Was she sleeping well when I'm a cot? Could you go back to a cot?
Many people see the sides of the cot as a physical barrier only. They also provide emotional security and enforces boundaries some toddlers need intellectually.
The enclosed feeling of the bars helps toddler feel safe and secure. The emotional maturity to not need this develops over time.
Being physically enclosed in a small space helps the toddler to 'switch off' at bedtime. The intellectual development to understand this herself also comes with time.
So many parents only consider physical development - "she can climb out of the cot now, so time for a bed", without considering if baby is emotionally or intellectually ready.
Sounds like your baby isn't yet ready to understand she needs to switch off to go to sleep. If you don't have the cot bars to enforce that need to stay lying down and reduce stimulation, you need to recreate it yourself.
I would accept you need to stay with her to go to sleep. But don't play a nd don't accept play. You need to reduce stimulation as much as possible to teach her to switch off.
So lie her down and keep doing rapid return. Have a mantra, for example: "Slerp time now, we lie down quietly to sleep. Nan night" and keep reitterate it.
- don't let her get up. Any attempt to even sit up in bed gets you lying her back down and reitterating your expectations with the mantra
- don't accept any talking or play. Ignore and reitterate expectations with the mantra.
- any crying needs to be ignored (but you are there to reassure with patting, stroking, tickling etc) with iccassiona l reminders of the expectation by repeating the mantra.
Then be relentless and consistant, so night wake ups, bedtime and naptime all the same and without deviation. She will soon her it.
Or just put the cot sides back on for another few months. She'll nature emotionally and intellectually in ger own time. When she's ready, there should be none of this hassle when changing cot to bed.