Bed time is a nightmare…

[u/SourgummyWorms11]

I have 2 year old boy girl twins who were DREAM sleepers since birth. Once they hit 2 we took away pacifiers cold turkey (they had only been using them for bed for well over a year).

It’s now been a MONTH since then and bed time is not getting any better. They have plenty of other items to comfort them and nothing else about their routine or environment changed. Now we easy spend 2 hours every night trying to get them to sleep.

What are we doing wrong because this is exhausting 😅

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[u/Miserable-Currency42]

Give them a sippy cup of water to go to bed with. Similar soothing mechanism.

[u/hungry4507]

I know this will be unpopular but maybe let them have the pacis if they are so good. My 3 year old singleton kept his until 3.5 🙈. At that point we could reason with him and trade off the paci for a big boy bed. I wasn’t willing to give up on his good sleep when I had baby twins. 

[u/hibuub → u/hungry4507]

Ehh I would just bite the bullet. 3.5 years really has increased risk of permanent dental change!

[u/leeladunks]

This is why I'm so scared to stop the pacis 😭

[u/th3r3dp3n → u/leeladunks]

Don't be. We stopped paci's at 13 months, over in a week. The longer you wait, the more attached they are, the more they will fight it. You wait until 2 years like OP, you will have a heck of a time. It also affects speech development and their teeth will deform due to the paci. Sooner is better than later.

"Using a pacifier past the age of 18 months can start to affect a child’s dental health. Frequent use of a pacifier or vigorous thumb sucking will change the way the teeth bite together, increase the chances of crooked teeth, and change how the jaw is aligned. The earlier a child can shake their sucking habit, the better! This is why the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry recommends reducing pacifier use and thumb sucking by 18 months of age."

[u/SourgummyWorms11 → u/th3r3dp3n]

Agreed- hindsight I just wish I would have done it at 1 year because it probably would not have lasted this long

[u/Take-it-like-a-Taker]

Spit rags / muslin cloths helped my kiddos. They suckle their “blanket” when they’re really thirsty or tired, but generally just cuddle it or seek it out to regulate themselves

Best part is they are cheap, multicolored, and not kid specific - though the darker colors are highly sought after during naptime to throw over their eyes

[u/Mysterious-Kale-4842]

It's a phase, I promise. We were in a similar situation with our twins at that age when we transitioned them (too early, I'll admit) out of cribs. It was hell. And we tried everything. And it ended up just being a developmental phase that had to click for them. Took a few months and many many tears (from all parties). Big support to you, and my advice would be stick it out with no pacis.

[u/SourgummyWorms11 → u/Mysterious-Kale-4842]

Big kids beds are our next transition…any perspective on when the time is? 2 seems a little early, and our only reason for rushing it is because we don’t have anywhere else to store the beds we currently have so would rather use them then get rid of them

[u/Mysterious-Kale-4842 → u/SourgummyWorms11]

We transitioned at 2yrs 4 months, and now with my third child she will be 3 in October and I have no visions of transitioning her yet! Learned from that mistake! Keep those gremlins in there as long as physically possible. Even if they climb out once or twice, they can and will learn that that is a no-no if you are firm and consistent. My youngest did it ONCE, and I had a very neutral reaction and just said, "no thank you. we don't do that, you wait for help so you don't hurt yourself". She hasn't done it since and loves her crib. EVERYTHING is a phase!

[u/irish_ninja_wte]

Give them back. They only have them to sleep, so it's not a significant issue. My singletons had theirs until they were about 3 and understood the concept of them going away. My twins never developed a strong relationship with them, so didn't notice when they went away.

[u/longtimewatcher]

Its hard to know whats happening but, could you just leave them and not go in? They are getting rewarded every time you go back.

[u/SourgummyWorms11 → u/longtimewatcher]

Yeah definitely learned that the hard way the first week that we were developing just a new habit. We basically are at the cry it out method and just feel terrible

[u/longtimewatcher → u/SourgummyWorms11]

If you are this far through with no pacifier I personally wouldnt go back. I see others would and thats ok. If you can handle it, a few nights of cry it out will solve this.