I'll try and keep this short.
Back in September when RL really kicked off here at home it also co-incided with DS3 (now 2 3/4yrs) getting a horrendous cold and chest infection.
I ended up sleeping in his bed to get him back to sleep - which quickly progressed to him wanting me to lie with him until he went to sleep. He also started waking at least once in the night and wanted this repeating (lying with him). Before then I would pop him over the stair gate in his room and he'd take himself off to his bed and settle himself off to sleep..........sleeping all the way through the night.
When H came out of hospital a few weeks later we managed to move ourselves from his bed to the sofa bed in his room. Then whoever was getting up with the DS's in the morning would go and lie on it again to get him back to sleep when he woke in the night.
This quickly progressed to whoever was getting up in the morning simply going to bed in the sofa bed (was much less disturbing for our sleep to do that).
So this has been going on for months. DS3 started creeping out of his bed some nights and climbing in with whoever was sleeping in the sofa bed.
Attempts to get him to go to sleep on his own, either at bedtime in the middle of the night have been met with absolutely hysterical crying - and either H or I have been feeling up to sorting it.
Last few weeks its been me in there every night because of currently sleeping arrangements now we're separated but living together.
Wasn't going to try and sort his sleep out until I'd moved (hopefully only a few weeks away). BUT tonight he woke up at 11.45 - I thought he'd gone back to sleep at 11.55 so crept back downstairs.
Only to hear him get out of bed and stand at the gate doing his usual whine of "want to go downstairs".
I was a tiny bit short with him as I went back upstairs and told him to get back into bed, it's bedtime.....he did actually do that. So I went in and tucked him back in and told him he was a big boy and didn't need me to sleep with him.......and left him.
And he went back to sleep after just a couple of half hearted whinge/cries.
Now.......I wasn't expecting that to happen at ALL and am wondering if it's worth persuing the getting him to fall back to sleep on his own again before I move out.
tbh it's right pita especially at bedtime. I frequently fall asleep on the sofa bed (and have done the last 3 nights) and it's messing up my evenings, and my studying!
Problem is though that while I may manage to get him to go back to sleep on his own when I'm still up........I'm sleeping in there at night so if he wakes after I've gone to bed any "work" that has been done to get him to settle on his own again is then going to be undone straight away........because I'm there....