2 year old bed time struggle

Have you always stayed in the room until he fell asleep? Albeit it was only for 10mins?

But if he's screaming hysterically, then get a comfy chair and sit with him! They're only little once and they will grow out of it. You can't just leave when they're like that.

I have a 4.5 year old and we still sit in with her, but she likes to chat about her day and falls asleep quickly afterwards, so we do it, even though she can fall asleep on her own if I'm doing bedtime for both on my own and her sister is being clingy.

2 years is probably not what you want to hear, but it doesn't need to be that long! Esp if they used to fall asleep independently. Adjusting nap length may help shrink the time. Otherwise sit with them until they settle and then try to leave, and gradually try to do it earlier. There definitely is a sleep regression right now though. I'm having to sit with my 2 year old for a little now and normally have to go back in once at the moment, even though I've never sat with her til she falls asleep.

My first was the same. It would often take her about an hour to fall asleep probably around this age, and same as you, if you left when she wasn't quite asleep she'd be back up again shouting/crying.
Fortunately she didn't wake at night very often, so felt ok to write that hour or so off in the evening, for at least getting a good sleep after. If she ever did wake in the night, we had the same problem.
At some point, we got her to self settle at night, as it'd be more like 2 hours in the night to go back to sleep, but then she dropped her nap and started school, which meant she started falling asleep much quicker in the evenings again, which didn't feel so bad, and it's quite nice to have that 1-1 time for story and chat before bed.

We also found no issue with naps.

So with my second, we never did sitting in until she fell asleep, as isn't want to get to that stage again...

I saw other suggestions like gradually move the chair further away from the bed towards the door, until you're sitting outside. I tried it a bit, but probably not consistently enough, but could work for you?

When they're screaming hysterically, they're not gonna just suddenly fall asleep, as they've worked themselves up too much by that stage.

Sorry it's not better help, but hopefully helps a bit to know others have been in the same situation

We adjusted our bedtime routine because it seemed our LO wanted a little more independence/pushing boundaries so we let him read one book in his chair, then we put him in his sleeping bag and have cuddles and another book and then we lay him in his cot and lights low and last book. He sometimes asks for more but we stick to those 3 books and then he settles and goes to sleep. Yes we have to stay in the room until he does but I figure that's what he needs. There'll come a time when he won't need it so happy to do it to have a peaceful bedtime!

My little boy is in a single bed and my husband lays with him every night until he’s asleep which only takes around 10-15 mins as he stays calm as he’s not alone. I know it’s not ideal but we pick our battles🤣x

Our little boy has wanted us in the room holding his hand for the last 6 months or so. We gave in and did it. It did create a bit of a habit, though lovely to do. We have a newborn now though so it’s not always feasible, especially as it can take upwards of half an hour for him to fall asleep, so I’ve begun trying to explain that I’m off and it seems to be working ok. We’ve also got a tonies now and he likes to pick a story and put it on and I think that helps too.