Anyone else got a 9 year old that is too scared to sleep and has trouble staying asleep?

[cece]

DS1 has had sleep problems since the age of 4. Prior to this he slept beautifully even as a baby.

It can improve for a while but tends to regress pretty regularly. This past week he has been particularly bad at getting to sleep with him crying and becoming hysterical. Last night it took him over 2 and half hours to fall asleep for instance. Other nights he wakes and gets scared in the middle of the night. This generally means he climbs into bed with us. This always wakes at least one of us if not both of us and results in one of us having to move beds. As you can imagine we are pretty tired and would like one night where we get some rest/sleep.

Has anyone got any suggestions?

We have tried the medical route and CAMHS.

Can he tell you what he is frightened of?

It tends to change but is often linked to something he has seen on TV. As a result we are very fussy about what he is allowed to watch. Tonight he wasn't allowed to watch Dr Who for instance.

It can be anything;

wrong bed
wrong wardrobe
wrong curtains
too dark
too light
too hot
too cold
wrong weight duvet
wrong blanket
hungry
thirsty

Basically anything that he can create a fuss about.

I have seen several calming and soothing bedtime cds for children to listen to very highly recommended on Amazon.

Umm he has been listening to story CDs the past month but that in itself has caused a faff.

I am willing to try anything though so will take a look.

Ok my dd was terrified of a fire in house in the end we contacted local fire station who invited us to visit and spent couple of hours explaing how they dealt with fires etc. then let her "play" on pole fire engines etc. Helped so much unfortunately doesn't sound like your ds has specific fears.

It is linked to change I think. Obviously he has gone back to school after the holidays and this seems to have triggered this new bout of sleeplessness.

I changed my dd's room around after this happened to us. Literally took it all out and rearranged it. It did the trick as well as slightly changing the bedtime routine...

Oh! I like the idea of rearranging it - been plannign a blitz on the excess toys so that could fit it well.

Did you get your DD to help you with it?

My dd has terrible trouble getting to sleep and is now waking in utter panic between two and ten minutes later. She is very anxious about school at the moment and this is really impacting on her night time routine too. She will not entertain a sleepover and is totally dependent on me at night time. I am beginning to wonder if she actually has a sleep condition. Any ideas?

I have ordered 'What to do if you dread your bed' from Amazon today in the hope that this might help her.

Sounds like my ds, aged 7. I recently bought this book which looks great, we've just started it. There's a whole chapter on kids who get scared, which is one of the problems I have with ds. Even though I'm also fussy about what he watches...but he is easily freaked out! But the book tackles other issues too, some of which are on your list and it involves the child so it's like a project you both work on.

xpost Mumlar! Same book I've linked to.

btw Mumlar, I've spoken to a pediatrician about ds' sleeping issues, only to be told "some kids are like that". Considering it affects his concentration at school as well as his general physical and mental well being, you would think it would be more of a concern!

My dd gets scared about the usual stuff but she also worries that she might be the only one left awake and the rest of us will be sleeping. She literally leaps out of bed sometimes and becomes hysterical refusing to get back in again. This is when she has slept for a few minutes beforehand. Makes her really tired, has not got to sleep befor 10pm last few nights, but so exhausted tonight she mercifully fell asleep almost instantly.

10pm is a good night for us although he doesn't have to get up til about 8.20am. Most nights he doesn't sleep before 11pm.
DS gets scared a lot, and actually I think the lack of sleep only fuels his paranoia and morbid imagination. He is scared to go to sleep in case he gets bad dreams.
I would recommend the book though op.

Thank you I ordered the book and some new shoes

Yeah, I ordered some boots along with the book too. Nice bit of retail therapy. Also dug out an ancient relaxation CD to try, she is fretting about school already. May try to rearrange her bedroom as that may help; hoping for a smooth evening routine, up early and busy all day so fingers crossed.

I have asked a few people if their dc's struggle at night and a lot with those around the same age seem to agree that something changes around now. Probably an awareness of the world around them ignites these fears? My dd has always struggled at night but very pronounced at the moment.

Mine are some new Birkies

DS1 has gone to bed without too much of a fuss. We moved his bed and bedside table around this afternoon and he seemed happy with that. He is currently wrapped in three duvets with a story CD blaring out! Only been up once so far to investigate a mysterious banging on the window....