2 Yr Old Sudden Bedtime Battles and Fear of the Radiator Noises

MANY changes developmentally in a 2 year old. And yes it affects sleep. And yes it is a phase but not one in which you can always control.
Because, it is developmental based.
And at this age, they do start to get, general "fears" of things and of the night and of the dark. Why? Because... their cognition is changing, their awareness is changing, and their imaginations. We cannot turn that, off.

MANY things going on at the SAME time.
And per routines and family changes.

A child's emotions at this age, is not even fully-developed yet, either.
So they are having to deal with many things. And the abstract as well. Which they do not yet, understand yet, either.

Comfort him.
No need to punish or scold for it.
It is most likely involuntary.
To a child this age, "fears" ARE real to them. Although as adults, it may not make sense.

And at this age, they begin to have night-mares too. Or night-terrors as well.

And yes, also, "separation anxiety" still exists. This occurs at other age stages too, but it is manifested differently, per age stage.

YES at stages like this, it will also affect a parents sleep. But it is childhood. It is temporary.
It will NOT be a permanent "habit."
Other phases will occur as well.

Or let him sleep, on a spot on the floor, of your room.
We do and did that with our 2 kids.
It works for us.
And they can go there if/when scared or if/when sick.
It is not a habit. It is a solution.
And we all get sleep, that way.

N., when I adopted my kids they were 3 and 7. I bought little clip-on fans and attached them close to their beds. The fan blew on their blankets and the constant noise of the fan blocked out any other sounds. They went right to sleep. I wouldn't let it hit his face but it sure worked for me. Good luck...

my son is the same.. he hears or see things that scare him and he screams for MOMMA at 2 or 3 or 4 am..

He had monsters in his closet when he was 2, he went to daycare and got scared of the noise of some child getting a breathing treatment during his naptime(the machine makes a gurgling noise)

He watched a guy blow out our sprinklers with a compressor and he woke up screaming about compressors coming in his room.

The kid is really scared.. he is not faking this... I let him sleep in my bed for a couple of nights and then he goes back to his bed. I know he has an active imagination and hears or sees something and next thing you know it is a monster.

His sister is more of a realist.. at 4 she told him.." there are no monsters it is just pretend.."

hang in there but the kid is really scared.

Consider reading the Dr. Ferber Sleep training book. It isn't only about getting infants to sleep through the night, but addresses things such as fear, nightmares, night wakings, and other sleep disruptions.

Good luck to you.

Offer a night light or let him set his toys up around his room every night before bed to guard him and keep him safe. (or put a flash light next to his bed and encourage him to turn it on and look around when he is scared. when he wakes up crying practice deep breathing with him. breathing in very deep for 4 seconds and out very long and deep for 5-6 seconds. over and over until he is calm. it is a wonderful method and we will fall back asleep fast and comfortable.

I liked S.H.'s answer. I was like you. I couldn't discount my son's fears. My oldest son was fearful and we let him sleep on the floor in our room or just outside the door in the hall until he grew out of it. I'm not gonna lie. It took a couple of years. Sometimes he slept in his bed, but there were many floor nights.... on a workout mat.

The only other thing I would try is turning that noisy radiator into something fun, like a robot Knight that is actually protecting the room.

The house I grew up in sometimes had noisy pipes. The noise was due to air in the pipes. My mother would take a special key that opened up a valve on the side of the radiator at the top. She would open it slowly and hold a tea cup under it. She would keep it open until water came out. Then she would close it. This process is called "bleeding the pipes." Of course blood doesn't come out, but air does. Once the air is removed, no more noisy radiators.

Just Google "bleeding the pipes" to find instructions on how to do it on your radiator/pipes. Have your child watch. Be careful, the water that comes out after the air is hot.