Sleep Help for Almost 2 Year Old

We've gone through several waves of sleep patterns with our son, who's 2.5.
Lately, he screams at bedtime (wanting us to lay down with him). We had to nip that after his bedtime routine became an hour of laying down and kissing him good night - over and over and over. I re-read Healthy Sleep Habits, and had missed a suggestion for toddler sleep. During the day, "teach" him about what happens at night time and in the morning. Make it part of conversation, with steps he can repeat back to you.
This has actually worked with our son.
"What happens when we go night-night?"
1. We lay down.
2. We close our eyes.
3. We go to sleep.
...We don't cry at the door, right? We just go close our eyes on go to sleep.

I was shocked, but it worked.

Mornings, he's usually up at 5am. I go in, give him a sippy of milk, tuck him back in and tell him that we get up when the sun comes out. (We've done the same type of conversation as above.) He usually either goes back to sleep for an hour or lays quietly and listens to a lullaby CD we put on.

Could he be teething? Getting in some back teeth you may have not noticed? It could be causing an unsettled stomach when he wakes in the morning.

When my 2yr old went from sleeping great to like you're dealing with, mine had swimmers ear. Could be an ear problem.

That's the only time I've had issues.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. They call it the sleep bible.
My son is the same age and he started waking up too early too. We finally decided enough is enough and we will not go in to him before 6am. Period. Of course if he's sick we make exceptions.
My daughter sleeps in the same room as him and she too was getting disrupted by his early waking. We told her that if he started crying she could come into our room and try to sleep in our bed. She's done it a few times, but now my son doesn't wake up before 6am anymore.
Once you can rule out any medical problems, chose a time and stick to it. The problem will go away.