Twins Not Going to Sleep and Taking off Their Diapers....

That would drive me crazy.
Separate them in separate rooms for sleeping.
Don't let them double time you.
Apparently playing with poop is a very common problem.
Some people swear by using duct tape around the waist of the entire diaper.
Others say that overalls work.

http://voices.yahoo.com/how-keep-toddler-playing-their-di...

I see two issues:

They take off the diapers and play with their poop: not too unusual for the age group but gross. At 2.5 many kids are ready to potty train and I would use this readiness.
Lets be honest here, your boys should not be sitting in their own poop for an extended period of time anyways: it's gross, it's uncomfortable and it's unhealthy. They need to be changed as soon as they poop. Teach them to tell you as soon as they go. I like to use little rewards like a jelly bean or an m&m for something like this. Choose something that works for your boys, but at this age it needs to be immediate, not a promise that the reward will happen down the road.

As for the duct tape suggestion: that can backfire big time, first by sticking to your kids skin and causing injury when removed and second it may not keep them from sticking their hands down their diapers. A poopy diaper is uncomfy and if it was me I'd want out as well. They are old enough to work with them on this.

Second the sleeping issues: some kids do drop their nap at 2.5 and the fact that your kids have trouble going to bed at night tells me that they may not need that nap.
I would drop the nap in lieu for "rest time". Set them up with a quiet activity (drawing, looking at a book, quietly listening to music...). You may need to supervise them, especially in the beginning and remind them that this is "quiet time".
I happen to be of the opinion that as a mom of more than one child you simply do not get "no kid time", you chose to have them, it's your responsibility to supervise them accordingly, even if you'd rather have a half hour to yourself. Sorry to be so blunt - I absolutely do understand the exhaustion and just needing that nap time - but that is life. If you can afford it hire a sitter for an hour or two a couple of times a week.

Anyways if you drop the nap they may actually be tired at night as well and that problem should go away. I speak from experience here since my DD's daycare pushed the nap for much longer than DD needed it, resulting in terrible evenings when she simply wasn't tired, because she had taken a nap in the afternoon. You cannot force someone to fall asleep, not an adult and not a toddler. If you feel they need the nap you need to tire them out in the afternoon if you want them to go to bed on time.

Oh and please, please - do not try to beat your kids into going to sleep. That is the most ridiculous suggestion I have ever heard... may have been the common method 60 years ago, but we live in 2013 and I think as a society and as modern parents we know better these days.
Good luck.

potty train them.

Separate them.

change diapers RIGHT after poop.

They help clean up if they make a mess - then no playing because out of time.

If they are staying awake for 2 hours, then don't put them to bed at 8. Put them to bed separately - the first one goes down BY THEMSELF at 9pm and then second stays outside the bedroom. Then, once one is asleep the other goes down - this way you don't have to move older brother.

If they are still napping, as someone else suggested, it may be time to give that up so they can sleep at night.

I don't understand how they are both in poopy diapers for so long that they are smearing it all over the room. I know twins do a lot together, but synchronized bowel movements is pretty amazing. I'd feed them much earlier in the day so that the poop works its way out long before bedtime. There needs to be a bedtime routine that is calming and without deviation. Bath time (ideally after that last poop!), teeth brushing, then into the room for story and lullaby and good night cuddling and kisses. No talking, no playing. If they fool around, there's no story.

I'd take away the toys that are getting covered in poop and tell them that they can't have them back until the poop stays in the diaper or in the toilet. No other options. No touching poop - it has germs and makes you sick. Removing the toys will give them a lot less to do in that room.

I would also consider separating them even if that means putting the 1 year old in your room, or putting one of them in there with the younger one unless that's going to be a bigger disaster - although at this point, it's hard to imagine a bigger disaster! Each parent takes one twin and is responsible for getting that child to be with a special time - each child picks a book and has quiet, alone time with one parent. The next night, the parents switch but the routine is the same. The child doesn't pick the routine, just the story and maybe a quiet CD with appropriate lullaby music. No choices about whether to get up and do something different, and if they act up, they lose the story and cuddle time.

