Help!!! My Twins Won't Stay in Their Bed!!!

Oh yay! I'm eager to see the responses to this! My twins just turned 2, and I cant keep them in thier beds either. My boy is pretty good about it, but my girl will come in numerous times every night. Sometimes she talks to me, sometimes she tries to climb in my bed without waking me up, sometimes she will lay down next to my bed and go to sleep. She's a tough one, and she's the reason that I'm a walking zombie most days! I dont think telling them that they will get a reward in the morning will do anything for mine, I think they are a little too young to receive a reward the next day for something that they do now. But just so you know, I'm there with you! Next I need answers to stop my little boy's temper tantrums....

Hi, I have two girls and both of them did/do it. With my oldest who is 4, we kept putting her back in her bed and told her it was ok to come in after the sun come up, (it took what felt like for-ever) They know they are welcome and we even have "morning time" in our bed (talk about our day, ask what they want to do or even watch saturday cartoons together) My husband has a bigger problem with them coming in more than I do, but compromise and persistence is key. A gate in their doorway may help, but may cause other issues with saftey hazards. Now with my youngest who will be 3 in august, it's still going on... most of the time she comes in right as the alarm is going off, I don't mind it as much because we are getting up at that time but we allow it on the weekends, especially if we want to sleep in. I guess I'm not much of help, all my advice is to be persistence with taking her back to bed and maybe allow at a certain time that she be allowed to stay and "cuddle" with you. My 4 year old doesn't like to cuddle as much in the morning. Enjoy it, a little. Good luck!

S.,

I have a 22 month old and a 10month old. They were both in cribs sharing the same room. But every morning I was finding them in the same crib. I had to put the 22month old in a big boy bed and separate them. I had the same problem with him wandering at night, waking everyone up. One night he got a hold of some baby powder and dusty the entire house with it. Needless to say, what I do is put him to bed and put a baby gate up so he can't get out of his room.
I can still hear him get up and play in his room sometimes in the middle of the night, but he is quick to go back to bed. And I found that if he sees me get up to check on him, it takes twice as long to get him back to bed. So I honestly do not make contact with him in the middle of the night unless I hear him crying. It sounds terrible, but my little man is sleeping so much better, and creating less havoc now at night. Good luck.

Jenn

i don't have twins but i have a 3 1/2 year old son who had the same problem..try to give them an incentive to stay in their bed till morning.like....if you stay in your bed till you see the sun, then you get special time(one on one) with mommy at a special place. or you can have them anticipate an amazing special treat when they wake up in their own bed....like a trip to chucke e cheeses or the movies or a toy they have always wanted...there is a fine line between a bribe and a reward,and its all about rewarding good behavior
good luck!

Super Nanny has done a couple of shows on this, maybe check out her site or rent one of the DVD's. There was a show on keeping a toddler in bed in Season 1 (Disk 1). She has a unique technique where you sit in the room and do not make eye contact and continue to put them in bed. She did it with older boys whose beds were in the living room. It seemed exhausting for poor mom but in the end, the training worked. Good luck!

Sara,

I am also a mother of twins Kevin & Madison. My Kevin loves his bed & almost never gets out. But My Madison, well, she is a whole different story. She usually wants to sleep with me as well. I started ignoring her & just sending her away without getting up. Sometime she cries the whole way back to her bed. For the 14-15 months or so, I carried her & gave her kisses & lost sleep. She does it much less frequently now after about 8 months of this. She only comes to me about 2 times a week now instead of twice a night, every night.

2 was a hard age, mine are 4 now & much easier to reason with. Some children are harder to break. Good Luck.

OK, I guess I have this coming too. My twin sons are 7 months old and both sleep with me. I am going to try to start getting them to sleep in their crib soon.

I have no advice, I'm going to be looking at you for advice. I've just been making up the twin-parenting as I go along. lol