how to make a 3 year old understand!!

Personally it was a few years ago, but I have to say that reward charts might work, if you are consistent, but I would go for the strict method. When she comes in, just march her back to bed , tuck her in and say goodnight. Walk away. After a few times, she (they) will surely get it. Maybe 3 -4 nights. You will be beyond exhausted, but you really must NOT entertain her at all, even in conversation. It will work, IF you stick with it. Don't bribe them with things, or this will be the story for the rest of their lives, and you will soon find yourself bargaining with a teen (trust me, I really know).

I used one of those basic clocks from Ikea with the wide plastic border... and some wax crayons. It actually doesn't have numbers on it, so I wrote them on... and drew pictures, but you could just draw pictures. Hmm... the "I'm a baby" bit is a bit difficult - I have only had to deal with a little girl who declares resolutely that she's[b'> not[/b'> a [i'>little[/i'> girl, but a [i'>big[/i'> girl and being compared to a baby is just, well, gosh... the worst thing ever for her. She's 4, but is already talking about "when I'm 5" and "when I'm 6"... maybe that's also something to address (not wanting to put more on your plate!)

I would def separate them so at least you are only dealing with one child waking you at night. You could make your own wake-up clock from a regular clock (by removing the second and minute hands, drawing pictures of sun and stars on card and covering the numbers with them) if you think your girls are too young for reading the time. The clocks you buy a good though as they can be read in the dark and are so easy to understand.

I also found that bribing with chocolate (for potty training) actually didn't work because promising something that they can then only have in what seems an eternity away doesn't really trigger the cause/consequence notion! We have a rule that if it's still dark outside, then it's night time and everyone should be in their own beds, sleeping... if one of the kids comes in to our room during the night, we just lead them back into theirs, give them a cuddle on their bed, say "it's dark, so time to sleep" and tuck them in. Sometimes you have to put in the legwork and repeat the process several times, but usually it sinks in. The only difficulty we have is if it's gone 5h, say and my son is up, because then he's hungry and there's no chance of him resettling. I also always big up how "big girls" and "mummies and daddies" behave - "Do big girls get up in the middle of the night and wake people up for no reason? Do mummies and daddies sleep in the night or do they get up and wake people up?" - basic logic will mean that she says "no, they sleep", at which point you pounce and go "Yes, you're right. Only babies wake up in the night. Are you a big girl or a baby?"... cue "I'm a big girl!"... nyarrrr, so act like one! Lots of repetition and reinforcement needed. We also have a clock in their room with big numbers and I've drawn a big sun by the number 7. This is when they should get up! lol! You can also get specific kids clocks where the eyes open or light up. Anyhow, this very morning, they both came in at 7h05 and DD (4 yrs) said "It's 7 and 1", cue me - surprisingly quick-witted, having just been woken up - saying "that's the best time to wake up! Thank you for waking us up at 7 and 1. How about every morning you wait until 7 and 1 before waking us up?" Anyhow, back to reward charts... the only one that really worked was one that I drew myself too. I drew pictures of DD (that she recognised as her because of the hair) doing the actions that I wanted to encourage or avoid and explained the picture to her. We'd then have a bit of a ceremony where we ticked off a box (or not) and talked about it so that she felt really engaged with the process. Stickers and stars (while potty training - I tried everything) just got too boring, to the extent that she'd say "oh, you stick it on" and walk away!

Have you considered getting her checked out for ear infection or urinary tract infection? Don't bribe with chocolates or any other food is the only advice I can offer. Children are different. I had one who slept through and another who woke me several times at night and still sleeps much less hours a night than the sibling.

We sat down and made a huge chart, drew lots of pictures of lil miss sleeping in her own bed all night, had a set amount of days set up like a calender that she could check off each morning provided she had stayed in her own bed and not woken me up. At the end of the 10 days she got a huge reward...like a doll or whatever. The actual act of sitting down, making and decorating the reward chart was what helped the idea sink in, then it was on display and talked about, a fuss was made over the checking off a day and sleeping through, it was a big focus. Another chart we made that worked well was for eating vegetables, but it had an instant gratification reward that might work well with your little ones. Ours worked on the premise that if she ate 3 bites of 3 different vege's she would get a reward. She got to put the stickers on the chart for how many bites she's had and if she got all 3 she got a lucky dip present. I'd individually wrapped little things...like plastic farm animals, or stickers or a pretty hair bobble etc and the fact that she got a 'present' was a huge motivator to eating her veg, and then you just phase the chart out quietly. I *heart* reward charts :D