Cot bars down, children UP... for HOURS!! Help please!

[Seska]

I have twins - a boy and a girl - aged 2.9.

Two weeks ago we took their cot bars down (they are in the same room, no choice, house not big enough for separate rooms) and it's been a nightmare!
Running around, throwing stuff about, yelling and screaming and laughing ... often falling and banging themselves as they get so excited.

Of course, we expected a degree of "newness" - we expected they'd get out of bed a lot and we'd have to take them back again and again but some nights it's up to three hours which means by the time they FINALLY settle down we're both just ready for bed too.

If we go in, and sternly put them back to bed and tell them off, they think it's hysterical and we are barely out of the room before they are pushing back the covers to get up again.

I wondered whether to not react at all, just let them get the novelty over with and hope they will settle in time but on the other hand, if I do that and nothing changes, I have allowed them to become set in that way and then to start going back in and telling them off is surely just confusing them?!

Any advice on how anyone else coped or whether it will settle would be greatly appreciated.

Also, they start pre-school in September so I'm hoping that will tire them out a bit more.

Finally, the bedtime routine is fairly standard, dinner, teeth brushed, quiet play (no noisy toys or shouting), milk, changed and upstairs, one of us reads a story, the other tries to settle them both in bed, kisses and we leave.

TIA

Yikes! I remember those days with one - that was complicated enough!

One thought that springs to mind: Could you put a baby gate on their room doorway? Leave them to it then! If the room is safe and they are not distressed they will eventually go to sleep...even if it's on the floor by the gate.

That worked for us, and saved bedtime chaos turning into a crazy panto untill DS was old enough to reason with (a little bit). He is now 4 years 11 months and went into a bed age 2 and a half after he climbed out of his cot! Gate came down age 3.5 ish.

Thanks for your reply.

The stairgate is already at their room door. We have so far been only going to them if they have hurt themselves and are crying or if they manage to open the door to the landing (they're not very good at it but have managed once or twice!). They can't get out of their room.

I guess it's just a case of hoping the novelty will wear off in due course. I'm just anxious of making a real game of it if they realise every time they play around we will go in to them. I think we'll just carry on as we are unless anyone else has any good advice!

x

Hi Seska

Haven't experienced this myself but a friend had real hassles with her twins at a similar age - she solved it by putting a travelcot in her own bedroom and using this as a means of separating the twins when they played up (was known as the 'naughty cot' )

She used to allow them a short time to settle, then go to them and warn them that if they didn't calm down she would move one of them to the cot. Initially she had to use the cot a fair amount (twins would generally settle very quickly once separated, and they would then transfer the sleeping twin back to bed once asleep) but within a very short period the mere threat of 'the naughty cot' was enough to stop the playing up behaviour in its tracks.

Might be worth a try if your two still fit into a travelcot?

Ooh thank you, that's an idea!

I don't have a travel cot but my mum does, she got it for "when they come and stay" but they haven't stayed overnight with her yet!!

gets excited at the thought of quiet in her house before 10 pm!

Thanks again

x

Ooh! That brings back so many memories!! My twins went into beds aged 2 1/2 and came out of their bedroom on the frist night. My dh roared at them, and they never came out again! Well, I say never, they are now almost 6, and are constantly coming out of their room, and screeching, laughing, playing etc!! So I'm sorry to say, in our house, its still chaos, and although bedtime in 7pm, sleep time is more like 9pm. We say that as long as they are playing quietly, then thats fine! Good luck!!