DD is nearly 5, and sleeps in our bed. She will not fall asleep by herself and the bedtime routine involves up to an hour cuddled up to me or DH. Even then she will wake at around 10pm every night (it can be as early at 9pm) and takes a long time to resettle. Usually we end up going to bed then. As she gets bigger, sharing a bed is actually really uncomfortable. I'm getting by on about 5 hours sleep a night, often less, and am starting to feel the impact on my physical and mental health. It is also very rare that me or DH find an opportunity to have sex because we are constantly on edge about being interrupted, which is getting us both down.
Over the years we have tried repeatedly to get her to self-settle and sleep in her own room, using various methods. She was utterly impervious to everything we tried (we did everything except let her cry it out) and in the end we resorted to co-sleeping when she was about 3 because we were so bloody knackered. She is probably the stubbornest child I have ever met. Loving, funny, and a lot sharper than her speech delay makes her appear, but my god she is hard work. We have started to have conversations with her about going into her own room now that she is at big school which have been met with side eye and a mutinous expression. She must know we're up to something as she has become an even lighter sleeper in the past few months.
Has ANYONE had success in taming such a beast?! Was there a particular "method" that finally cracked it?!
Any advice would be most gratefully received. I want my bed (and husband) back!!