5 year old suddenly dosent like sleeping alone

[jbl2312]

our dd has always been wonderful at going to bed and staying in bed, recently she is in and out of bed all night long excuse after excuse to come down stairs usually for a wee (bathroom is downstairs) and now all she wants to do is sleep with mummy and daddy which we dont mind now and then but its getting to every night, we take her back after a little while but she is back within 10 mins, is this normal behavior or a phase they go through, she says she is scared in her room of what she dosent know and she also says its not fair that mummy and daddy have each other at night time and she has to sleep alone...any ideas.....

Can you give her a talisman of some sort to 'watch over her' while she sleeps. Maybe a photo of Mummy and Daddy or whoever/whatever and discuss how she will be safe while sleeping and she is not alone as mummy and daddy just next door but she will be watched over by picture and if she wakes up she will see picture is still there and mummy and daddy are still keeping her safe?

hope someone else comes along with other ideas too. :)

Marking my place. I have a 5 year old with the very same problem. Up until now her sleeping has been great. Now even getting her to bed on her own is a problem, never mind back into her own bed in the night.

Marking place too and offering support. My 5 yr old DD used to be great at bedtime but last few months refuses to sleep, gets out of bed all the time and runs around the flat, sings, giggles, goes to toilet, wants water, it goes on for hours...in bed by 7pm but never asleep before about 9.30 and it's starting to show. Tried earlier/later bedtimes, relaxing stories, staying in room/leaving room - am tearing hair out! She shares a room with DS 3 so really disruptive for him as well.

Sorry, not trying to hijack thread, but to let you know that it's not unusual and I feel for you! Will follow this with huge interest...

handcuffs +bedpost?

Hopefully we can all support each other through it and find some solutions

Snowbeetle

Make sure they have not created something that scares them - ds had drawn a bad dragon behind his pillow and on the wall.
Dragon was scrubbed off evicted.

We then had an a period where he wanted in beside us several times a night. Everyone felt exhausted and it just had to stop.

He is doing a star chart just now and gets a reward for seven stars but has one removed if he does not stay in his own bed or wails in your ear in the middle of the night.

It works most nights.

we're right there too - right down to the complaints that I have DH to keep me company - she can have him, he snores like a train, and I lurve having my own bed!

seriously though ,we are trying the 'special thing' to keep her company ; we are off into town tomorrow for her to chose a toy that will be her company, but it will be removed if she still then doesnt stay in her bed.

Well tonights bedtime was not a success. We had tears until she made herself sick. I've now left her with the light on happily reading her books. Maybe this is the wY forward?

If it helps, my DD is still awake reading right now. But still an improvement on the night prowling! I just worry about how much sleep she's getting. Still, she's calm and that's an improvement.

Thanks Cloudbase I have no idea what time she finally went to sleep, I think I was probably asleep before her. But she's woken up happy and did stay in her bed all night.

snowbeetle :o... thanks all for your input, sorry but im so pleased im not the only suffering mummy :) i really hate bedtime at the moment i even start getting grumpy prior to bedtime as i know exactly whats gonna happen....gotta talk hubby round but good old ma in law suggest putting a fish tank in her bedroom so she has a pretty light fish to look at and keep her company and to tell her they are special fish that look after their owners when they are asleep......i can already see gasping fish flapping around on the floor lol x

Dd slept in my bed most nights, well every night actually from age 4 to 7. Then we put her brother in with her and that broke the pattern. She just hated being alone. Then we got them a double bed to share and had to change the layout of the room, which also made her feel safer. Now she is about to turn 8 and they no longer share as she wants to read in bed at night and he is too young to do so. It just kind of phased out and she retained control. Hope that gives hope!

Dd slept in my bed most nights, well every night actually from age 4 to 7. Then we put her brother in with her and that broke the pattern. She just hated being alone. Then we got them a double bed to share and had to change the layout of the room, which also made her feel safer. Now she is about to turn 8 and they no longer share as she wants to read in bed at night and he is too young to do so. It just kind of phased out and she retained control. Hope that gives hope!

My dd (4) doesn't get into our bed anywhere near as much as she used to. I actually really miss it

She used to sneak in at about 3 in the morning and was like a little hot water bottle

I think these are just phases that they go through and it'll wear off if you can put up with it. Other than that, how about a sticker chart with a special gift if she stays in her own bed all night?