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4 year old suddenly very anxious at bedtime

1 reply

tootiredtoo · 14/01/2023 19:43

Our DS who is 4.5 and in Reception has been a reliable sleeper since he was 6 months... He has three books, three songs, a kiss a cuddle, we leave him and he nods off.

BUT in the last few weeks he is absolutely petrified of us leaving him after we've done this routine.

He had a brief stint at 3 years old of being scared of the dark, but this was alleviated with fairy lights and keeping his bedroom door open.

We are not sure why he has gone from being happy to say goodnight to constantly saying "please don't go, I need you here" etc.

His life is very stable, comfortable and predictable. When we ask him if he's scared of anything he says no, he just wants us to stay.

We try to reassure him by talking to him about things like what we're going to do the next day, reminding him who loves him, that we are just done stairs etc. etc

But we are a bit baffled by this sudden anxiety.

Anybody been through this and got any advice?

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
frenchnoodle · 14/01/2023 20:01

It will probably be kids at school playing zombies or something like that. And him being nervous because his imagination will run on overtime in the dark.

Reassure him that you can hear / see him and he is fine. And nothing can happen.

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