Sorry if this is long.
DC#3 is 2.5 years old. (Much) older 2 DC slept through early on and have never been an issue.
Toddler slept very well up to 1 years old, we co slept but they woke maybe a maximum of once in a night and would always go back to sleep quickly.
Since reaching 1 years old, sleep has been terrible. Toddler started to wake 3 times a night and would take ages to go back to sleep. We thought it might be breastfeeding, so I stopped. No difference.
Then we thought it might be co sleeping, so we introduced toddler to their own bed, which toddler likes. First few night were great, slept through. After that, toddler wakes anytime from 3am and refuses to go back to sleep.
We are so tired, we take turns getting up but it's killing us now. We are so so tired.
Toddler isn't even just happily playing when they wake up, they have a habit of screeching (ear piercing!) When they don't like something, like the drink offered (water) or if we try to put them back in to bed or if they want a snack (at 4am!). We are so conscious that the neighbours must be disturbed by all the screeching.
We tried gentle return to bed, we tried letting them screech (not cry) whilst we sat there and comforted them. But even after a few days of consistently trying something, it doesn't seem to make a difference.
We love toddler so much and they are very happy during the day, has great speech and is very confident and self assured.
Any help is greatly appreciated! We are so, so tired 