A friend has 3.5 year old twins girls who are making bedtime a nightmare. She has a bedtime routine with them (snack, bath, read books, etc.) but for the past couple of months, the twins seem to become more "revved up" the closer they get to actually having to get in bed. Most nights, they end up running around the house, being defiant and just basically wild. Alot of times it is just her or just her husband putting them to bed because they work different shifts. So you can imagine, as they put one into time out, the other one runs around, when they turn their attention to the other one, the first gets out of time out, etc. They have tried taking favoirte toys away, or offering rewards the next morning when the kids are good at going to bed the night before, but nothing seems to be working consistently. They have also ignored them and let them run til they get so tired they fall asleep in the hallway, kitchen, etc. and then put them into bed asleep, but they don't want that to be the solution. I always get great advice here, so thought I would ask for any solutions, suggestions, etc. Thank you!!
Do they nap?
They sound over-tired.
Over tired kids actually can get more hyper... and have a harder time falling asleep and staying asleep and winding-down.
I used to have issues similar to this with my boys, we gave up afternoon naps and moved up bedtime 30-90 minutes. They got to be now at 7-7:30 which doesn't give me much time with them in the evening but no more bedtime battles, they go right to sleep.
Do the girls have a bedroom seperete from their parents? I have twin 2.5 year old boys who LOVE sharing a room, but once their cribs (actually once they started jumping out of their cribs) turned into toddler beds, all hell broke loose! For the first 2 or 3 weeks, they would wake up middle of the night, pull everything out of their dresser, pull all of their books out of the book shelve, and open and close the door so it would make a loud slam noise (about 15-20 times a night). After the novelity of the roaming freedom wore off, their destruction of their room teetered off. They would, and still do, get up at night but they are much better. I bought a little stop light (desperate time call for desperate measures!) for their nightstand and have taught them that when the red light is on, you stay in your room, when the light turns green, open the door and call for mommy!". Believe it or not, after a few nights, they totally got it! Forgot to mention that after 2 nights of their "freedom" I put a baby gate up in front of their door. That way they know and can see out, but can't get out.
Hope this helps your friend!
what type of snacks are they getting? they need to make sure they are giving them a snack that won't rev them up. no sugar or simple carbs. there may some foods that help release natural sleep hormones.
Tell her to put them to bed, then sit by the door ( just outside)with a flyswatter in hand. Every time feet hit the floor--swat. No anger, no talking, just swat. It only takes a night or two for them to get it. The trick is to catch them when they think you aren't watching. Then they think you will always "know" what they're doing. Works like a charm. If she's really opposed to swatting, she can just put them back to bed (no talking) until they stop trying. The key is to be the last one standing. These are battles that parents must win.
When my son was little we had this except he took it to the next level and would get outside every chance he had. We ended up first trying the gate across the doorway. no good he figured out first how to climb it then that he could kick the bottom out and go out like a doggie door. we put a hook and eye lock on the top of his door. there was a monitor so we could hear him. after the first couple days of coming into the room after he would finally go to sleep and finding all clothing, diapers, wipes etc all over the room we then took childproofing one step further. we put locks on each dresser drawer (the kind you use on cabinet doors in the kitchen) put his toy box in the closet each night and had nothing except his bedding and a stuffed animal available to him. he was pissed lol but it got the message across that bedtime is sleep time. I would say that at 3 and half they are old enough to understand that. don't chase them that makes it a game. and don't do time out at bedtime. bedtime is bedtime. explain one time that you mess around you loose story. and then stick to it. straight to bed and shut the door.
i know i give this answer alot, but it was just so true for my lil boy. Have they changed what they have for snack? or even the amount? my lil boy loved lil debbie cakes...we noticed that if we let him eat both cakes outa a pack, he bounced off the walls, even 1 lil debbie cake a day had him defiant...so they became a treat, and his behavior improved ALOT. just something to look into. Good luck to you and them...its not easy sometimes, but sooo worth it. :)
