Too young for silent return?

[Divgirl2]

Is 18 months too young for silent return? DS had been driving me mad sleep wise. Will never nap when he's home, naps too much at nursery, won't go to sleep at a sensible time, wakes up multiple times a night (good night is 2, bad night could be 5 or more).

Always been like this, we coslept to survive. But I never really slept well, and he'd started sleeping really poorly too so I decided time had come to move him to his own bed. He flat out rejected the cot and he's a climber so I put him straight in a toddler bed.

This was fine for a week or so, he woke up a few times but settled quickly. Recently though it's been a nightmare. Taking 3 hours to settle (with feeding, shushing, patting), and waking multiple times a night and taking similarly long to settle.

Is silent return likely to work on such a young child? I've been trying it the last three nights and it hasn't really improved (over 70 returns per night initially, then about 20 when he wakes overnight).

[Divgirl2]

Worth mentioning it's very difficult for me to fully baby-proof his room because it's a rented flat and there's other furniture in there that I can't remove.

Otherwise I'd put a gate on the door.