My son is 18 months and aside from the odd moment here and there he's generally a placid little guy, very happy, very content, and usually only cries when there's something up. He's also an excellent sleeper and normally goes to bed with no issues.
The last three nights though he's suddenly broken out of his good routine. He still goes up the stairs at the same time and is still happy to go. He waves and blows kisses then when we get up there he chooses his soft toy, kisses it and puts it in bed, has his bath, gets his PJs on, kisses goodnight, and attempts to climb the cot bars to get into bed - all so far so normal.
One of us will lift him into bed and soon as we try to do this, placing him in his back, he stiffens up and begins crying loudly to the point where it's more or a shout/howl with tears. He gets to his feet and wants to be comforted. When having a hug he wants to be upright and will drift off to sleep but any attempt to lay him back down starts off the crying again.
The last few nights he's eventually gone to sleep slumped against the head of the cot in a position where he isn't lying flat (or as flat as is normal - he does have a pillow in the cot) and is slightly reclined instead. Tonight he went to sleep on all fours after prolonged crying and a dose of Calpol.
It doesn't seem to be a problem with going to bed as he's quite happy to go and seems genuinely upset at not being able to lie down properly, he shows signs of frustration. It seems to me that he's in some sort of pain as Calpol and Nurofen soothe him long enough for him to drop off but not long enough to see him right through the night and the crying is not his usual crying - when he starts nothing can console him. It's only been the last three nights and I was thinking it could be his ears as breathing warn air into them seems to soothe him a little and they've been quite waxy the last few days, but he's not pulling at them or showing any other signs of being unwell.
Any ideas?