Please tell my kids to go to sleep!

I try really hard not to stress about bedtime, and I know we are so lucky that we can just put them in their room wide awake and walk away, and they have a great time in there. BUT when they've been partying for over an hour, I start to stress a little!

They slept in a little this morning (7:30 as opposed to 6:45-7:00) and took good naps (2.5 hours), so I guess they just aren't very tired. And in fact, missing a little sleep never seems to affect them very much. But I wish they'd go to sleep so I can relax! Would you go in and "remind" them? We try that sometimes, but it just seems to get them more wound up....

 

We tried to remind them too, but we found the same thing...it just got them wound up. Usually, we can let ours play and giggle themselves out. Sometimes, they'll upset themselves and we'll go do a quickie tuck in all over again (hugs, kisses, restart the white noise) and they'll go down for good. Hope you get that relaxation time soon!

 

From your title, I was going to say "I'll tell yours if you tell mine".

I would probably go in and remind them, which is what I do if I hear my 3 year old playing too long after her bedtime. I haven't gotten that far with my twins yet. Hope you all have a good night, whichever way you go.

 

I guess it would depend on what you mean by partying. I don't care how long it takes K&K to fall asleep as long as they are quiet (not silent just not loud) and in their beds......they read, sing, do puzzles etc and it doesn't bother me but the second they get loud and/or out of bed I lay down the law. First time is a warning and second time I start following through on my threats which would be turning off the light/closing the door/taking away a treasured object etc etc. I haven't had to do anything but a random warning in a couple years.


Their bedtime has never been earlier than 8 pm so I guess I am not any help there.

 

If they get REALLY loud, like screeching and yelling, we "remind" them that Mommy and Daddy are trying to sleep (OK, we're not) and it's not nice to make a bunch of noise while we are trying to sleep. That's pretty much it. If it's just the usual talking and singing, we don't do anything except try not to laugh too loud about it. Some of the cutest things come out of them at this time. It's normal for mine to take over an hour to fall asleep when they had a good nap, so I pretty much ignore it.

 

A reminder really doesn't work for my boys. It resets the angry clock (if they are upset). However, they have seperate bedrooms so 'chatting' isn't a huge issue for us.

Perhaps they are ready for a slightly later bedtime? Or maybe you just have a pair of Chatty Kathies!

 

I'm sure it doesn't help...My 7 and 5 year old share a room and they still chat to each other for about an hour every night. It really doesn't matter what time they go down, they just need to chat. When it gets loud or out of control I step in. The only advice I can give is learn to enjoy listening to them. They can talk about the funniest things!

Shoshana

 

Try using a timer..it worked miracles for us...they knew when the timer went off, it was time for sleep...I would go in when it went off and shut off the closet light...it amazed me how well it worked! It's worth a try and aleiviated my getting aggravated with them (I hated sending them off to sleep with me annoyed!) Good luck!!

 

We're having the same issue here, bedtime is 8:00 and last night they were up partying until 9:30, although that is the latest that they have stayed up lately. The night before they fell asleep by 8:05. Go figure. I don't intervene unless they are crying, and the rest of their sleep seems fine, so we just go with the flow around here.

 

I have one dd who is like this. She usually takes a long time to settle down. I give her (both of them actually) a bunch of books to look at and she will spend time "reading" which to me is awesome. We usually only go in once to check on her but that's about 5-10 minutes after we put her in the crib. She doesn't cry (although she will whine for a few seconds now and then) so we never go back in. I know I sometimes take a while to fall asleep so it makes sense that she is the same way. I would say that as long as they are not screaming or behaving in a manner that is disturbing to you then let them "talk" and read or play with a puzzle or something while they wind down. Don't stress out about it. Just look at it as a very normal and healthy time for them to wind down and have some "alone" time (or at least alone time with their sibling ).

I might add that we always play classical music when they are in their cribs which I think also helps them to wind down. The music is very soothing and so familiar to them that they know it is their time to calm down and settle down.

 

Thanks everyone!

QUOTE(kj2racing @ Jan 2 2008, 03:47 AM) [snapback]553866[/snapback]
I don't care how long it takes K&K to fall asleep as long as they are quiet (not silent just not loud) and in their beds......

Mine are still in cribs, so no problems with getting out of bed at least -- but I never thought of trying to get them to be somewhat quiet. I'm not sure they're capable yet of remembering that talking is OK but shouting is not, but I'll keep it in mind for when they're a little older!


QUOTE(Snittens @ Jan 2 2008, 04:17 AM) [snapback]553898[/snapback]
Some of the cutest things come out of them at this time. It's normal for mine to take over an hour to fall asleep when they had a good nap, so I pretty much ignore it.

That is definitely true (about the cute things they say) -- last night I heard Amy saying "D for Daddy! I found it! Yay! I found D for Daddy!" (She was reading the label printed on the crib bar.) This morning I heard "Baa baa black sheep," but with half the words replaced by "Daddy": "Baa baa black sheep Daddy Daddy -- Yes sir yes sir Daddy Daddy." Guess she likes her Daddy...
Also good to know that taking an hour or more to fall asleep is not unusual.

QUOTE(SweetpeaG @ Jan 2 2008, 04:33 AM) [snapback]553916[/snapback]
Perhaps they are ready for a slightly later bedtime?

I realized after I posted last night that I had actually asked this question a few weeks ago. :blush: But DH and I decided at that time that we really like our alone time, so as long as they're willing to go to bed at 7 (even if they don't fall asleep for awhile), we're going to run with it! It's nice to know that we can keep them up later once in a while, though, without worrying about missing too much sleep.

Anyway, I feel better now and will try not to stress in the future! So far we aren't giving them any toys or books, and we actually turn out the light and close the door as soon as we put them down. So they're just in there partying in the dark. But maybe when they are in big beds, we can give them some quiet stuff to do, so they're more likely to stay in bed.

 

I don't mind when they take a while to go to sleep as long as they're not crying. I've noticed that they take longer to go to sleep when they're overtired or wound up from activities too close to bedtime. The other night, Trevor was pitching a crying fit as soon as I left the room and my folks were over (they were the source of the winding up, of course...) I had my dad go up and tell them to go to sleep. He used his gruff & stern voice and you should have heard the conversation that followed over the monitor! It was them shushing each other and saying, "Grandpa... night-night time!" They were out in 5 minutes. You never know what's going to do the trick.

 

QUOTE(Minette @ Jan 2 2008, 12:03 PM) [snapback]554438[/snapback]
This morning I heard "Baa baa black sheep," but with half the words replaced by "Daddy": "Baa baa black sheep Daddy Daddy -- Yes sir yes sir Daddy Daddy." Guess she likes her Daddy...

That's so funny! A&B both sing "Baa Baa Black Sheep" with alternate lyrics too. Like "Baa Baa Black Sheep, Have you any Santa? Yes sir Santa! One for the Santa lives down lane!" (they are still on a Santa kick) Then they giggle hysterically like they know they are funny!