24 month old not wanting to go down at night

[ehl]

my 2 yo daughter is not wanting to go down at night...more than that, she is clinging onto me for dear life and will not let us put her down.  if we do put her down, she cries hysterically.   
up until a couple of nights ago, we were able to say "good night", put her down, and close the door.  she would play for a little bit in her crib and then fall asleep on her own. 

a few things to consider: 
1) she climbed out of her crib for the first time a couple of nights before her not wanting to go down in her crib. 
2) she does not take her naps in her crib.  she sleeps on the floor on a mat.  this hasn't affected her night sleep at all until now. 
3) i am 4 1/2 months pregnant.  i don't know if it's the pregnancy, but she has been a little more clingy the last several weeks. 

last night, we put her on the floor and i sat there until she fell asleep.  if i tried to leave, she would wake up and look for me. 

aside from not wanting to go down, she is waking up in the middle of the night (around 2 or 3am) and coming to our bed.  last night, my husband took her back to her room and put her down.  she woke up a few hours later (5am) and came back.  this girl normally sleeps through the night from about 8:30pm to 7-8am. 

is she experiencing separation anxiety?  do we do away with the crib and let her sleep on the floor or a toddler/big girl bed?  how do we get her to stay on the mat/in her bed?   

we are at a total loss!  somebody help!!  thank you!

[Layla]

Hi there and welcome to the boards  !!!

If she has started climbing out of the cot then for safety reasons I would start making the transition to big girls bed. Unless if you still want to keep her in the cot, you can either buy a crib tent or you could try lowering the base of the cot (might involve some DIY).

Does sound like a bit of SA. This is the link to sleep training methods and if she's experiencing SA then GW might help here. Stay in her room but move closer to the door and then you could do wi/wo (or taking her back into bed/cot if she climbs out). https://babywhispererforums.com/index.php?topic=63896.0.

Is she still taking a nap? What time is it and how long?

[ehl]

she is still taking a nap...between 1 and 2pm, but usually around 1:30pm for about 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours. 

this has been such a mind-boggling situation for us.  her behavior during the day is not normal either...there's definitely something going on...just not sure what. 

anyway, thanks for the advice. 

[Layla]

Everytime she climbs out though, do you take her back or do you let her into your bed? The novelty of climbing out and being able to get out of the room will fade and you need to make sure all you are doing it leading her back. No talking or anything else other than back to bed. It take some time though.

Also if she is waking up really early and hasn;t been able to return back to sleep, I would bring the nap forward to at least 12pm. I think 1hr nap is not enough.

If she is going through SA, try a longer wind down at nap and bedtimes. Lots of cuddles and kisses. Again, as I said before it might even be that you have to stay in the room with her to start with and then gradually take yourself away from the picture.

[ehl]

last night, i sat in her room closer to the door (although there isn't a whole lot of room between the mat that she's sleeping on and the door).  it took her about an hour, but she FINALLY fell asleep. 

my husband has been a life saver and is taking her back to her room when she comes into ours in the middle of the night and putting her back down. 

we've let her back in our bed if she wakes up around 5 or 6am.  she does go back to sleep and wakes up around 7:30am.

i don't think 1 hour is enough for a nap either...i take her back and sometimes, she would sleep for another 1/2 hour to 45 minutes, but other times, she wouldn't. 

thanks again for the advice...please keep the comments coming...i feel like this is going to be a long journey.