A bit of background - my DS has always been a "challenging" sleeper. As a baby he woke VERY frequently and at 15 months he was waking every 45 minutes through the night. In desperation at that point we tried controlled crying but he seems to be one of the small minority for whom it doesn't "work" so after three nights we stopped. He started sleeping a little better (two hour stretches) when I eaned him from the breast, and he has been the same ever since.
He goes to sleep by himself after I have sat with him for a few minutes as he winds down after bath/bed/story. When he wakes in the night I go and give him a quick cuddle and leave him to drift off by himself. This can happen up to five times a night. If I don't go to him he simply starts screaming and crying. I have tried not cuddling him, and being very firm about the need for him to go to sleep but he still wakes frequently.
I have also tried to co-sleep but he won't sleep in the bed with me - he just wants to play and then get up for "breakfast" (sometimes at 3.30am!). I then have to take him back to his bed and this creates tantrums.
He is just about to turn three and I am bone tired and have run out of ideas. I know it sounds like I have been chopping and changing but we have gievn each thing a good try so far but nothing we have done has encouraged him to sleep longer than four hours at a time. So - does anyone have ANY ideas??