what happens if you leave the room? i only say that because after stopping feeding DS to sleep around 20 months i would lie next to him till he went to sleep. i can't remember exactly when it was but at some point it started to take longer & longer for him to go to sleep & i actually needed to leave the room because my presence was actually keeping him awake. there were no tears - i would tell him that i would be back in x minutes after i went to the toilet/got a drink & i would also just go back in if he wanted me. we do get nights where he gets up again (and again) but we just take him back to bed, no tears.