Night terrors (no, not the dream kind)!

[Netix]

Every god forsaken night is the same. And I mean every.night. I don't normally use the Lord's name in vain, but I am livid. I cannot get my two, Rhino primarily, to go to bed quietly, without some sort of fuss and screaming (on at least one person's part. Usually at least two people screaming). I've had more than enough. The two of them, just frick ass around all evening, then after they are in bed (they share a room, nothing I can do to change that), at least one of them (98% of the time, its just DD) will get out of bed. It is not uncommon for her to get out of bed and come into the lounge room four, five, even six times, IN ONE EVENING! Things she wants: a drink (even if there is one in the bedroom), drink refill, toilet, to know what we are doing tomorrow, to tell me that she will be good now, to tell me that Rhino is doing something, or that she can't sleep because he's talking, or she can't remember how to go to sleep, or ignore him because he's chatting to her, to say goodnight (AGAIN), to get ANOTHER cuddle. If the Man and I are both home, she asks who has tucked her in once, and who can do it next. To her, getting put to bed the first time doesn't count as the first time. It's the next time.

I generally end up leaving the room angry, and shouting when I put them to bed. Often slam the hallway door. I then try and cool off, and wait until its quiet before going in to check on them. But, when I do and they are still awake, they stay awake even longer, and get up more, and start crying again.

She complains that his crying hurts her ears, which pulls me in two directions. Annoyed and angry because I think she is just pushing my buttons, and the other way which is, are her ears very sensitive because of a bigger issue (ie, is she autistic in some way). She doesn't just complain of this at night.

He complains that he wants the lights off, including the night light. Again, pushing my buttons, or is he like my asperger brother, who can only go to sleep in total darkness? But, having said that, will come into our bed, and curl up with the Man while the TV is on and go straight back to sleep, without a peep. He also seems to answer back (although he can hardly speak) when I (or the Man) tell him its nearly bed time/it is bed time, etc. He argues and gets louder. He's gone back to only wanting to go to sleep with me. Last night, I think he came into our bed at about 1am FFS.

They honestly do my head in. ARGH. The Man says they are reflecting me, and yeah, they probably are. But, HTF am I supposed to stay cool when I have these two children that defy everything I have to say? And they're not much better with him. I'm so over it. And so angry.

[Nelle]

Mine are like that sometimes. Drives me bonkers. I'm trying to remember what I do...

Have you got a good routine? Maybe you need to get them in bed before sleep time, so they start to get comfy and tired, and then read a book, or tell a story, or play some soft music. Is there a chair you can sit in, and browse your phone or laptop to encourage them to stay put? Do they nap during the day? My almost three year old was a royal bedtime pain until we dropped his day sleep. Is there a treat they can have as long as they stay in bed? I remember we used wind up torches for awhile there, but we'd take the torch off them if they got up and gave it back when they'd stayed there for five minutes.

Anyway, I'm sure others will have ideas, but I know your frustration. It's so hard to be waiting to breathe out at the end of a day, only to have little bodies becoming increasingly overtired and difficult to settle. xo