Thursday, March 18, 2010

the new nightmare of bedtime

We are at our wits end with nap/bedtimes.

It is currently 10:11 am my kids are running around their room, jumping off their beds, and NOT SLEEPING.

They used to be great sleepers, don't get me wrong, but now? Oh how I long for those days...

They have essentially destroyed their room. We've tried it all: being firm, putting them in over, and over and over... (to the tune of 20 times it seems)

Nothing is working.

I don't want to separate them. But they are driving me nuts. They still nap 2 hours a day at daycare, and that will continue to happen. They are a bear in the mornings and sob and whine, and don't want to get out of bed.

Tonight we went to the playground and for ice cream in an attempt to wear them out, but no such luck.

Anyone have any advice?


10 comments:

Annie said...

Try to keep them active, really active before bedtime, for sure they are going to be so tired and go to sleep so fast.

Zach's Mom said...

I have the same problem with my SPD son. We now do bathtime with Epsom salt added. We are considering a low dose of Melatonin, but have not resorted to that yet. For activity, we try to keep the really active things (bouncing, running, swinging) pre-dinner time. We wind down with other sensory activities after dinner and before bath -- his latest favorite is a dried bean/rice/cheap toy bin that I made (we play with it on the living room floor with a sheet underneath). Following bath time we wind down with books. One thing I has noticed that has made a difference is not having a night light in his room -- he needs complete darkness.

The Lesters said...

One of my boys also has sensory issues and he is a twin. He has the same issues. Will get in his room and run around, jump, bang, talk, etc... sometimes for hours. This of course keeps his brother up. I have found something that has helped us some and hopefully it will work for you. Try staggering their bedtimes by about half an hour. In other words put one to sleep at 7:30 but wait and don't put the other to bed until 8. We found that when we did this they both went to sleep faster because when we were putting them in the room at the same time they were feeding off each other. I was with you though. If we had another bedroom I was almost about to separate them.

Unknown said...

Do you do bathtime at night? What about the Johnson's bedtime bath stuff? They have bubble bath & lotion, I think. My sil had some troubles with my niece calming down at bedtime and that seemed to relax her and ready her for bed.

The Lesters said...

Oh I forgot to add this. Do your boys still see an OT? If so, request a couple of weighted blankets. They are just blanket usually filled with beans to make them heavy. It helps them calm down by addressing their sensory needs. Feels like they are being squeezed or hugged.

Anonymous said...

Ugh Hang in there!

Allison said...

That sounds horrible!!!

My only other thought was the sugar...are they having sugar and/or caffeine in the evenings that might be affecting them??

((HUGS))

The Gori Wife said...

Our trick to bedtime has been absolute consistency w/ regard to bedtime routine. Everything in exactly the same order every night. Now he's like a Pavlovian dog, his eyes drooping at the mere mention of brushing teeth or bath time or pajamafication.

bess said...

I don't know what to tell you about bedtime, but your boys are ADORABLE!!!! Really, so so cute!

Two Peas in a Pod Homegrown Designs said...

I think the "Lesters" comment and advice was probably the best.

Our twins have gone through that too but we have girls and they don't have the sensory disorder.

We just keep a bedtime routine, even now at age 9 of bath, quiet time / reading, and then lights out. They ALWAYS spend at least 30minutes chatting and getting out of bed in their room every night before falling asleep. Our bed time is set to give them that time to do that without us walking in. After years of the chit chatting at bedtime, we just gave up and gave in. Bedtime for them at 9 years old is 8:30 at the latest...hoping they'll stop talking and fall asleep by 9.

Good luck...hopefully its just a phase...