DS1 night waking and DC2 due in a week!

[fruitstick]

Help, DC2 is due next week and DS1's (2.9) sleep has gone to pot recently. I'm getting myself into a right panic about it as for ages he was a really good sleeper. Forgive me if I waffle on incoherently but I'm going to get it all down, with some possible causes and I would really appreciate some reassurance or tips.

He has dropped is lunchtime nap although he will sleep if we are in the car or sometimes falls asleep on the sofa if he's watching TV in the afternoon. By the evening he's shattered and has a wild hour before bedtime where he is literally bouncing off the walls. I try to have quiet stories etc before he goes to sleep but there tends to be quite abit of bouncing!

Until now bathtime was at 7 and lights out at 8 but he often plays silly buggers until 8:30 and comes up with all sorts of ruses to not go to sleep (he's better with DH than me). I'm thinking maybe I should bring his bedtime forward now that he is not having a nap at lunchtime, especially with a new baby.

He is toilet trained but wears pull ups at night. However he wakes to go the loo in the night. I'm not too worried about this but often it takes him a while to get back to sleep and he wants me in the room while he does.

I'm convinced the main problem is he's cold. He refuses to wear pyjama bottoms and we have got into a ridiculous routine of him insisting he is tucked in with one of his baby blankets (really not big enough for his bed). He won't have his duvet on or any other blanket. At the moment he goes to sleep in the evening when we have the heating on but when it goes off at night I go in and cover him up with his duvet.

However in the night I think he kicks his covers off and wakes up from the cold but refuses to have his covers back on. He's really tired so kicks his legs about making it impossible to tuck him back in. He screams if I try to put a duvet on him - but obviously he's freezing so he can't settle. Last night he ended up screaming uncontrollably for an hour until I could finally calm him down and cover him back up.

I'm getting myself into such a state as I'm so nervous about how he will cope with the new baby that I'm convincing myself that he's waking because he's feeling insecure and therefore I can't just leave him to cry or be too harsh with him. DH says I'm just making things worse by staying with him until he goes back to sleep.

I think I probably am making things worse but I hate to see him so upset. All I want is to do is kiss him on the forehead and see him snuggle down under his duvet!

My, that was long, sorry for droning on.

your post actually made me cry - it reminded me of the phase we have just been through with our DS 3.6 which coincided with the arrival of DD. DS ha always had a lovely bedtime routine, settled well and slept all night but illness, arrival of baby sister and christmas sent everything to pot. BUT that was December and the last few weeks we have seen a real difference. A few things we did - we allowed a few concessions in exchange for good bedtime behaviour _ he now has a night light on and his bedroom door open a jar. He has an hour of total one on one attention from DH or me before bath whereas he would usually watch telly while we dealt with DD or tidied etc. and he has rewards for good behaviour ( notably something from his chocolate tin after breakfast!). It has taken a while but he is much more settled and bedtime is much happier for everyone!
i would bring bath/bed forward by as much as an hour if he has dropped his nap. could you turn the heating off in his room so room is cold at bedtime - then the environment doesn't change during the night. And then can you bribe him to have his duvet on and maybe just cuddle his blanket?
Please try not to feel too desperate - he will get back on track - but be consistent and positive with him (we had become quite threatening with DS) and he will settle down. Not sure if any of this helps though.

I would bring bedtime forward and hope that sorts it. Can you turn the heating on for half an hour when he wakes up? Or you can do the whole "you'll do as your mum dad tells you and you'll like it." I can't see how making a 2yo cry in the dark does anything but make said 2yo afraid of the dark and/or a fixture in your bed until morning.

Have had some breakthrough by over the past 2 nights by telling him his small blanket is in the wash so he will have to have his duvet instead. After a bit of initial protest he seems to have accepted it (although obviously now thinks blankets take 3 days to dry).

We've also moved his bedtime forward half an hour, which seems to be making things a little calmer. It still takes him the same amount of time to go to sleep but at least we feel like we have a bit more of an evening left!

Thanks for your suggestions, am glad I'm not the only one.