Sudden behaviour change in 7 year old...

[Writerwannabe83]

Hello all, just after some advice please on behalf of my sister.

My sister's daughter, aged 7, has over the last two weeks started to get really clingy. Apparently she is crying a lot, persistently wants to hug my sister and now won't sleep in her own bed and is now sleeping in my sister's bed every night. My sister said there was no build up to this behaviour change and it just suddenly randomly started.

She has asked my niece what is wrong but she won't say anything.

My sister has spoken to the school who say my niece is absolutely fine there and nothing worrying has occurred. My niece goes to a childminder before and after school and the childminder said she is fine whilst there too.

My sister can't understand it and obviously hates seeing her daughter so upset.

I'm going round this weekend to see if my niece will speak to me about what's wrong.

Has anyone dealt with anything like this before or know how to coax children to disclose what's upsetting them?

[FrancisdeSales]

It does sound like either she experienced some kind of trauma or she was extremely frightened by something. Has she been at a friend's or relatives house recently?

[SkyWasMadeOfAmethyst]

She sounds frightened. She may need to be reassured that she won't get in trouble if she talks to her mum about what is bothering her. Maybe try checking out the NSPCC website for tips on getting her to open up?