Toddler is Afraid to Sleep Alone

My son will be turning 2 in two months.  He has slept alone since he was a month old.  We recently, about two months ago, switched him to a toddler bed.  He did fine for the first month and a half but now he's afraid to fall asleep alone.  Naps are extremely difficult.  When he's tired he likes to watch one of his T.V. shows in his big boy chair with his Teddy and he usually falls asleep to the show.  When I pick him up he wakes up and screams histerically and clings on to me saying and crying, "no!"  His nap should be two hours long since he only gets one in the afternoon but lately he has only been sleeping for an hour tops, sometimes just a half hour.  Bed time at night is bad too.  My husband has to do it because I can't take it, we're to the point where we either have to stay in his room rubbing his belly, back, or head and we're stuck reading the same book sometimes five times.  We know it's a stalling method but sometimes that doesn't even work.  We have resorted to switching the lock on his door so it's on the outside and we have to lock him in his room and let him cry it out until he falls asleep.  I've read that's not ok but we are completely out of ideas.  Every other night he wakes up at random times, only calling for me, and he crawls into bed with us and won't sleep unless he's in our bed.  His cries sound like he's afraid to fall asleep.  Is there any way to fix this situation?  

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

You took him out of his crib way too early and he does not yet have the impulse control and emotional control to manage his own bed. But the horse is already out of the barn. Now you are faced with the need to set limits around his remaining in his bed. Be consistent about this, including not having him come into your bed. See Richard Ferber's very useful book Solve Your Child's Sleep Problem for some good guidance.