sleep my child

Most nights Grainger wakes anywhere between 2:00am to 5:00am.  We wouldn't mind his desire to talk and play for a little while in the early morning if he would just stay in his room.  Instead, he sneaks out with his blanket and stuffed animal, wanders downstairs to the kitchen, turns on all the lights and burrows himself in his "secret cave" behind the bookshelf.  He is only 3 years old so we feel it could be dangerous.  "What if" keeps running through my mind.  What if he decided to turn on the stove?  What if he got a knife?  What if he unlocked the front door to go outside?  What if??!!  Add all that to a 4.5 month old not sleeping all night and you have two very worried and very tired parents.  We put the baby gate on this door thinking he would be okay if the door was open but he couldn't leave.  That resulted in screaming, tears and busting through the gate.  We tried the positive reinforcement of sticker charts.  Yes, I wrote a glowing post about stickers and I still stand by my love of them but in this case stickers worked less than two weeks.  Next, we experimented with the Magic Light.  I thought this one was our answer - and it still could be as he is asking for its return.  The magic light idea came from a friend who was researching advice on transitioning a two year old from crib to bed.  We took a small, soft light attached a timer (similar to the one you use with a Christmas tree) then into the wall jack.  We set the timer to go on at 7:00pm and turn off at 7:00am.  The "magic" part is that Grainger thinks the lamp tells him when to go to bed and when to get up.  He is not to leave his room until the light goes off.  While it is on (all night) it serves as his nightlight.  It worked ONE night.  Last night we changed the lock on his door.  My husband switched the door knobs so the lock is now in the hallway.  After G fell asleep last night I locked his door.  He woke sometime during the night and played quietly until I went to his room this morning at 7:00am.  He questioned the lock but didn't complain.  I told him that it was for his safety and that if he could sleep all night in his room then the magic light would come back. 

I am sure we will discuss it tonight over dinner as G never forgets anything.  I plan on locking the door again but maybe we can try the light once more.  At this point I am willing to try most suggestions as long as it doesn't result in tears.  All I can say is that we parents really need our sleep so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Do you have any suggestions for me?  Please post them below!