Teaching L1 to Sleep

For years now, my oldest child Lachlan always had a little trouble with sleeping. In fact, I don't think he had ever slept through a night without waking up once since birth. Yep, 3 and a half years ago. He wakes up, once, twice, three times or sometimes even more and needed one of us to put him back to sleep. He's addicted to stroking our ears, or holding us near. Sometimes, Gary would wake up with sore ears, as bright as a tomato.

We I have read countless of books on sleep. We have played musical beds, moving from one bedroom to another. We have tried numerous tricks/tips/threats/treats/techniques etc. but it has never worked. It's partly our fault. When Lachlan was a little baby, he slept with us in the same bedroom. He then graduated from his own little cot, to our big bed. We've never really been strict about it. Whatever works right? Sleep is too precious then. I loved him being close, feeling the warmth of his body and just watching him snore gently. It's the best thing in the world! So now, I guess you can say we're paying for it. He doesn't want to leave our bedroom.

Yes, he has a normal bedtime routine. He goes to sleep in his own bed, in his own bedroom. But without fail, he would creep and crawl into our bedroom, onto our bed EVERY NIGHT, sometimes without me even knowing it!

Lucas is the total opposite! He has been sleeping on his own for... I can't remember. We kiss him good night and lay him in his cot and won't see him until the morning. He prefers it that way, he couldn't sleep well any other way. So one day, a few weeks ago, I moved Lucas to Lachlan's bedroom, hoping that he would teach his older brother a little thing or two about sleep. It was a little crazy at first, they took turns waking each other up.

Now? Lucas sleeps through the night. But Lachlan? He still comes into our bed. Back to square one. But at least we got our spare guest bedroom back.

Sigh.