2.5 year old suddenly waking at night

[Hopeful588]

My 2.5 year old suddenly keeps waking throughout the night. We sleep trained her in Jan 2026 and she did great! For 9 months she would get into her cot, we could leave whilst she was awake and she’d fall asleep. If she did wake up throughout the night, she’d cry for a few minutes and self settle. It was great!
But 9 months later, she’s suddenly waking throughout the night and will only settle if one of us sits with her. This can take up to an hour at a time and we then have to sneak out.
She also doesn’t fall asleep herself anymore when she’s put in her cot. We read to her, put her in and walk out but she spends ages crying. Sometimes she falls asleep out of exhaustion but sometimes she just cries until one of us have no choice but to sit with her.
Not sure if this is related, but nursery drop offs have also become a task. She used to smile when going in and not even say bye. But suddenly as soon as she gets to nursery, she cries! But then is fine once she’s in the room. I’m also told she becomes clingy with the key worker.
has anyone got any suggestions? We have a 7 month old too who also wakes throughout the night so between them, my husband and I get very minimal sleep and it’s exhausting!!

She may suddenly need less sleep. How much sleep and nap does she get? I have to really cap my 2.5y old's nap, and they are beginning to drop the nap already.

Hi @OtterMummy2024 She has around 1.5hrs - 2hrs during the day and then sleeps from around 7.30pm - 5.30am.
i did think she may need less, so today she only had around 30mins. Come bedtime she was falling asleep whilst I read to her and once in her cot, she was still crying non stop for us.
She will probably be up soon and we really don’t want to bring her into our bed and create a habit but it’s soo exhausting sitting in her room waiting for her to sleep!

I know every child is different, but if it's useful, mine (29 months) sleeps 8pm-6.30am, with a 30 minutes nap (or nothing) at some point; bedtime is 7.30pm if no nap. I think you should try shortening the nap (1h-1h15) and keep bedtime the same, or else push bedtime later. My toddler only get split nights when there's been too much day sleep. Oh how I miss long naps, but I value my night time sleep more...

OP I could have written this myself - no advice, just solidarity as we're nearly 2 months in to night wakes, having to sit with our 2.5-year-old until she's asleep, and tough nursery drop offs. It's so hard having previously had good sleep, but I'm hoping it's a phase or the start of her dropping the nap! It surely can't get much worse!

You keep saying “cot”, which makes me assume she’s still in a bed with sides. If that’s the case, I’d either take the sides off or move her into a toddler bed/single bed.

My son was always an amazing sleeper, but he started waking around the time he turned two. We moved him into a single bed and he started sleeping through again. It was the same with my daughter at around 2 years 3 months.

I think around this age they can start to feel a bit trapped in a cot, and I’d say it’s definitely worth trying the transition to a proper bed. Secure everything to the walls, get baby gates if you don’t already have them, and let her have the freedom to get in and out of bed herself.
It might be all she needs to get her sleep back on track.