Well, I think we have done it and I wish I had asked for advice earlier!! For the second night in a row DS has self settled, with me putting him to bed with his milk, reading him his books, and then turning out the light and telling him "Goodnight - mummy will come back in a minute to check on you". He turned the light on once after I left the first time, but with only checking on him three more times in under 10mins, he is asleep!!! Couldn't have done it without your help, so a big THANK YOU

And... to top it off, DS only woke up once during night (at 5.30am) and stayed in his bed till I went to him. All he really wanted was some milk, which once I gave it too him was all he needed and went back to sleep till 7.30am BONUS!! Obviously my conversation with him before bed actually sunk in. I had another one with him tonight, so hopefull it'll work again.

AND... I managed to get him to have a day sleep today without too much trouble. I did have to close and hold the door for 5 minutes at one point when he kept on getting out of bed, but went in after his crying slowed and he went straight back to the bed and layed down. As he was still a bit upset I did have to stay with him, but he fell asleep within 5 minutes and to be honest, I'm just glad that he actaully went to sleep! Will have to keep on working at this one a bit more, but I think if we have success in one area that it may flow over to the others!

So overall, after only two days of really trying we are having success!!

Marcellus - Yahh! Well done with getting your DS to settle a little more easily too! I'm thinking the trick is patience and persistance (I can say that now after only two nights, can't I???) We too had a bed guard up for DS when he first went into his big bed, but I hated making the bed with it on, and it was also starting to get difficult for me to get in/out as my belly grew, so it really only stayed on for a couple of weeks. Instead, we now have an extra pillow with runs along the edge of the bed which acts as a 'speed bump' and also gives us something extra to tuck him in with. He actually moves his pillow into the right spot if it isn't where it should be. Anyway, good luck with everything.

AndiE - Self settling behind the door is better than not self settling at all. Well done on persisting and not giving in to his crying! Keep up with it and I'm sure it will pay off in the end. As for bed sharing, if he's not waking you up when he does it, at least it isn't disrupting the sleep you need to be getting now DS2 is here. Give it time and I'm sure it'll work itself out.

Cheers,

Lou.