18 month old can’t sleep independently

Have you adjusted her nap or bedtime recently? She might have had a drop in sleep needs if it takes so long to fall asleep.
Could be teething too and she is looking for extra comfort.
Separation anxiety peaks up again at this age as well and she is looking for extra connection which makes it harder to put her down.
All pretty normal. I couldn't put my girl down and leave the room until 24 months of age. She sometimes has a few nights where she still needs me or even wants snuggles but for the most part, she is happy laying in bed and falls asleep within 5-15 min. They will do it when they are ready. Try maximizing sleep pressure to at least shorten the time it takes to cuddle to sleep to a max of 30 min

I'm totally against cry it out also.... with my LB (who is now 20 months) we converted bed toddler bed and put bed rail on. Then started by lying right next to him while he fell asleep. Everytime he cried or sat up I laid him down and said its bedtime now. After that was working we slowly moved further way and eventually out the door. It took some time but worked really well. I know lay him down say goodnight and rarely have to go back in..... I'd say be responsive, go in everytime they ask for you so they know you'll be there if they need. Also don't engage too much, just say the same few words

this is reassuring to hear. It doesn’t seem to affect it in terms of sleep pressure, she doesn’t nap at nursery and still takes as long to go down as what she does when she has a 2 hour nap at home 🤷‍♀️ we try and make sure she doesn’t nap past about 3:30 but I can’t seem to work out a pattern. She is quite clingy at the minute so could just be a separation anxiety thing. Thanks for replying

thank you appreciate your reply, I might try this method of being more consistent in my approach so as to not engage her