well. it sounds as if he is a light sleeper jsut now and that will probably be the case whether he is in your bed or in a separate sl;eeping arrangement.

the question then is YOU. it;s hard to know right away whether you are will sleep BETTER or WORSE if he gwts his own bed. no, seriously; you might find that because you are used to haing the baby there you will wake up often wanting to check on him and make sure he is okay, or it really IS like having yor pillow missing ...

I do sympathize about lack of sleep and what it can do to you. I am a light sleeper who sometimes gets a little insomnia on top of it at high-stress times and I often feel emptionally overwhelmed, and/or seriously self-critical to the point of a transient depression, when I have slept too little. (I only need six ours a night and seldom get more than seven unless i am ill,but if I drop below six, I'm irritable and prone to tears the next day.

I never really wened away from co-sleeping until my kid was really big, lke well into elementary school; it worked out okay for us for several reasons. but I won;t say it;s for everyone, any more than any other home practice, from dietary chices to whethe or not o watch TV is.

I don;t remember now if ou said you are still nursing. i so, you might BOTH benefit from some calming herbal teas,s tron enough to be medicinal (yo can sweeten with honey if you like) an hour or so before bedtime. Unless o have a strong ragweed-type allergy, i;ld recommend chamomile tea, brewed by pouring boiling water over a tablespoon of dried but not stale chamomile flwoers per cup of water, and COVER it to let it brew until it is cool enough to drink, which for me is usually about 15 to 20 munites.

if your child is no longer nursing, you can give him the same tea. kids usually like it, and you can go easy on the honey. i;d still say an hour before bedtime, since you want him to pee before and not after he falls asleep.

all the uasual rules about adult insomnia apply to light-sleepign toddlers and older children too...no really vigorous exercise or play closer than a couople hours before bedtime, soothign music rather than stimulating, no caffeine (this is a good one for mom too!), maybe a warm bath an hour before bed, a sleep ritual such as putting on jammies and brushing teeth and reading a favorite ook and.or getting a favorite cuddly toy (can work for mom too, heh...) good meal with some protein and strachy carbohydrates that metabolize fairly slowly, thus prociding sustained nourishment for several hours so hunger or dropping blood sgar don;t wake ou up.

if your child likes it, getting massaged helps wonderfully, or you can learn the head-cradle hold from Polarity tehrapy as a great calming technique that helps kids sleep.

getting better shades or curtains for the bedroom also keeps the light-interference with sleep cycles down.

an soothing music CD 9or tape if you are old fashioened ike me...I ahve a few) or environmental sounds or
whit noise" for some (it gets on my annoyance channel too much, but running water, as in one of those desktop funtains they sell or even an aquarium with a bubbler, is a soothing sound for me. ) some people, including kids, fall asleep and sytay there with it ON.

Putamayo Records, the folks who do the world music and folk CDs, ahve a great international lullaby CD that's subtly sweet withou being drippy. I;ve used it at a preschool where I sometimes work.

if your child tolerates milk well, some chilren seem soothed by the calcium and tryptophan 9amino acid) in warm milk; you an even make chamomile milk. if you are vegan or don't like milk or don;t tolerate it well, you might try a calcium fortified soy or grain milk with a little flavoring (not chocolate, as that too can be stimulating for many though not all.) a calcium-magnesium or calcium/Vitamin D supplement can help adults with sleep problems too; often tonic to the nerves.

be sure your bedroom is cool enough; it makes for sounder sleep. that old business about :Just settled down for a long winter's nap" does make ecological sense.

I hiope some of these suggestions help bth of you get more rest, whether you decide to separate his sleeping space from yours or not. as i say, can;pt much help with specific sleep-weaning suggestions since I didn;t do it.

oh yeah, no TV or other video stimuli within a couple hours of bedtime. it makes some of us go torpid, sure, but can also stimulate people the "Wrong" way to get real rest.

Ive seen the technique Gina speaks of work well in families I have worked with. I would also add some sort of white noise machine or "soothing sounds" CD.