2.5 year old fighting going to nap and bedtime

[Chelsea22]

My 31 month was always on a good routine from 3 months and as got older went to nap and bed without any problems, his bedtime routine was always washed, teeth, PJ, 2 x stories and lights out. He used to Nap 2 hours in the day.
Now he refuses to go to nap and bedtime is a fight, when in bed he gets up many times and runs through to the living room, hiding under the table etc.
We tried not speaking and putting him back to bed and sometimes this was 20 times but that stopped working, then we tried putting him in and holding the door closed for up to a minute, this was done a few times and once he cried to have door open, we could open it and he would stay in bed. However, none of these are working anymore and we are at a loss on what to do.
I’ve tried reducing his nap to 1 hour but he is grumpy and cries when I wake him.
I should also add that he does not sleep well at night anymore, he dreams, shouts out and about 05.30/6am he wakes up to come to our room as he wants to sleep with us and we have to take him back to him room, this works for about 30mins then he comes back again.
Any helps or suggestions appreciated.

[Katet]

He's at an age where he's well aware of the world around him and not wanting to miss out on things.
Also a new wave of SA can occur and a little thing like thunder at night can make being alone in their room super frightening.
The best way forward is gradual withdrawal literally starting off staying until they fall asleep and over time being further away... It can take weeks, but it's a long term investment.

The one thing that has been proven (goes against common wisdom) is toddler behaviour is totally done to meet a need Otto cope, they can only feel with things with the skills they have and they don't settle for bed because their brains can't shut down anymore rather than fighting it.

[Chelsea22]

Thanks for that, I’ll try staying with him to see if that helps.
Should I remove the afternoon nap completely as maybe he doesn’t need it anymore but once he gets to sleep he is so tired and does not want to wake up.
I should of said, he has been unsettled recently as started nursery in the mornings last month but only had 1 week then was off sick for 2 weeks and just started back this week.
He also had a baby brother born 3 months ago.

[Katet]

Those 2 events would absolutely push him to want more security and check you are there for him.

Starting Nursery is like an adult going on a mystery flight andlanding in a country where you don't speak the language and they don't speak yours and you don't have a map. And having a sibling is.huge, you go from. Being 100%  thefocus to being about 40% and the cute baby being the centre of attention

[Chelsea22]

So this week I've had an improvement in the bed routine, we do the same in that my husband takes him and reads him a few stories, puts him to bed and he then comes out after about 5 minutes. I then take him and sit on the floor beside his bed till he falls asleep which is usually within 10minutes.
We still have the early wakings so any suggestions for that? He can wake anytime from 5am
And comes into our room even though we take him back to his room he will keep coming back to us and has crying hysterics unless we let him in our bed