My 5 year old (and I!) have never had an unbroken night sleep. And I’m desperate for help! I should mention from the outset that he has developmental problems, and potentially autism, so this is definitely a contributory factor. He had severe reflux as a baby, so sleep was a major challenge until we finally got that under control when he was two. For the past few years the issues have been largely unchanged. He is a terror before bedtime (hates the bath and music and books make him manic rather than calm), I get him to sleep between 7.30 and 8pm, but only if I stay with him until he is asleep. He wakes every night around 10.30pm screaming. Two or three times a night he will wake up again around 1am, usually screaming because he is having a bad dream (it’s been about bugs this week). He then wakes up for the day at 5.45am. By evening he is shattered but wired, hence the terror behaviour before bed. We’ve tried putting him to bed earlier, but he won’t drop off until his usual time, so we just spend longer with him thrashing around resisting sleep. We’ve tried sleep training, but he is a very determined boy and he will cry it out for hours, and that’s not fun for anyone (including our neighbours!). I’d much prefer a gentler approach, but whatever I’m doing now clearly isn’t working and I’m too tired to be able to think clearly to find a solution. Can anyone help, or point me in the direction of some resources?