Keeping tots in bed Help!!

[onefunkymama]

Hi

I have a 2 yr old and a (just turned) 4 yr old who always muck around for hours (up to 5 hours) after they are put into bed. We have tried everything we can think of (ignoring, silently putting them back into bed, telling them off, removing stickers from their sticker charts etc.) The house is quiet and calm. Does anybody have any other suggestions, we are exhausted and the stress is affecting both of us!

[adath]

Do they both go at the same time??? Have you tried putting one up first and settling them to sleep then putting the other one up?? It sould be too much tempation both going up together??
Has the 2 year old not long gone into a bed because that could be a bit of a novelty as well.

[fizzylemonade]

How about introducing something into the room that "has to sleep" like a toy bear/bunny, or a nightlight that a fairy lives inside etc

We have a bunny alarm clock (not the one everyone else has - it has a light in it and the bunny picture lights up for sleep time)

www.arf-kids.co.uk/arf_kids_products.htm

My then 3 year old was told not to wake the sleeping bunny etc when he went to bed. It works like a traditional alarm clock so when you turn it on the bunny is always asleep and "wakes" at the time you set. The beauty is that when the bunny wakes it just turns the light out behind the sleeping bunny picture and lights up the awake bunny picture. My son is now 4 and still loves it.

[Denmark]

I believe I am in the same sitation as you onefunkymama, my DD is 3 and my DS is 2 and they share the same room. I do put them to bed at the same time, but it is not very often that "the play around". My DD does not sleep in the afternoon, my DS sleep 2 hours, so she is very tired and sleeps normally before I finish bedtime story. My son will talk to his teddybear for half an hour to an hour, and then he sleeps.
My DD has a "baby" which sleeps in a bed next to hers, and I have explained to her that her baby cannot sleep without her "mamn" = my DD next to her and that she needs to be very very quiet otherwise she will wake her. It i working very well, I sometimes her telling her brother of for talking to loud because the baby is sleeping.
Don't know if that can help you ???

[onefunkymama]

I also like the sleeping baby idea, my DD is not too bad and would probably go to sleep well if it were not for DS. Might try the sleeping baby on DD as I think she'd like it. Still goodness knows what to do with DS- I don't think the baby idea would work with him. Took 2.5 hrs to get him to sleep tonight and I went all out with the Supernanny technique to no avail. DH and I ended up fighting about who's 'turn' it was to sort DS out as DS out of bed every 30 seconds and we both wanted to do things. Probably not what Supernanny had in mind eh?

DS so tierd he's dropping off in the day time and dead grumpy when I wake him up. He's the most active toddler I have ever met, always on the go. Like the idea of putting him back in a cot but think he can climb out, sadly has worked out how to open baby gates- shame as we have one on his bedroom door- keep the suggestions coming!!!

[onefunkymama]

Denmark, you might be my saviour!! Tried the baby technique with both children and neither got out of bed once. I added to it the promise that if they could look after a teddy as if it were a sleeping baby they might be allowed to have our new kitten sleep with them for a little while(it arrives in a few weeks) but they had to prove themselves with a teddy first. After all, I wouldn't want my baby kitten being disturbed eh? Fab, fab, fab I hope this lasts.

[Denmark]

Great to hear onefunkymama, hope it will last. But I think that the promise of sleeping with the new cat is wonderful for your children and I am sure that the will stay in their beds.
GOOD LUCK

[babyblue2]

We had exactly the same problem with DD2 and after months of faffing on, we put the stairgate over the door. Worked a treat