help please-dgd 11 night fears

[pranma]

My ds and his family[dw Turkish and 1 dd]have been staying here for a short holiday.Two nights dgd has come to dh and me saying she is unable to go to sleep.She is crying,trembling and cold though I have kept the heating on overnight for them.She has a pleasant cosy room here[all dgc use it[.Last night she ended up in our bed-begging us not to tell her parents.I had tried a light,sitting in her bed with her,reading to her but as soon as I left she came in,touching me on the cheek and weeping so sadly.In the end dh slept in her bed and I let her stay with me.After some agonising I have just told ds about it but he is inclined to think she is just 'trying it on' but she is 11 not 4!!Also she has been almost silent since she arrived.Turkish is her first language but she has always managed to speak reasonable Engish to us and has been brought up bilingual but this time just yes and no and thank-you.Any ideas before tonight please?

Poor little girl.

I used to have similar night fears at her age. I was terrified of everything - mostly disturbing images I had seen on TV or on films, even TV advertisements would frighten me. I am still a bit sensitive to that kind of thing - can't watch horror films to this day!

Can she articulate to you exactly what is frightening her? It might be that she is away from home, language barriers etc.

I never told anyone about my fears as a child, for fear of someone saying I was silly. But encourage her to open up to you and promise not to laugh.

That, and make sure she is able to keep the light on at night, give her books to read, does she have an IPod she can listen to? All these distractions will help (reading is best).

Hope that helps x

Thanks Edsmummy
I think a lot of it was being lonely and a bit nervous in a strange house.I talked to her parents and discovered that she had been getting in with her mum at home while her dad was away for 2 weeks[business].I gather mum and dad had asked/told her to stay in her own bed here so she knew she couldnt go in there and she knew that I will usually do anything to make her happy.I suggested books/light etc but all she wanted was someone with her.We have had a nice outdoor today so she should be tired tonight and they go home tomorrow.