My 35 pound firecracker

I don't know what else to call him. Right now I'm going on very little sleep so my brain isn't quite up to par today. But I thought I would share our predicament and maybe solicit a little advice. Our little angel (Tommy) has been getting up the last three nights around 1 am and having lots of trouble going back to sleep. For the first two nights, he was coughing and clearly getting sick so he came to bed with us. We realized this probably wasn't the best idea, but we didn't quite see just how bad of an idea it was until last night when he was fine, no coughing, breathing normally, but still wanted to come in our bed. I went in and rocked him for about 45 minutes and tried at least 3 times to put him back in his crib... with no luck. He would immediately stand up and throw a major fit and lean over the rail so far that I was afraid he'd fall out. I actually caught him one time right before he went over. So I tagged Dean and he took over. By nearly 3, he'd gotten him to finally fall asleep by laying on the floor next to the crib. Sometime around 2ish, we made a pact together to never bring him in our bed again and while we were at it, never pick him up and rock him back to sleep once he'd gone to bed.

We quickly went back to sleep around 3 and then at 4:45, we heard his sweet little voice again... screaming. I almost threw the monitor out the window (that's my next plan) and then I calmly went in there and told him I wasn't going to pick him up but I would gladly lay on the floor next to the crib (did I mention it's a wood floor?) until he went to sleep. He again leaned out the crib and screamed the most inhuman sounds a person can possibly make. Almost like something from The Exorcist (not that I had the stomach to see that movie). Finally, around 6 I realized that he wasn't going to comply and it would be time to get up soon anyway, so I picked him up and brought him out to the living room. I told him that if he wasn't going to go to sleep in his crib, he wasn't going to sleep at all. I think I had visions of making him stand all day, but that might have been slightly cruel. So I finally gave in when I was overcome with sleep-deprived nausea and we crashed on the couch until a little after 8. Then he was up and playful as ever.

My first job today was to take down his crib and put up his toddler bed. Mission accomplished. Now at least he won't fall too far. He still can't turn doorknobs so my plan is to just leave him in there tonight (monitor off) and let him do his thing until he falls asleep wherever he lands. I tried to do that with his nap today, but he just played and walked around in circles in the room the whole time while I just laughed deliriously. He's quite the fighter, my little one!

So any advice? Has anyone out there had an incredibly difficult sleeper? He's never consistently slept through the night but Dean and I are about to come unravelled, so we have to do something drastic. And this is what we came up with. And if you have no advice, your prayers are coveted!