Transition to toddler bed - awake for hours in the night

[TheOpportuneMoment]

We've recently transitioned my 2.9 year old into a toddler bed. All was going well but since he's potty trained he keeps waking up between 2-4am for a wee and then taking up to 3 hours to go back to sleep. He'll lie in his bed quite happily but get up every 10-15 minutes and come into our room to tell us he's not sleepy. Last night the first get up was 1.45 and he finally went back to sleep at 5am. None of us are getting any sleep. He still wakes for the day at 6.30am latest. Whether or not he's napped in the day and for how long seems to make no difference, it's like once he's awake he's properly awake and nothing works until he's tired again.

He will occasionally settle if I take him into the spare bed and sleep with him in there (not with DH though), but he's a very light/active sleeper and I'm 20 weeks pregnant with DC2, so don't want to start a co-sleeping habit now that we'll have to break in a few months anyway - as there's no way he'd sleep through a newborn waking constantly - as it is me just rolling over in bed wakes him up.

We've tried cutting back fluids before bed, but he still wakes regardless. When he gets up we just put him straight back in bed, and he'll go no issues and no crying, but he just won't stay there. Any ideas???

We've tried cutting back fluids before bed, but he still wakes regardless

This suggests it's not needing a wee that is the cause here, more a red herring that he is conveniently using as an excuse.

I'm of the view that is a toddler cannot go 10-12h overnight without weeing, then they are not ready to be night time toilet trained. It's not the normal way to have a child's night continually disrupted with the need to go to the toilet

Ergo, if go back to "bedtime pants" (ie pull ups). The majority of 3yo and 4yo are still in nappies at night. Seems your son is like the majority, and not ready yet.

Thanks @FATEdestiny - he is still wearing pull up nappies overnight but he just won't go in them, he'll get up and go to the potty instead, which wakes him up fully. His nappy is always dry in the morning, and he is getting up for a wee in the early hours. I wish he'd sleep through it and just go in the nappy but it's not happening!

Could you put a stair gate on his bedroom door? Least then once he has gone to the loo you can put him back to bed and he can't keep coming to find you. If you ignore him he hopefully will get bored

Was he previously weeing in pull ups at night? If, for example, you swapped from nappies to pull ups when he potty trained in the daytime, he may not realise that it's ok to see in it.

Yep he's been wearing the same brand of pull ups for months, as he's always hated lying down to put on traditional nappies. It's only been the last two weeks that he's decided he will only wee in the potty, previously was fine.

He woke up earlier last night (around midnight) as he knocked his pillow out of bed, and he did then go back to sleep straight away and went through until 6.30am. I'm thinking about actively waking him before I go to bed and putting him on the potty, and hoping the need for sleep is still there as it's earlier in the night.

Stair gate is an option, but worried we'll then go from calm and awake to screaming and awake when he realises he's stuck!