Bed Time Battles

Hmmm. I'd suggest putting the youngest to bed half-an-hour earlier than the oldest. My kids have separate rooms, but the half hour after tucking in my 3-yr-old is high quality time with my 8-yr-old. This is the time he tells me all the happiness and sorrows of his life. Sometimes we just snuggle and read. If your daughter is really high-energy, perhaps the two of you could take a walk. Then big sister can "tip-toe" to bed like a big girl, so as not to wake her little sister. I also play the same lullaby CD every night... without fail. The repetition helps lul them to sleep.
E. G

LOL I know this must be rough on you..but I read your story and thought,"Oh how cute!"
My 20 month daughter plays in bed sometimes for hours after lights out.....I did however start wearing her out more durring the day....we go to playgrounds, we go for walks...anything to make her more tired at bedtime. This has shortened the after hours playtime considerably. *shrug* hope it helps!

Is there a quiet place you can put one of them until they both go to sleep? You could reward the oldest by letting her go to sleep on the couch, your bed, etc. Then move her once she falls asleep. But that might be tough if you don't have a quiet spot. Or, you could put the 20 month-old down first, and just let the 4 year-old stay up a bit longer (or vice versa, depending on who sleeps more). Hope this helps!

Good luck! We have a boy 6 and a girl 4. They have their own rooms but everynight she ends up in his room. They have always been "night owls" and I have tried EVERYTHING to get them to sleep rather than play. I have found that a bath before bed at least calms them down a little. They also both like to have us lightly run our fingers over their backs tickleing their backs and I think that makes them a little sleepy. I also tried aromatherepy (a lavendar spray) in their rooms, it smells great to my husband and I but has absolutly no effect on the kids. So if you find the miracle of bedtime let me know.

I just read an advice column on this and they suggested that you let your girls have their time to chat and giggle and play in bed before expecting them to go to sleep. Say you put them to bed at 8 pm, dim the lights and tell them they have 30 minutes to chat/play but they need to stay in bed and then come back at 8:30 and tell them it's time to go to sleep and turn out the lights. It said something about this being time that siblings bond and it's actually a positive thing for their relationship. With your girls being farther apart in age for a real "conversation" you might suggest your 4 year old read or tell a story to her sister or sing some songs (quietly) together.

I hope that helps a little.

Buy a partition and set it up. Also put one to bed beofre the other and let that child fall asleep.

T.

I don't know if this will work with two because I've only tried it with one, but my son wouldn't stay in bed and kept shouting for me or Dad so he could talk to us. We tried to develop a more solid routine and so far it's worked. Bath, story time, a song, telling mom or dad about their day, and bed time at the same time every night. He also has a cd (Pottersfield pond) with relaxing kids music that he's only allowed to listen to at bedtime, and only if he's very still and quiet. When he is talking or playing, the music has to be turned off until he can settle down. Good luck.