for them in our house. My basic strategy right now is to hope the novelty wears off soon! And it seems to be.. they're going to bed closer to 9:30-10 now instead of 11 or 12!

 

In my experience,.sitting silently in the room really does help. Good luck!

 

I've often had my kids nap in different rooms. Bedtimes tend to go a little easier, but nap times they usually have enough energy to really play. I would keep a PnP or even just a little mattress in my bedroom and put one in there and one in their room. It really helped. Even if you wanted to just take the mattress off the toddler bed and put it in a different room temporarily, it could help them get back on a decent sleep schedule. They've always shared a room, but sometimes a separate space for a few days/couple weeks is very helpful.

 

Try three kids in one room ..... we put one in another room unless we have company in that room. No advice just put locks on the closet doors, and don't let them see you move or flip the mattress.

Heather

 

I can't deal with my two chattering until 10 at night. I have to be asleep by 9:30 since I get up so early in the morning.

When we first changed to toddler beds, my two were fab. They went to bed on time, had naps, and all, but just in the past few months TWO YEARS after switching to toddler beds, (since they've outgrown naps but school makes them take them anyway,) all hell breaks loose at night. If I put them in separate rooms for sleeping, they fall asleep within ten minutes, but being around each other they talk and giggle and jump around and argue and fight and cuddle. . .

So we're looking for a new dresser or two (need some place to put towels and blankets, they're currently in our spare bedroom's closet) and we'll be moving her bed into the other room this weekend, and buying twin mattresses soon.

 

I went through a similar thing with my girls about a year ago when I transitioned them to "big girl beds". It was horrific. Like you say a nightlight didn't work and I was not going to sit in their room and monitor them. I never tried separating the girls because I didn't have an extra room but probably would have tried it if I could. In my experience I just had to keep taking them back to their beds repeatedly, sometimes 20 times or more a night. It was frustrating to say the least but eventually they learned that bedtime was the time to sleep and even if they stayed up talking/playing, they stopped coming out of their room. Good luck, I hope you're able to find something that works for you.

 

we stay in the room w/ours until they fall asleep. we co-slept for a long time so this works for us. i know for others it might be a hassle every night, but i have lots of friends who've done it for a while until their kids got used to it, and then slowly started fading out. i think supernanny does something like this, too.

best of luck! sleep problems are the worst!

~~jl

 

This always worked for us. I would sit in a chair in their room (usually I read a book) until they fell asleep & I would make them keep the talking to a minimum and would not let them get out of their beds. After a month or two of that, I would move the chair to right outside their door & if they got too loud or got out of bed I would make sure they knew that I was there & put them back in bed. After a month or less of that, I just quit sitting there, and we haven't had any trouble since then. Sometimes they will get a little loud with the talking & laughing, but they NEVER get out of bed anymore.

 

Mine would not go to sleep with a nightlight or with us in the room. We put them back in over and over and over for months. We also got a video monitor (surveillance camera actually - which was much cheaper) and started going in the second a foot touched the floor. That was actually the most effective, but mostly I think the novelty wore off eventually. They still go through phases where it's tough again, but nothing like those first few months.At one point we took toys out of their room if they didn't stop laughing talking too. That worked wonders for one of the boys, but just really upset the other. It was tough but we did have to deal with them in their own ways depending on what they would respond too.There is light at the end of the tunnel though! They now go to bed and straight to sleep and it is WONDERFUL!