Ds & dd3 are 6 & 3.5. Neither of them will go to sleep on their own & I'm starting to get really tired of the drama of getting them to sleep every night.

First of all, DS. At 6 I really should be able to say 'ok bed time, good night' & walk away.
No. IF he has the dog locked in the room & the light on he MIGHT put himself to sleep. 80% of the time he'll even stay there all night. Unless he's extra scared of nothing that night.

I had to rearrange bedrooms & put dd3 in his room because he refused to go to sleep alone & I can't be in 2 rooms at the same time.

I've tried everything to try get him to put himself to sleep, but he's scared of everything! I don't understand it. He won't walk to the toilet alone in the middle of the day! He once freaked himself out coz everything in his room was too still.

All my friends are the 'just lock him in there' type, so have no interest in their advice.

I think he believes the movies. That his toys really do come alive & that there actually are monsters under his bed. Not sure where he thinks they come from though lol, no wardrobes/built ins in this house

I dunno. I guess I'm not too worried about dd3 yet. I'm just tired of the battle every single night. I've tried being sympathetic, reassuring etc etc but he just won't let it go.

He is 6. Surely it is reasonable of me to be able to say 'bed time' & that's it? Both my older girls were doing this by 3/4. (That's why I think dd should be starting soon.) Why at 2 or 3 years older does he refuse?

Maybe I'm allowing it? But the 2 hours or so of screaming if I didn't sit with him wouldn't be worth it to force him...

In over my head... again!