we are G-d willing expecting our second child in a few weeks.
My husband and I have been trying to make the transition of moving our 20 month old son into his bed, in his own room for the past few months after having co-slept until age 17 mos. ( he absolutely refuses to sleep in a crib!!) Initially it was great, he slept through the night and would only come to our bed in the morning. Then he started waking up once a night but was comforted when we came into his room. Now he's waking up 3-4 times a night and does not let us leave him and sometimes the process of putting him back to sleep can take close to an hour as he wakes up every time we try to leave him (although, my husband has more success with that than I do).
I know it's normal for a child his age not to sleep through the night, and that he might need to be comforted back to sleep- especially considering that we lay down with him until he falls asleep. The problem is we're not getting sleep ourselves as a result of having to continually go into him- we're both exhausted!
Even if I was able to sleep with him in my bed I can't imagine sleeping with two babies once the new one arrives- as he sleeps beside me and not my husband...
Putting a mattress on the floor of our room doesn't work in terms of space.
people have suggested leaving him to cry- which doesn't feel right to us and also wouldn't work with him being in a bed which he can easily get in and out of on his own.
Is there anything we can do to help him sleep through the night, wake up less frequently or help him go back to sleep on his own? We know he's able to sleep through the night, as he does when he comes to our bed and we're too exhausted to bring him back to his own room (which we know is not good in terms of consistancy and trying to teach him to stay in his own bed).