A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the miracle of bedtime snuggling and how it had solved our annoying going-to-bed woes with the twins. Well, I spoke too soon... it isn't working anymore. I lay up there for an hour and still frequently leave with wide awake twins. This evening, I forgot a book in their room, and turned around to get it after I had just closed the door. Candace was already out of bed preparing for her first foray downstairs.
The twins have been home for 158 days, and I have put them to bed on each and every one. Maybe 20 of them have been relatively stress-free. That's 138 days of aggravation, and I am just about ready to lose my mind.
Help.
5 comments:
Ugh. You have my sympathies. I SO look forward to being child-free for those couple hours before bedtime. We need it.
Do they nap? Need to stop naps?
What time do they go to bed? Need to change the time?
What time to they wake up? Late? Need to get up earlier?
Dark room? In Ethiopia no electricity at night...DARK rooms.
Warm bath before bed?
I have a white noise machine to block out noise (teenagers).
You can ask their Dr. about melatonin if going to sleep is a problem. That worked for my son.
I don't know how good their English is yet, so maybe this wouldn't work for you, but my 4 & 8 year olds share a room and listen to audio books as they fall asleep. THe ones my 4.5 year old really enjoys are Berenstain Bears, the Mouse and the Motorcycle, and some Jim Weiss ones (he's a great story teller with CDs of all different fairy tales, history stories, etc.)
Argh. So sorry. I'm in the same place, but she's only been home 6 weeks.
Gosh, Paula I know it has to be so hard and frustrating because at the end of the day you need quiet to get ready for tomorrow.
In no way do I want to act like I know what is best but I will tell you what I did with my daughter when we were having some issues.
I would put her to bed and then sit outside her room and every time I heard her get out I was right there to hear it and I put her back to bed. It took a couple of weeks of consistency and I also spanked her each time. I don't know if you believe in that or not but that is what we did. IF you don't believe in spanks you can just put them straight back to bed and not even talk to them. Get right down to business.
That way the girls could not make it down the stairs and you would catch them as they put their feet on the ground. Now it is more work for you to sit right outside their bedrooms but hopefully after a while you will not have to worry about it. Just an idea. May God give you wisdom!
Paula, are they anxious about going to bed. Haven would have a melt down about being put in the actual bed. I use rescue remedy (natural bach flower essence) a few drops under the tongue when she is worked up and she goes to sleep, because it calms her down. I don't know how the twins act about going to bed, but seem to want to be up with ya'll, I agree a dark room helps. I have shades that have the black out backing and that has helped so much.
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