Meowing All Night!

I have two cats that are 1 1/2 yrs old, Sunny & Chester. They are brother & sister. Every night after we go to bed Chester starts meowing and will not stop. He beats on doors or anything else that will make noise. He's been doing this for about 2 months now. At first I would get up to see if he was ok, because some of the sounds he makes are pretty pitiful. I would make sure he had food and I would pet him. He would stop for a while then start up again. I thought he was just trying to get some attention, so I figured if I ignored him, he would eventually stop. He hasnt! The other day he started doing it while we were watching TV.
We are gone during the day, but I always play with them when I get home and again before bed. I feed them right before going to bed too. He has plenty of toys to play with.
I'm just not sure why he started doing this! :-)

Whats Chester like when you go to him when he starts meowing, does he stop?.

The reason i ask is because my Sophie can do that. For example last night she was on the windowsill in the hallway just meowing, but as soon as i called out her name asking her to come to me, she jumped down, came trotting over, jumped on my lap, lay down and started purring So i usually put that down to her wanting some attention and snuggles from her mum

What Rosiemac said!

Cassie isn't much of a talker but Napoleon is. When we are leaving for work, he's like "MEOOOOOOOOW?!" Like, he's asking us not to leave I answer back in a voice that's similarly pitched to his. I find that when they are meowing for no reason, well, it's usually for something! You have to figure out what your kitty's personality is.

Oh and one more thing...is your little guy declawed? My old cat Cody was declawed and after his surgery he WAILED all the time. I was too young to understand but that could be another factor.

Is he neutered? That could be a big factor. If he isn't, that could be a solution. Also, do you let him come into your bedroom at night? He might be lonely. You could let him sleep on the bed with you, to comfort him. It is also good in winter to have a portable bed warmer . Hope I'm helpful
Joecool

Thanks for all the responses! I sure appreciate it!
Chester is neutered and declawed. As far as when he is meowing, if I call him or go to him, he stops but then will start up again. We let him sleep in the bed with us. Thats where Sunny sleeps at night too.
I think I may have found a solution. On Friday night, he was moewing like a mad man and beating on the basement door. He sometimes gets his toys stuck under the door where he cannot get to them, so I went to see if that was the case. I opened the door and he ran down the steps. I never heard a peep out of him all night! We decided to leave the door open Saturday night and again last night. Same thing, not a sound! I think he gets bored when Sunny is sleeping. We have kitty proofed the basement so its a fine place for them to play. I'm hoping if we leave the door open at night this will take care of it.
Thanks again to everyone who replied to my message .