20 month old now in a bed and not sleeping through the night!!!

[Lighthouse115]

Hi there, my 20 month old has recently moved from cot to a bed and has got into a habit of waking up around 3am and being wide awake and wanting to play! Takes ages to settle him back down and as soon as we walk out he crys again - it's like having a new born again!! Help x

Any sleeping during the day? If so, what time and how long?
Bedtime routine?

Isn't it a bit young for a bed? My DD1 was the first in her peer group to go into a bed, and she was just over 2 (I needed the cot for DD2). DD2 is 20 months now and I wouldn't dream of putting her in a bed - she's just too unreliable (by which I mean she would be in my bed every night, at least in the cot with a sleeping bag on she can't get out as her feet are effectively tied together, so if she wants me she has to shout).

If you have the space I would put the cot back up (or a travel cot if you need the old cot) and tell him that if he doesn't sleep through tonight, tomorrow night he's back in the cot. Even if he wakes up, you can go in and threaten him, and see if it encourages him to go back to sleep. I have a friend who had to do this with her son, but he was closer to 3, so understood the threat to his beloved Thomas bed.

Yes, he sleeps for about an hour late morning. Absolutey has a bedtime routine and is in bed by 7.30 every evening.

He is in a bed because he managed to throw himself out of his cot and land on his back - it was for his own safety that we have put him in a bed. We have a stairgate on his bedroom door so he cannot leave his room and get into bed with us - a habit we don't want to get into!

Agree with the suggestion that you threaten him with going back in a cot if he doesn't stay in his big boy bed. You can put up the cot (e.g. a portacot) and offer him a choice.