my 23 month old suddenly beats the door in a fit to not stay in bed. She has always been a good sleeper and now she wants to get up and so we closed the door all the way and she beats on it very hard while screaming and working her self in a frenzy.

I went through this with my son who is now 13 so dont worry it will pass. I was told to try a stair gate at the door so they can see out but not get out? This worked for me. I also let him cry for 5 mins then go in, put to bed just saying goodnight, make it as brief as possible, leave the room . At first they will cry again but just keep repeating it so that in the end there is nothing for them to get up for. No drinks, songs or even cuddles. I know this sounds cruel but you still do the bedtime cuddle and story etc, just when they are in bed they must learn that it is time for sleep not time to scream for mum.Hope this works for you. Be consistant and dont give in. It took me 2 weeks but then he went back to peaceful bedtime and sleeping through the night so stick at it.

My daughter was the same way. She was an excellent sleeper, then right before her 2nd birthday she freaked out and was afraid to sleep in her room. Fortunately, I took the advice of a very good doctor who put it into perspective for me. There is nothing wrong with having your child sleep in your room. Only in North America are we soooo concerned about having our children sleep by themselves. In some countries whole families sleep together for years. The children turn out to be confident, loyal and caring. The world is a scary place for a 2yr old, especially when it's quiet and dark. In the end, I put a toddler bed in my room and my daughter slept in our for a year and a half. Then we decorated her room into a big girls room and she's been sleeping there ever since. She's six now and every once in a while gets scared and askes her father or I to sleep with her. And we do, b/c we've realized pretty soon she'll be kicking us out of her room, and I think we'll be the ones crying.
Good luck.