Sleep issues dd9

[Bronzeisthecolour]

Dd 9 is having sleep issues, awake late saying can't sleep, wants me to stay in room,crying etc it's lasting hours. It started with a very scary nightmare (combination of something she overheard on news and a family film she watched) then seems to either be a habit or a big problem not sure which! Some nights she's off to sleep immediately if tired and I stay for 5 mins in room,others it's hours of tears etc.
Any advice or ideas? Trued leaving coming back in 5 mins, tried saying no I won't stay ( I admit I'm nit good at this) cue tears and calling out. ( we have other dc). Dh puts her to bed and is much firmer but she says she's cries herself to sleep those nights so that can't carry on either.

Bump. My DC also 9 is struggling to get to sleep. I'm trying to get to the bottom of any worries/anxieties and have reduced screen time which wasn't excessive to almost nil.

Thanks @Dnd123456 we've done the same with screen time.

What works with our DD9. Audible books via headphone head band. Shush pat as she relaxes to sleep.
Because of the headband we can keep electronics out of her room but she can still listen to Harry Potter or ,How to Train Your Dragon.
The chitty chats we have she settles down to listen helps her to express what's on her mind.

My DD8 is very similar to this so you have my sympathy.
After months of sleepless nights we have moved my DD's into together and have bought bunk beds and amazingly this seems to have solved the problem as DD's didn't want to be alone.

My 10 year old has recently developed similar problems. We've been letting her listen to an audiobook (cd) as she falls asleep so she feels less alone in her room. Also tried a white noise machine but that seemed less effective!

Thanks, she does listen to music but might try audio books instead. Ice trying giving her something of mine to look after tonight, she's got music on and we ranked through her nughtmare/ worries and changed them into silly things. 🤞

Honestly - I sit with my dd when she has periods like this. She is scared and needs to feel safe and happy at bedtime. Once she settles, after maybe a week, I negotiate so I (for example) stay for 10 mins, then 5 mins etc.

I find that it is much less painful to stay than to have a fight every night, and she is genuinely anxious, not behaving badly.

My dd was like this.

She slept on a mattress in our room until it ended. It’s really quite common. I was like it, both my SIL were like it. Firmness etc made it worse. It was the only thing that cured it.

Later diagnosed with ASD.

My son has trouble getting to sleep too.
I did a free trial of ‘headspace’ and then purchased as it really helped. They do sleepcasts, which begin with a few minutes of relaxation and then on to a scenario, they last about 45 mins I think. There are over 50 different ones to choose from, although he tends to stick to the same few as he likes a certain narrator.
Been great for us, he asks for it most nights, particularly school nights as thats an issue for us.
Before headspace I used a cd from Amazon by Christiane Kerr and that worked well too, we just needed a bit more variety. Agree with less tech and to read before bed.
I also bought a worry book and we worked through that, away from bedtime, and that helped too.