Losing it more each day

I am past the end of my rope with my two. They got out of their cribs a week ago and each day has been harder than the previous. They had already given up naps before this happened, so that's not an issue. But now they won't go to bed at night and are beyond exhausted. It's 10:30 at night, I put them to be at 9pm and they are still crying. They have been awake since 7am today. This has been going on for a week now. They won't nap, they won't go to bed, and they are a wreck. Every day they fall asleep while we are running errands in the car around 3 or 4 in the afternoon for about 10 min until we get hom and then I have to wake them up ( try to put them in bed, they wake up and won't stay, and in this 100 degree weather they can't stay in the car).

Right now we have nothing in their room but their cribs with the rails down so they can get in and out (took out any toys, their dresser, ect). So, do I upgrade to mattress on the floor? I know this won't help them sleep any better though - so why do it? Do I leave them in their cribs and spend the $ on crib tents to force them to stay in their cribs and listen to them cry to sleep (in the past before the transition they still had a hard time going to sleep, but usually it was only 45 min or so until they fell asleep not 2-3 hours). Or do I put them in seperate rooms which means I have to have one upstairs and one downstairs (keep in mind they still wake up at night due to reflux, so I will have to tromp downstairs in the middle of the night AND this means they will lose their playroom and I will have to get rid of a ton of toys as we have no other place for them). I have tried encouragning them to stay in their cribs and if they do I will keep the door open so they have the hall light on, this hasn't worked the last few nights. We keep putting them back in their cribs like super nanny - it isn't working yet. They just get out of the cribs and play with each other and turn on the light in their room. Please, tell me what to do. Also, keep in mind my guys are VERY stubborn and VERY persistant - so if this isn't your child - unfortunatly your experiences won't help me. Their tempermenant is very challenging and has proven time and time again that any advice given from people with "normal" children never works for them! Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

I'm so sorry. I don't really have any advice, Just a :hug99:

My girls sleep on twin mattresses on the floor. I put them in, turn off the light, close the door and walk away. It took them about a week of climbing the walls/running in circles/etc, but now they just go night night.

I've tried leaving the door open, that does NOT work in my house at all. The light coming under the door from the hall is sufficient!

 

Thanks for the hugs and encouragement! I decided today that enough is enough!! AFter a week they aren't calming down at all, so I don't see it happening anytime soon. I know they are over tired. So I insisted on a nap today for all of our sanity. That doesn't mean anything though, because they usually won't nap. But I put the pnp up in the playroom and put one to bed there and he fell asleep pretty quickly and didn't climb out (they haven't climbed out of pnp yet, so maybe I just need to use those now!!!), and one in their bedroom. The one in the bedroom cried longer but is now asleep. Praise God! This is wonderful! Especially since we have company coming from out of state tonight till Tue (and they have an 11 month old). So it is going to be nuts. I think it's just time to give my guys seperate rooms, and if I can keep one in a pnp downstairs, then I can still keep the playroom in tack for now - until I figure out what else to do!

 

:hug99: Amy! Sorry to hear it's been such a rough transition. Mine are still in cribs, but I do have to separate them for naps. I put on in a PNP in the other room to make sure they will nap. I bet if they nap that they will go to sleep easier at night. They' re probably overtired right now! I don't really have any advice, but I hope it gets better soon!

 

Although I did this when they were younger, I did have Bea's crib set up in the playroom while sleep training Ainsley (this was from 8-13 months) and I was afraid that she wouldn't sleep in the midst of all the toys, but she did. She also napped in there in the PNP until 16 months or so. I was trying to figure out how to section off the room for a sleep area and a play area, but it turned out to be a non-issue. I am also now trying to figure out if I need to separate mine due to nap/bedtime partying, although no crib climbing yet. It's not as bad as what you have going on though. Mine are at least happy, just not sleeping!!
Shoot, maybe if they WILL sleep in PNP's, do it! What the heck, right?