Help! 3 year old goes crazy at bedtime

[pinksheepbeep]

I'm at my wit's end. Almost every bedtime for the past 6 weeks DC2 (age 3) has gone completely giddy as soon as it's lights out. Giggling, jumping up and down on her bed, running around, climbing into DC1's bed (they share a room), pulling hair, turning lights on etc. I carry DC2 back to bed, calmly say it's sleepy time etc. Occasionally it works and DC2 calms down but it can often take over an hour, during which time poor DC1 is kept awake and I inevitably get fed up and end up shouting and then feeling guilty about it. To make matters worse DC1 is an early bird so wakes up by 5.30 most days even no matter what and is therefore losing sleep by being kept awake.

I think long term we may need to move DC2 into the box room (once we've cleared out all the junk that's currently stored there!!) but for the meantime does anyone have any suggestions for how to make bedtimes calmer??

I'd say calmly, 'Oh dear! You are over excited and being silly again. Tomorrow we'll make bedtime earlier'. I'd also be extremely sharp and cross with her the very first time they got into DC1s bed or pulled hair. There doesn't seem to be any point in being patient and saintly about this if you eventually get cross and shout. Skip the hour in between! At the end of the day she's being naughty and knows it.

Can you also perhaps put DC1 in your bed (as a reward for being good) and then carry them through to their own bed once they are asleep and when you come up?

Thanks @Hatty65 good idea about putting DC1 in my bed, I'll definitely try that. Unfortunately being sharp makes no difference, DC2 just giggles. Honestly the same reaction whether I'm calm or not. Eventually after an hour of craziness it's like the giddiness is burned off and DC2 is ready for bed. I did wonder if a later bedtime would be the thing to do but it just seems strange putting a younger child to bed after an hour after the older one 🤷‍♀️

Is DS2 still napping? We had nightmare bedtimes until the naps all stopped. It's so tough!

@snackprovidersupreme no, no naps. Dropped them a while back. It's that horrible thing where I can't work out if it's overtiredness or undertiredness or sibling rivalry (desire to annoy DC1 seems to be a factor!) I just want a bit of evening for fun things like cleaning the kitchen and finishing off work 🤪

Totally know what you mean.

Our 3 year old goes to bed about 7 now but it has taken a while to get there. What time are you trying to get them to sleep?

A gro clock has helped us get rid of the 5am starts and he will stay in bed until the sun is up on his clock. Maybe worth trying with your eldest?

Would they settle and listen to audio books? I think I would prioritise separate bedrooms asap because unfair on dc1 currently. I’d try both earlier and later bed time- see if they recover tired first. Would dc2 respond to sticker chart if settle well?