I'm going to make a really long and miserable story short, but my 3 and 4 year olds hate sleep. They will get up at 5 am (on a good day) and there's NOTHING I can do to make them sleep later. When we lived in a house, it was OK because they'd stay in their rooms and I'd just get some more sleep but now we're in an apartment where it's quiet hours until 8 - and they HAVE to stay in bed until then. So I can't just let them play by themselves. I am exhausted. Last night we were all up very late because the kids were throwing up and we didn't get them back to sleep by midnight. DH was like, well at least tomorrow they'll sleep. They normally have a very early bedtime because they NEED about 12 hours of sleep otherwise they are miserable, and DH doesn't agree with that bedtime, but by the time I've parented these high intensity kids straight for 12-13 or so hours I need a freaking break, plus they need their sleep, but he thinks I should just keep them up later so they'll sleep later. Nope. They were up at 5 30 - that was late for them. I've tried reverse cycling with them, tried keeping them later every night, etc. They have ONE late night due to an emergency and it's sleep hell for the next two-three weeks until they get back on schedule. In those cases they will sleep 4-5 hours a night and be so exhausted they can't fall asleep.
They don't watch TV, I try to expose them to natural light whenever possible, but they still get up when it's still dark. I get migraines every last day because of how exhausted I am from getting up so early. We've tried everything but they just don't sleep. My mom's like, "just tell them to stay in bed until the clock says it's time to get up" - yeah been there tried that. Even if I'm in bed with them they won't stay asleep, and if I try to tell them to stay in bed and try to get some rest myself they just get up immediately. Like, within 5 seconds. As soon as my back is turned, literally.
I'm at my wit's end. Last night I went to bed when they did and I still needed more sleep in the morning, but they were up for the day before me and it's all I can do to keep them quiet until it's morning for real. Oh, and naps, they've never napped. It would take up to 3 hours for them to calm down for 20 minutes of a nap.
DS used to sleep about 4 hours in a 24 hour period as a newborn, in 20 min stretches. DD used to sleep well but ever since we moved and they started sharing a room, she has the same sleep patterns as him. I am beyond exhausted.
I've read Sleepless in America and all those books, and tried pretty much everything... but no luck with any of their suggestions. Tried melatonin, chamomile tea, baths, etc. Nothing.
