i need some help!! DS is 3.5 years old. for the first 2 years he was great. able to put him in his cot and he would settle himself no issues. we moved interstate and that's where it all came undone. we put him in his toddler bed when we moved. we started off lying down next to him to now sitting outside in hallway till he goes to sleep. he has a night light in his room incase he wakes up during the night.

anyway he would often come down during the night and if it was before 2 am we could put him back in his bed but after that it was easier to put him in our bed otherwise it would take 2-3 hours for him to go back to sleep. it got to the point that he started sleeping all night in his bed and not coming down at all for a few months.

fast forward to august and we find ourselves unexpectedly expecting number 2! since then DS will come down 2-3 times during the night, put him back to bed or in our bed. he kicks us, hits us during his sleep to the point that poor DH has ended up on the couch a few times just so he can get to sleep. we were putting him between us but now I have started sleeping in the middle so that at least DH can get some sleep before work the next day. its not helping much though because I still have to work and I am finding myself starting to get more tired now and am currently sick with a chest infection.

I am 18 weeks pregnant now and I would like DS to be sleeping in his bed all night by the time baby comes. am I being unrealistic? does anyone have any ideas of how to get him to sleep in his bed all night? I don't like CIO, CC, or locking him in there like several friends have suggested so would prefer more of a gentle approach

TIA xx