All of a sudden 18mo ds wont go to bed - or rather wont go BACK to bed

[woodstock3]

he is normally good as gold, we have had the same routine every night forever - bath, milk, story, lights out - and by the end of it he is practically hurling himself at the cot. he rarely wakes but lately has had a cough and it's been waking him up at night - if he does wake and cry, i usually go in, give him a quick cuddle for a minute and then he goes straight back in the cot and zonks out.
until last night. he woke up howling and when i went in then refused to go back in the cot. he was clearly exhausted and fell asleep on my shoulder every time i picked him up then howled when put back - he seemed really distressed. i had been away for work and he hadnt seen me for over 24 hours so i assumed it was to do with that - not a good idea i know but, jetlagged and out of it as i was, i took him into bed with me (I have never done this before) and he promptly passed out.
tonight he was perfectly happy until put in the cot when he howled. dh was putting him down and he just kept shouting daddy daddy and clinging to dh
is this to do with me being away? or some kind of night terror thing? or is he just playing up? he talks quite well and has words for a lot of the things i can think of that might have upset him (eg the dark, he can say if something hurts, etc) now but he wont say what the matter is, just cries....

[LuckySalem]

DD (nearly 12m) started this while she was ill so we took her into bed with us. It took 2 days to get her back into her cot BUT it seemed easier on the 2nd day when she was better so maybe he just needs mummy and daddy cos he's ill?

[gagarin]

Well there's the possibility of back teeth coming through; cold virus starting; grumbling earache?

If none of these then there's anxiety caused by you going away - which tends to happen IME when you come back not while you're away .

And then there's "I was upset last night and got to sleep with mummy and daddy - so tonight I know where I'd rather be..."

Not sure which it'll turn out to be. Good luck!

[lisad123]

we have the same here dd2 is 16months. Ours started after she was in hospital for 5 days and still not great atm. I have to leave her to cry tbh, then settle her again. I have tried her in my bed but no luck, so having to let her cry which is nasty
keep at it will get better.

[Dragonbrandybutter]

we have the exact same problem only he takes forever to back to sleep even in our bed.
to make it worse he's very funny, and i have to try not to laugh so's not to encourage him.
it's been going on for a few nights now, usually from about midnight so we'll see what happens tonight.