TOTALLY GEEKED!

FNW · Guru

RE: Sleep Training

Mellow Momma · Sniff...sniff, sniff. Yay! A Bum!

FNW: the head of the upper school here (think high school principal) has twin 3 year old boys that DD babysits often. They push their toddler beds together in the night so they can hold each other. Or they will just get out of bed and lay on the floor next to each other. It's freaking adorable. DD is in love with those boys. Last time she babysat, they asked her to hold their hands until they fell asleep and so she did. She is a sucker for cuddle time.

FNW · Guru

Too cute. Last year the boys' kindergarten teachers would "allow" them to get up from their seat in the cafeteria at lunch time so they could go hug each other before going back to class. This year the teachers have their classes sit at tables next to each other.

Sometimes when the boys wake up too early (we tell them what time they can come in our room) I can hear, "John, can I come in your bed?"

NAOW · Vette's SS

FNW wrote:
Our boys started out in the nursery, which was off our master bedroom. I could see the cribs from my bed. When they got "older", I closed the doors to that room.

When they were older, we moved their cribs into their bedroom. They didn't like that room. One wall was painted red. I remember one time we were at my MIL's house and their cribs were set up in the guest room which was also red and they would not sleep all night. So we painted that wall navy blue. We moved the cribs back in and they were fine. Maybe it was the color, maybe it was just that they were a little bit older. At that time we bought toddler beds which we also put in that room, so they could get used to the idea. Then we did the whole "you're a big boy now, do you want to sleep in those beds?" They were thrilled and we got rid of the cribs. We kept a tall gate in their doorway to keep them confined. We also had a gate at the top of the stairs which is directly across from their room. I was afraid they'd get up in the middle of the night and roll down the stairs.

At first we'd hear a thunk every night then crying when one fell out. It was only a foot from the floor so they weren't hurt, just confused and scared. We'd rush in and console them, tell them what happened, then put them back in. After a year or so with the toddler beds we bought them the twin beds they are currently using. I would like to separate them and give them each their own room, but #1 will have no part of it.

The gates remained until they were about 3. I had a little potty chair on a towel in their room in case they needed to get up in the middle of the night. Once they were proficient at going to the bathroom by themselves, the gate to their room came off. The stairs gate came off when they were 4 because we ripped up the carpet and had hardwood floors installed. We also had the bannister replaced so it was a good time to get rid of the gate.

We sleep with our door open but theirs is mostly closed but still ajar. Someone gets up most every night. Sometimes they need/want something, but they always go back to bed and back to sleep. Last night #1 said his legs hurt so we gave him some ibuprofen.

Lots of good ideas here, but I really like the bolded!

Lawyerlady · On the bright side...... Christmas is coming! (Mod)

Twins like to be together. I always love that story of the newborn twins and one was not doing well and was pretty close to dying. They put the other twin in the incubator to say "goodbye" in a way, and once they were together, the dying twin recovered.

My friends twins have the ability to have big, beautiful rooms all their own right across the hall from each other - and they still choose to share. They are almost 11.

NAOW · Vette's SS

All the twin stories are adorable.

flan327 · Itty bitty's Grammy

NAOW wrote:
All the twin stories are adorable.

Isn't that the truth?

flan

FNW · Guru

Mine listen to each other before they listen to us. Their brother takes priority. Drives me batty. I can't get a word in edgewise.

Mellow Momma · Sniff...sniff, sniff. Yay! A Bum!

FNW wrote:
Too cute. Last year the boys' kindergarten teachers would "allow" them to get up from their seat in the cafeteria at lunch time so they could go hug each other before going back to class. This year the teachers have their classes sit at tables next to each other.

Sometimes when the boys wake up too early (we tell them what time they can come in our room) I can hear, "John, can I come in your bed?"

The lunchtime hug...wish we all could get one. Might make our days a bit easier to bear! Lol

Bonny22Pye · Guru

Last night he fell asleep in my arms. I gingerly put him in the crib. He instantly woke up screaming bloody murder. So I put him in the swing and he went straight to sleep. Gosh Darn It!

FNW · Guru

I hope the swing is electric.

Bonny22Pye · Guru

FNW wrote:
I hope the swing is electric.

It is. But, he's almost too big for it.

I have the week off of New Years. So we are going to get him to associate the crib with sleep time.

FNW · Guru

Maybe put him in it for naps?

Personally, I removed all toys from their bedroom and crib. I bought blackout blinds for the windows, too. Because they were twins, I had to remove all pillows and top sheets and blankets. (I walked in and found #1 laying on a pillow he placed on #2's head once). My mother said their room looked like a jail cell. Just beds and their dresser (which was attached to the wall and the drawers had child locks on each one). Not stylish, but they slept. I wanted them to think of their room as a place to sleep, not play.

It wasn't until they were 5 that I put a toy basket in there, and only to give them something to play with when they woke up in the morning so the would not rush in to wake us up. Sleep is serious business in our house.