Hi there,
I have a feeling you might not like my reply... but here's what we do. I do lay down with my daughter (33 months) in her bed until she falls asleep. We cuddle and it's great. Usually she sleeps through the night in her own bed after that. If she wakes up early in the evening, then I'll go to her and give her a snuggle until she falls asleep. If it is closer to morning (and I'm feeling lazy!) then I bring her to our bed. She sleeps until 7:00. (she used to sleep longer, but we just moved and haven't put curtains up to block the sun yet!)
Sometimes before she goes to sleep she says, "If I need you, I'll say 'Mommy Daddy!' and you'll come get me right away". I think just knowing that we WILL go to her if she needs us gives her the security to sleep in her own bed all night. It's working well for us. We are all getting enough sleep, and some extra cuddle time which I love. She is growing up so fast, pretty soon she won't want to be close to us anymore, so I'm really enjoying it now!
I should also mention, we had lots of sleep battles in the past. But when we decided to just be there for her instead of forcing her to sleep alone, she gradually started to sleep on her own. I was scared that if we "gave in" then she would be less and less independent. But it has actually worked the other way around. The more she knows we're there, the more independent she is.
Anyway, just thought I'd suggest something different.
Good luck and sweet dreams!
H.