Co-sleeping turned rotten!

Co-sleeping has suited the baby and me until very recently (partner less so!) but over the last couple of weeks it's taken a turn for the worse. I think it's maybe just that he's growing up a bit but he seems to have become a *much* lighter sleeper -- the minute i come into bed he tends to wake up and then seems quite unsettled for the rest of the night, tossing and turning and feeding on & off (i used to not mind this but now it's driving me bananas -- partly i think because it IS a bit more frequent than it was, and partly because as he's approaching his 1st b'day i'm hoping for a bit more freedom). i'm not sure whether it's my bedtime that disturbs him (either my actually going to bed, or his anticipating it) or whether he is just programmed to wake up then. The first 2 hours of his night -- about 8.15 - 10.15 are okay which, although it sounds rubbish, is actually better than it used to be! Then he often wakes up about 10.15 or 10.30, has a quick breastfeed, then back to sleep for another hour or so, until about half 11 (around my bedtime) and then he has started feeding on & off for the rest of the night  Until about 2 weeks ago, he'd have a couple more quick feeds throughout the night but it wouldn't be constant like it has turned into now.... He seems to need to suck to stay asleep or get back to sleep... He is more aware of movement in the bed now, and also has never taken a dummy or sucked his thumb, doesn't have a blanket or teddy that comforts him or anything like that. It has always been me, but i feel it is getting a bit ridiculous now. 

My other children were either sleeping through at one or nearly there. I had stopped b/fing my oldest by one and although i was still feeding number 2 i had put a ban on feeding during the night by this stage. This baby is particularly pampered!! Partly 'cos he's the youngest and will maybe be my last, and partly due to circumstance (not having cot for a while, and me being so tired by the time numbers 1 and 2 in bed that i haven't had the energy to be strict with him). 

I have ordered a toddler bed for this little lord which will be here in a few days (cot doesn't really work now -- he seems disturbed by the bars) and i'm hoping his having a bit more space to himself (but still near us) will improve his sleeping but has anyone else got any tips?? I really don't go in for the controlled-crying sort of thing, and my partner is terrible at night so wouldn't get much support for that. I'm really looking for gentler methods of *encouraging* him to sleep properly, rather than forcing it.... I have begun to think that i might just have to stop b/fing completely in order to get him to be less reliant on it, but that would be a massive shock to his system and I would prefer to keep it going for at least another 6 months or so. Problem is, he really doesn't feed much during the day anymore, just a couple of short ones, and obviously uses it at night for comfort, so perhaps the best thing to do would be to stop altogether. Just would prefer not to be that extreme just now. If only he'd suck his thumb a bit or something. 

I tried getting him back to sleep without feeding him last night and it didn't really work. I kind of rocked him on the sofa and he went back to sleep but then as soon as i lay down with him in the bed he woke up and tried to suck again... 

I have been ages without decent sleep and it's got worse recently instead of better as you'd hope as your baby gets older and i'm starting to feel run-down and a bit depressed. Co-sleeping has been generally good for us, but i'm thinking there needs to be a bit of a change on the horizon now. I know for lots of you who got your babies into a strict routine early on, this sleeping situation could seem a bit mad, so i'm looking for mainly responses from folk who have decided to follow attachment parenting or otherwise fallen into it and are in the same/similar boats! 

Thank you very much for any help! 

a very tired Lucie x