Help ,real problems with my daughters sleep

[tillytips]

Or lack of it.
My daughter for the past three weeks is terrified to go to sleep.
She sits in her bed sobbing, telling me she has voices in her head, there are people downstairs or outside.
We have gone through everything we can think of that may be scaring her and come up with nothing. She is frightened to close her eyes incase she has nightmares.
We are all shattered, she looks awful, she is not getting to sleep until gone midnight everynight, this is despite going to bed at 8pm.
She is 9.
Has anybody any suggestions or advice before we all go mad.
Thank you in advance.

Could there be noises that are keeping her awake - TV too loud, noises outside that maybe you can't hear as loudly as she can if you are in a different part of the house?

Mine are younger - 5 and 6.5 but are falling asleep later and later, sometimes they chat to each other in bed till at least 8.30. Perhaps she is just going to bed too early and lying there for ages, getting all sorts of ideas in her head?? Maybe try putting her to bed later and letting her listen to a story tape or gentle music so its not silent? (I had a boyfriend who even in his twenties couldn't fall asleep without music!).

Is she worried about anything - school pressures,friends etc that are making her upset? The voices in her head might just be a "cry for help" if she's worried about something else??

Just a couple of ideas, hope they help, am sure other people will have more. Good luck

I have a 7 year old who is very similar to this and can sympathise greatly. Some children (and some adults, including me!) take a long time to get to sleep and need help to unwind. My son is definitely worse if he has been watching TV or playing on the computer before going to bed. He really needs a good 40 mins wind down before actually going to bed. He then has some quiet gentle music on to help him go to sleep. He also often wakes in the night and needs reassurance before he can go back to sleep. This has improved a lot recently and now involves him climbing into my bed for half an hour for a cuddle before taking himself back to his own bed. I hardly wake up at all!! We have taken a while to get to this point, but he is much calmer about going to bed as he knows that we will be there if he needs us and not get cross with him (which I have to admit I have done in the past)
Other positive suggestions that we have tried that have helped to break the cycle of behaviour are:
dreamcatchers
checking in on him every 30 mins after he's put to bed (including reading time for the first 30mins)
a night light that he can turn on from his bed
putting his younger brother in the same room (realise this one may not work for you!!)

Hope this helps a bit...