3.5 DS wakes 3 times at night, comes and wakes me up to put him to bed. I'm destroyed

[Luxmum]

PLEASE help. he has ALWAYS, in every aspect of his little life, been difficult. The NEW sleep problem is that he wakes up 2 or 3 times at night, goes up to my room, and standa outside till his fidgetting has woken me up. I then take him downstairs with minimum talking, and lie beside him till he falls asleep again (in minutes, thank God). PLEASE tell me how I get out of this in a calm and non 'aggressive' way, he does NOT respond well to GF methods, he is quite a sensitive and needy child, and tends to throw up when v upset, so I dont want to change bed sheets (and wake up DS2) in the middle of the night too. Any ideas and help is insanely gratefully appreciated..

my ds went through this for a while and sometimes still does, although sometimes i am sure he is not fully awake and is doing it more out of habit than anything else. I just get up out of bed and slowly walk him back to his own bed, make sure he is comfortable, give a kiss and then leave him. I dont say much to him, if anything at all. sometimes i just tell him to go back to bed on his own and that sometimes works. my son has health and learning difficulties and i know how tricky certain things can be.

sleeping is usually a problem with children on the asd spectrum
but your child probably is not!!!!
have you considered giving him epson salt baths before he goes to bed , from the chemist, no additives, no sugar no fissy drinks these all contribute to a sleepless hyper active child
a wheat gluten free diet could help but i think in the interim just remove all colourings sugars additives
puckhar love tea is great with children add to a beaker or cup also pure fruit juices , no juice drinks and no squash drinks..
chamomile tea good for sleep
good routines to stop all drinks by 6.45 pm will help
hope some of this helps
i have spent years helping my child to sleep magnesium sulphate[epsom salt baths] help him
as does lots of out door play !!

My 2.5 year old responds well to a sticker chart. It does sound like habit - gradually decrease the time you spend with him during each episode and then gradually increase the time taken for you to get out of bed when he comes in. As long as you are happy for him to go to and from by himself then he'll get the message eventually.