HELP ME. Transition to big kid beds not going well.

A little over a week ago, we got rid of our cribs and brought in big kid beds. They had been attempting to crawl out of their cribs, and Rowan succeeded once but fortunately did not get hurt. They are 2 years plus one month old.

The first few days went just fine, but now it has devolved into a three ring circus at naptime and bedtime. As a result, they are now both sleep-deprived and we are in a downward spiral. Both DH and I are having a really hard time not losing it with them because they are so out of control.

We have a bedtime routine that is well-established. Bath, milk in sippies with books, brush teeth, one more book, say goodnight to everything, kisses and hugs. The whole process takes about 30-40 minutes. Then we would lay them in their cribs and they would talk for usually about 30 minutes then fall asleep. Now, we lay them down in their beds and immediately they start bouncing off the walls. Here's what we've tried:

1) going in every 2 seconds and laying them back in their bed with a stern "No" -- Result: laughing at us
2) spanking them -- Result: laughing at us
3) completely ignoring them and letting them goof off until they fall asleep -- Result: destruction of many books and they didn't get to sleep for over two hours
4) playing a soothing music CD -- Result: no change

Right now DH is up there giving them timeouts for getting out of bed. We have never had any behavior problems whatsoever; they have always been really, really well behaved. Honestly. And now they are suddenly monsters at bedtime and naptime.

Is it time to separate them? I always envisioned them sharing a room for at least a couple more years. We have another bedroom but cleaning it out is not exactly going to be an easy process. We still have the cribs, and I really want to set them back up but DH is firmly against that (he thinks they'll try even harder to climb out now that they've had a taste of freedom).

 

Honestly, I'd put the cribs back up with crib tents.

 

If you do put the cribs back up, I suggest getting crib tents. Yes, they are another expense, but for us they have been SO very much worth it.

If not, good luck - I don't know much about the transition and am postponing it as long as humanly possible.

:hug:

 

QUOTE(ThreeLittleSnowflakes @ Jun 29 2009, 10:00 PM) [snapback]1374888[/snapback]
Honestly, I'd put the cribs back up with crib tents.


^^ That! I know my girls now still wouldn't be ready for big girl beds. Getting closer, but because of the room sharing....I could still foresee a similar scenario.

Crib tents have saved what little sanity I have left

 

QUOTE(ThreeLittleSnowflakes @ Jun 30 2009, 03:00 AM) [snapback]1374888[/snapback]
Honestly, I'd put the cribs back up with crib tents.


That's what I would do too. Mine were really not ready for big girl beds until age 3. Then the transition was super easy.

 

I put DD in a bed at 27 months. It took a good 3 weeks before she "learned" what was expected of her at bedtime and to stay in bed. We would just go in and put her back in bed and not say anything to her. We moved her to a bed since she had been climbing out of her crib. However, there was no way DS was ready for a bed at that point. We didn't move him until 4 months before he turned 3.


Yours are on the younger side and maybe they are not ready for beds yet. Is a crib tent an option for you?

 

I honestly think they are a little young for beds, but I know lots of people who transitioned early. You did it for their safety & thats a great reason. The only thing I can think of if you were going to leave them in the beds is empty the room out. Take the toys & put them in the other room. Once there is nothing to do in the room except sleep, then they will sleep. Good luck!

 

We moved ours to big kids beds much earlier than I wanted to (around 2 or so). For naps, we separate them. For nighttime, we do our routine, they start up, we go in twice and then don't go back. We don't have any toys or books in their room. Only the beds, dressers, and the closest (and some stuffed animals on my daughter's bed). If you cannot take it, use the crib tents. We didn't use crib tents but we fell asleep many nights on the floor until they got used to be in their beds. It was ideal but I wasn't replacing a crib (the other one broke). Best of luck to you (whatever you decide)!

 

We have the same issue. I sit in their room until they start to doze off..if they are bouncing and trying to play while I'm in there I have found that taking away their blankies and leaving the room gets their attention. Then I go back in and tell them that when they are ready for night nights I will give them back. On days they don't get naps bedtime is sooo much easier but they are miserable during the day so we still take naps..I have to do the above for naptime too.

 

Jennifer, I think they just might be a little young to do the transition. I would go the crib tent route as well if you can. I knw that BRU no longer sells them. You can get them on Walmart.com.

We used the Supernanny technique. Once we finished the bedtime routine, the lights went out (we took the nightlight out since if they could see each other they would feed off each other's energy), and one of us would sit on the floor in their room. If they got out of bed, we got up and placed them back in bed with no talking. We stayed consistent and the second night they never got out. We continued to sit in there and then gradually worked our way out into the hall. That worked for a bit. Now we still sit in there until they really start to settle in. If not, they would be up goofing around.

HERE is my thread from a few months ago kind of chronicling how the transition went. GL with your decision.