Seeking Moms with Twins Please Help ? Twins and Beds

I'm sorry to say this, but the only thing that worked for us was to split them up. Luckily we had an extra room. We would stay in their rooms until they were asleep, but in the middle of the night when one woke up they woke the other one up so it was cranky toddler land for a couple of weeks at my house. As soon as we split them up, it was like the fun of getting out of bed was gone and we haven't had any issues since. My daughter won't even get out of bed in the morning until I come get her now. Weird I know! Hopefully someone will have awesome advice on how to do it with them sharing a room, but for us that just did not work. Good luck to you.

Put the sides back on.
best, k

I have twins the same age as yours, and we just moved them out of cribs a month ago. You didn't mention if there was anything else in their room, but if there is (like toys, books, whatever), take it out of there tonight. The only thing that should be in their room is their beds. As for getting them to sleep, do you have a regular routine? We've had the same bedtime routine for my boys for over a year now. We change into pajamas, brush teeth, read stories, then go to bed. One of my twins would go screaming and running away, but I would always make him walk into his room. Once we put them in there, we close the door and don't go back in. Seriously, once they're in there, do not go back in. They'll figure out pretty quickly that it's time for bed. I think it took our boys about a week to figure it out. They still want to play at nap time, but they know that their bedroom is only for sleeping. Once we're confident they can handle it, we'll put toys and books back in there. But, for now, I want them to realize that if they are in their room, it's time to sleep.

For your kiddos, you may need to just put them in there and ignore what they do. They'll eventually get tired enough and pass out. Their schedule may be thrown off a bit, but they'll adjust.

Good luck!

With my twins, sometimes threatening to have one sleep on the couch will get them to quiet down at night. They hate being separated.

Okay, I don't have twins, but I do have a 1.5, 2.5 and 4.5 yr old, so I understand the issue. My 2 and 4 yr old sleep in the same room, and we are planning on putting our one yr old in with them once she is done teething...

When we took our 2 yr old out of her crib, we had the same issue with her and her older sister. It took a few weeks to get them used to the new arrangement and several cranky nights and days, but eventually they figured out how to sleep together without waking each other up. We just had to be firm and patient.

One thing that works for us when they decide it is play time instead of bed time (they ARE kids after all), is we put them in their "chairs" (actually they are the chairs they sit in at meal time), and situate them so they cannot see each other. For a while they would wail, but we told them we would not take them down (there are straps on the booster seats, so they can't get out of the chairs) until they learned how to be quiet. We would wait it out until they stopped crying and stopped talking and were completely quiet. Then we would put them back in bed. And lo and behold, they would go almost straight to sleep. I think it is because they had gotten completely calmed down while in the chairs and the sleepiness set in.

They have learned now to be completely quiet when put in the chairs (this still happens every so often...it seems to go in cycles) and they are usually only in them for a minute or so and now go right to bed afterwards without a peep.

We only give them one warning (if we hear you playing, you go into your chairs). Before, we tried the "choice" option (chairs or bed?), but my 2 yr old couldn't quite figure that one out, so we stopped that and now it is just one warning and "plop" in the chairs they go. It works better that way and our 2 yr old no longer is confused about it and thus no longer wails.

We do not yell or lecture (at least we try not to), all we do is wait for them to be quiet with the statement, "When you are quiet, we will let you down and you can go to bed." That is all we say to them.

Oh, and when they go back to bed, we make sure we give them hugs and kisses and tell them how much we love them.

Hope this helps.

K.

Hello! I have also boy and girl twins, and what we did when we put the new beds (they are one year older than yours) my husband and me told them that they were big boy and girl now, and we change the routine a little bit.
I read a bed time story, and tell them that you will not read until they are in bed, believe me, it works! and after that I put soft baby music and give them "massage" actually I rub their backs for a little while with the lights off, then kiss good night and thats it!
oh! one important thing: do your twins nap? it is very important the nap time. My twins take a nap from 11.45 to 1.45 and then all the afternoon I try to keep them busy, believe me, they will feel tired by 7.30.
Right now our twins go to sleep between 7.30 and 8.00 depending on the afternoon that we had.... oh! a warm bath helps also!
1. bath
2. pijamas and brushing teeth
3. bed time story
4. massage with music
5. sleepy twins!!
:-)
Hope it works!

additional tip:
we have all the toys are in a different room, so they know that the bed is for sleep :-)

My twins are 5 years old now, and I had plenty of bedtime issues with them over the past few years. I hate to say this, but expect it! I spent a long time laying on the floor of their room till they fell asleep every night, then a long time sitting in the hallway outside their door reading a book. It seems like they'll go through phases where they'll be good about bedtime, then times when it's very difficult. Finally my munchkins are good about going to bed, but they get up now and then in the middle of the night to wake me up for various reasons. :)

Hi K.,
I don't have twins- BUT I have a 28 month old girl and a 3.5 yr old boy (17 months apart). They have shared a room since my daughter was 14 months old. They have also both been in twin beds since my youngest was 20 months old. SO WE ARE VERY SIMILAR! Bed time is the time my kids bond the most and I try and ignore it if they are up talking and giggling because it is more important that bond and love eachother- as long as they don't leave there room. As for waking each other up- it takes constant reminders that "shhh, don't wake up your brother!" Now at 28 months my daughter will get up and come get me in the morning with out waking her sleeping brother. But that took practice. I would try and overlook the "playing" at night at this age- it's good for their relationship. Just set ground rules like stay in bed and talk and don't leave your room.

I am so sorry you're going through this. We also separated our girls at around 2 and a 1/2. It seemed like they kept each other up. Like Big Mama states, one would awaken the other. If you have the room, it would be best to separate them. . Try tiring them out a while close to bed time and a warm bath before bed. You could also tell them that each night they stay in bed they will get a sticker or some small treat. Post it on the wall of their room so they can see how they're doing. Decorate a shoebox and call it a 'treasure chest' - fill it with small items and if they stay in bed all week and get the stickers, they can choose 1 item out of the treasure box. You might also try a lullaby CD or having them lay in their beds while you read a short story to them may also start lulling them. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

It's new freedom they never had. My advise, is to be consistent. Sit in their room, on the floor and each time they get out of bed, put them back in. Don't say anything. Don't kiss them, etc. After a couple days, move closer to the door. Then move outside the door, until eventually you don't need to be in the room anymore. This may take a couple weeks, so patience and consistency is key, but once mastered, you will have peace of mind.

Best wishes.

I don't have twins but I have 2 kids 7and 4. You did not say but are they climbing out over the side? I left the side on both my kids cribs until they were climbing out and I was worried about them falling. This was much later than alot of children but my daughter was so frightened about falling that she was about 27 months before it came off her bed. When I did take it down we made it into a "princess Bed" with one of those net covers that hang from the ceiling. She wanted to stay in bed just to be a princess. My son fell once and never tried again. I don't remember how old he was when it came down. It might just be too soon for them. I don't know I am sure everything is more of a challenge with your "double trouble". Good luck just sharing some thoughts.