Just transitioned out of cribs and just don't know what to do!

Yes... Another post about bed transitions! Please help! I am desperate for some advice from twin parents!

My DD's are 26 months and we just transitioned them to mattresses on the floor at our ped's recommendation bc they were climbing out. We transitioned a couple of days ago and I have some questions for those of you who have successfully transitioned your LO's in the same room.....

1. Naps are battles... The room is babyproofed and they only have mattresses on the floor with a couple of lovies and blankets, pillows, etc. they hop around and kick the wall and won't take naps. We go in and say "how sad" and we start taking things away..which doesn't seem to deter them. We have the option of putting one of the girls in a pack play in the other room at the risk of her climbing out... The room is not babyproofed and we don't plan to babyproof in there.... Should we separate for naps? Do we just let them be and hope and pray they will sleep some day? We would like them to stay in the same room if at all possible...

2. Should be do the silent back to sleep/bed thing? We are big advocates of letting them get themselves back to sleep and letting them be at night.. They have always been good sleepers until now... Seems like such a different train of thought to start staying in their room to keep them in bed... Or... Do we just let them be and trust they will fig out how to nap? My fear is that if we don't get them to nap then night sleep is going to start to be affected...they have eventually fallen asleep at night for the last two nights...

3. How do you let them know it is time to wake up... I feel like it is seriously party central in there and they just do whatever they want until we come to get them... I'm thinking of trying an alarm clock.....

4.. Lastly, we had an adorable twin moment last night when we went in to check them and they were snuggled together in bed sleeping...2 minutes later they were yelling at each other to move over so I put the mattresses side by side and they slept well all night long.... Do we keep the beds pushed together or only do this of they want to sleep together some nights? Thought it was very interesting that they snuggled most of the night or held hands.. They have always been in separate cribs and I do want them to have their own space...

Thank you so much In advance for your advice!

 

The bed transition was a nightmare for us; our boys thought it was time to PAR-TAY! And it lasted for a long time. So take my advice with a big grain of salt .
1. Naps are battles... Just make them have quiet time. Set that up as the expectation that they can go into their room and play, but they are not to come out or disturb their sibling during this time. I know it's easier said than done. During the transition time you might want to just go and sit with them quietly and develop a routine where they just relax a bit for a minimum amount of time. When they stop needing a nap, they'll still be in the "quiet time" routine so you can get a break during the day as well. I would babyproof a little just so you don't have to go in and check on them every 5 minutes to make sure they're not into something. If they know you're going to come in, they'll start doing stuff that earns your attention.

2. Should be do the silent back to sleep/bed thing? Once the novelty wears off (and again, this can take a long time!) they will eventually start going to sleep on time. Use their lack of naps to your advantage for now. Start a really consistent bedtime routine and make sure that they know their room is for sleeping. Dark curtains, low lights (we took the lightbulbs out when our kids were partying all the time), story time and minimal distraction.

3. How do you let them know it is time to wake up... There are red light/green light clocks and such that you can buy. We have always just put them back to bed until it's a reasonable time to get up.

4 Do we keep the beds pushed together or only do this of they want to sleep together some nights? My boys like to sleep together as well, so when we had mattresses on the floor we used a queen sized mattress that they could both fit on. They loved it! Now they have their own beds and they are pretty good about being separate. I don't think there's a right way to do this, whatever makes them most comfortable for now is the best!

 

#1 - Nap will most likely come back, or you can institute quiet time. We separated our two for naps for a while (one on our bed, the other in her bed) and now they get quiet time. But the naps did come back after we made the change.

#2 - If the mattress is on the floor, I'd let them put themselves back to bed. Get a good bedtime routine going, so they know it's bedtime.

#3 - I didn't bother with a special clock or anything, I'd just put them back to bed if it was before a certain time. Now they stay in bed until 6:30/7:00 most days.

#4 - I'd leave them together if they wanted to be together. At least this way, they have more space than both cuddling up on one mattress.

 

We're about to do all this and I think that my 2 will be the same!
Only, they're doing that a bit now and their still in cribs! Help!

The onlything that I've had any luck with is putting T1 down first for 20 mins or so, then T2. Seems to help - somedays!!

GOODLUCK! Keep us informed of your progress please!

 

I don't know that I'll be much help, but I certainly can relate as we just made the change 1 week ago.

I can tell you that naps are tough. DS1 has routinely skipped his nap for some time now, but DS2 never skips his and needs it. The problem is, with them both in there in beds, DS2 can't settle and; therefore, skips his nap. I have no idea how some people accomplish "quiet time" with two 2 year olds alone in a room. I can't even get my guys to be quiet for 20 seconds while I talk to them, much less for an hour upstairs alone. The only way I can see "quiet time" working is if we separate them and that is not an option for us right now. I personally wouldn't use a PNP at this stage, but your LOs are younger than mine, so you could test it. Mine would be out in no time and the PNP is too little anymore. What we do right now is sit in the room with them for up to 30 minutes at nap time. 95% of the time DS2 will fall asleep within this time and DS1 will about 50% of the time. At 30 minutes, we bring whoever isn't sleeping back out of the room. This is a pain and very challenging when I am alone with all 3 kids while DH works, but it's the only thing that ensures a nap some of the time around here right now. I'm hoping that they calm down a bit soon when the novelty wears off.

I can tell you that nights are going well for us, for the most part. The first couple of nights, there was a long period of "partying" at bed time, but that has reduced to about 30 minutes. We tolerate some of it (unless it's destructive--although the room is virtually empty), but usually do go back in and try to calm things down. Going in and silently putting them back in their beds has not worked for us. We have had to resort to threatening to take (beloved) things away and then following through if the shenanigans keep up. I don't like to do it, but it is the only thing to date that has worked. After they get to sleep, the nights have been fine.

My guys are now waking about 1-1 1/2 hours earlier between 6-7. Ugh. When they wake, they start banging on the screen door (we long ago put a screen door up to keep the cat out (was never even an issue), but it's also great because the boys are safely enclosed since the screen door is latched from the outside, and we can all see in and out). I ordered one of the alarm clocks that changes colors to signal when it's okay to get up. Honestly, I don't think it's going to have much effect yet, but hopefully with reinforcement it'll catch on at some point. I also just wanted it for the cordless night light feature as we can have no cords in there.

We also have had some cute twin moments. They've slept together in each other's bed at least once (we move them when we go to bed). And one night-- picture this-- DS1 was fully asleep with the bottom 1/2 of his body in the bed and the top 1/2 hanging out so that the top of his head was on the floor. Snoring!! I was so startled that I grabbed him quickly. Now, I wish I would have taken a picture!!

Hope it goes well for you from here !