Sleep issues with my 2 year old

[emmasmammy]

We have been having a terrible few months sleep wise with our 2.5 year old. She was an amazing sleeper from 1 year old till 2 years 2 months. She used to go to sleep herself and sleep all night but then she started screaming. We did do the controlled crying when she was younger which worked great but now that no longer worked. She could literally scream for hours which was distressing for us all and wouldn't go to sleep herself. She suddenly wanted us in the room all the time. Now we read her a story until she's asleep. She can faff on for a bit before she settles and go to sleep. on a good night she can just wake once but that is few and far between. lately she has been up a good few times, calling out for me. She has not been settling for her dad which has been hard for him. We tell her to lie down and go to sleep and put the duvet back over her. Some times she goes back over fine and other times she'll put up a fight saying no. At this point we tend to stand outside her room, cries a bit then is a bit more complaint when we go back in. She then wants us to stand at the door. Last night, she ended up being up practically every 45 mins it seemed. Its taking its toll on us all. Her sleeping seems to be fine while we are still awake. Only seems to start after we've gone to bed. I really need some ideas on what sort of "training" would be best to combat this.
Thanks

Marking my place- similar issues here although we've never really had good sleep tbh. How do you get them to stay in bed, happily and hold onto the rest of the family's sanity? Hoping to find help too Emmasmammy

There definitely seems to be a sleep regression at 2.5! I wonder whether it's linked to the development of a more active imagination: DD quite often mentions monsters or dinosaurs when she wakes in the night now, and she's always asking us to leave more lights on.

Things to try:

• does your DD have a nightlight and a torch? You get nice nightlights which switch off after a set time (although that has it's own problems!). Also worth leaving her door ajar with the light on outside.
• you could ask her why she's waking. We had one awful night on holiday where DD was petrified of the wardrobe There might be something in her room that looks scary in the night which you could move
• is she too hot at night? The fact you have to ask her to put the duvet back on suggests she might be. Even though it's autumn, it's been really mild. That can wake you through the night without even realising why.
• if all else fails, could you put a mattress by her bed and sleep beside her for a few nights? The reassurance of having you near will help, and might just get her out of this rut. You'll also get more sleep for a few nights!