Post Traumatic Stress

This morning I am suffering from post traumatic stress after Lili's GINORMOUS temper tantrum last night. We did our bedtime routine, just like normal...pjs, teeth, Barney, books...I laid her down in her crib, just like normal...and that's when she lost it. We're talking full blown tantrum - sobbing hysterically, high-pitched screams, throwing everything out of her crib... I closed the door and let her cry. After the 1st 20 minutes, I went in to check on her...just to make sure she was "o.k.". I gave her her blankie and nuk back, told her it was time to go to sleep, kissed her again...walked out. Temper tantrum continued. Another 20 minutes went by and I heard some interesting coughing and gagging going on. I went back in to check on her and she had puked in her crib. After changing her sheets, pjs and diaper and swapping out the blankies, I tried again. Another 30 minutes went by..........she still wasn't any calmer. I had had enough. I went in, picked her up...laid down with her in our bed and she went right to sleep....twirling her hair as she does every night to soothe herself. She was so upset she was trembling... I know kids need to be taught to soothe themselves to sleep and you can't give in to the tantrums, but I can't say I felt real good about how things went last night. She didn't want to get up and play...she just wanted her Mom. We had a lot of sleep issues with her when she was little, but after she turned 1, she became an awesome sleeper...better than I ever could have imagined for her. I know this is a "phase", but I don't necessarily know how to handle it. I don't think letting her choose her bedtime is the right answer. I also don't want to give in to the tantrum. I know she NEEDS to go to bed early due to the fact that she's up at 5:30am every morning and only gets about a 1 hour nap at daycare each afternoon, but I would hate to have to go to bed myself at 7pm every night just to make the transition easier. Sleep is probably # 1 on my list of things that induces anxiety. Now I just need to figure out what to do........