My 18 month old will not stay in bed. I have read all of the tips to get a child to stay in bed, but that is mostly for older kids who understand the punishment reward concept. I have tried everything I can think of to get him to sleep. Last night we even tried letting him sleep in bed with my husband till he fell asleep. well daddy fell asleep first. I had a huge mess to clean and I am afraid he will get into something that will hurt him. This goes on till all hours until he is finally exhausted and falls asleep. Sometimes this is 1-2 am!! He used to be asleep by 9-9:30. Any advice would be greatly apreciated.

we had a similar problem with my daughter at that age. she always came into our bed for half the night and screamed to get out of her cot. on the advice of the sleep clinic we put a stair gate at her door and dressed her warmly in a fleecy sleepsuit. she had a futon in her room near the door and she would always eventually crash out on the mattress. although we had a few tears,they didnt last long and we knew she was safe and warm even without her covers.i had always disapproved of controlled crying but in the end we got really desparate. it wasnt nearly as bad as we thought it'd be. good luck!