Bedtime Wars

I don't know what to do or if this is even the place for this, but it's almost 10:30pm & I am only just now getting in my own bed. My son is 3, and my husband and I are at the end our our rope with the bedtime wars with him. Every night is an hours-long battle, and we always lose. It's constant getting up. Well tell him to stay in bed, that he can have [whatever item] if he stays in bed for just five minutes, and he's out of bed literally before we even make it to his bedroom door.We've tried everything we can think of. We'll take away his snacks for the following day. When he asks for snacks & gets denied, we ask him if he knows why he can't have any, and he'll say, "because I didn't stay in bed." But the bedtime fiasco is always the same.We've tried positive reinforcement. He's got a sticker chart on his wall. After a month with admittedly loose rule enforcement, he managed to get five stickers and a new action figure. It's been three weeks now without a single sticker. Her verbalizes understanding of what the stickers mean & how to get them. He tells us often what kind of toy he wants when he gets his next five stickers, but still nothing.It's affecting our marriage. We both work full time. Work, come home, make/eat/clean up from dinner, some playtime, and then hours - quite literally hours - of trying to get this kid to bed. Screaming, crying, tantrums, a thousand requests to go potty (which are granted) or for more snacks (which are not). My husband and I cannot even watch one uninterrupted episode of a 21-minute sitcom on Netflix without being interrupted by our son's nonsense at leeeeeast 3-4 times. If we can't even get a mindless show in, forget ever having sex again. That's been weeks, and we've gone months. By the time we do get to bed, it's too late and we're both too frustrated and angry.Our boy is sweet, smart, and loving. He's never had a bad remark at daycare, he's gotten award certificates for following directions well. This willful noncompliance seems to be isolated to bedtime. Getting him to bed has always been a challenge even since he was an infant, but it seems to just be getting worse.What am I doing wrong? What can we be doing better? I don't even know who to ask for help on this. His pediatrician? My therapist? A child therapist? Strangers on the Internet?In case anyone is still reading and is interested, we have a daughter (1.5 years old) who is the perfect sleeper. We lay her down awake in her crib at bedtime & she rolls over and goes right to sleep. My husband and I have been married for 6 years. We moved into a new house in October 2015, but he is no longer going through any other transitions. He's been full potty trained since March. He did start at a new daycare a few weeks ago, but the transition there was smooth. He and his sister both like it and are well liked there. He was having the same bedtime problems both before and after the new daycare.If anyone has any insight or advice, I'd be grateful. I'm desperate. Everyone goes to bed tearful and exhausted around here. Except my daughter, who sleeps through it all.TLDR: 3-year-old son will not go the fuck to sleep. Mom & dad are bleary-eyed monsters. via /r/Parenting http://ift.tt/2aNUwEg