Thanks for everyone's reply, I do have a baby borjn but DS is already nearing 7kgs so he's a bit heavy to carry around for long periods of time.
I really like the idea of setting up the portacot in the lounge - I didn't think of that, I guess my mind set was that he has to sleep in a darkened quite room so if all else fails i'm going to give this ago.
He sleeps quite well at night and if he does wake he's able to settle himself without any trouble (he's still sleeping in our room so I can here him kicking around in the middle of the night) it's just the days that are a problem. Not sure if anyone has heard of a heart to heart bear but I have one from when I was little so i've pulled the heart out of him and put it under he's mattress today - this seems to have helped this morning.
Thanks again everyone