There's got to be a way to secure their clothing so they can't get everything undone. But quiet time and insistence is more important. It's possible that you and your husband are just worn out from the day's activities and getting the 1 year old settled that you have less patience at 8 PM. They may pick up on your agitation and do everything possible to increase it. They're getting lots of attention and a reaction by spreading poop everywhere.

I'd consider putting the 1 year old down and immediately going into bedtime for the twins - they may be seeing the evening as "their" time after the "baby" goes to bed, but night time needs to be quiet time with all the playing done during the day.

You go into their room and sit in the doorway with them on their beds. You ignore them and work in a puzzle book, read a book, do some paperwork, the light from the hallway will give you enough light but yet the kids room will be darker.

You swat their hiney firmly but not hard and tell them to lay down. If they get up again they get another swat, not to hurt but to get their attention.

They should lay down by this point.

Then you sit there until they are asleep night after night until they start doing this on their own.

For one thing they're awfully young to be able to manage going to bed on their own and lay down until they're sleepy so I would expect them to act like this.

Put their jammies on regular but duct tape their diapers like crazy. Don't make it too tight but try to make it where they can't just slip the whole thing off.

The duct tape. Start at the back of the waist band and end at the back. of the waist band. . Do not tape to their skin.

I agree to place them in separate rooms to sleep.

Can you make their bedroom super dark? Maybe it is just to bright for them.

ADD: I like the "sit in the room in the dark with your laptop as they fall asleep". Idea. It helped my son sleep when I did that.

Question - Why do they have so much time to play with thier poop? At bedtime, they should have a clean diaper before going to bed or they will have a rash from hell when they wake up in the morning. Not to be mean, but at this age, what is going on where you or your husband aren't around or aware that the diapers are off and the poop is out before there is a hellacious mess? Kids this age shouldn't be unsupervised for that length of time.

ORIGINAL: What would they do if you separated them? If you could (temporarily) have their brother sleep in your room and have each of them sleep in each kid bedroom? See what happens if you put that in play. If they want to be together, they have to behave. If they can't behave, then they can't sleep in the same room.

Separate them for naps and sleep and put them in backwards footy pj's.

Put them in one piece sleepers with a zipper backwards.

I don't have an overall answer, but as for the poopy toys and walls, if they get poop on the toys, take the toys away until you see a change in behavior. If it has poop on it, it goes in a box. As for the walls, make them clean them. THis worked with my daughter and her markers. I got her a magic eraser, and we worked side by side until it was gone. She hasn't written on the walls since. If they are old enough to get out of footy pajamas, then they are old enough to help you clean up their messes. And don't let them out of it when they seem tired of it. Keep them at it (you can take breaks, but no privileges like tv or toys or snacks) until the room is cleaned to acceptable standards. If they get sick enough of the situation, it won't happen again.

I won't speak to the poop problems, but here is a thought on how to handle the sleeping.

but the one year old to bed at his usual hour.

Keep the twins up till 10:30. They are up anyway, so it really isn't any skin off your back. By 10:30, they should be good and ready to sleep. Do the usual night time routine, and put them to bed. If they get up, do the boring interraction, of time for bed, and put them back to bed, nothing more. The point of the later bedtime is to create a pattern of sleep soon after bed. Don't allow them more nap time, or a later wake up to make up for "lost sleep."

After a week or 10 days of getting them to sleep shortly after bed, you can start bumping up the bed time by 15 minute increments every 2 or three days or so, until you have them asleep at 8 once more.

Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.

Duct tape the diapers on and I mean wrap it completely around them. I doubt they call pull duct tape off. If they take their clothes off, so what. If they get cold during the night, maybe they will leave their clothes on the next night. If not, natural consequence is they get cold. They'll figure it out.

If they do manage to get poop on things, I agree that whatever they got poop on they have to clean and then it goes in a bag. In fact, I would take all the toys out of the room before putting them to bed tonight. Tell them they don't get toys anymore because of the poop behavior. And if they smear it on the wall, they can most certainly clean it off.

You have to make it not fun to do.

I would NOT use a safety pin to secure a zipper. I always put their sleepers on with the zipper in the BACK, that way they can't unzip it. Done! Also, separate them, that solves the problems. Good luck.