My Dd had a couple of disturbed nights sleep in September. One night she wet the bed (we’d just come back off holiday and she was over tired, she was mortified) and the next night our neigbour’s son had a party which kept her awake. Since then she has had difficulty sleeping.
We have tried everything, anti histamine (prescribed by the doctor), lavender, baths, meditation, relaxation, I’ve slept on her bedroom floor, cuddles, shouting, etc, etc and she has a good bedtime routine. She doesn’t use technology before bedtime and she reads before she turns her lamp off. Everything we have tried only works for one night.
She keeps the whole house awake, walking around, going to the toilet and crying hysterically. We’ve even tried to ignore her but she then stands outside my ds’s room to wake him up.
Last week our gp prescribed 2mg of diazepam. Again, this only worked for one night. She was unaware that she had had it as we crushed it up and put it in a drink.
I have a friend who works for CAMHS. He said that she obviously has anxiety about sleeping caused by what happened in September but that some aspects of her behaviour are now naughty and through choice e.g. wandering around and keeping everyone awake. He said that she probably does’t even remember what caused the anxiety now as it’s evolved into something else. He also said that if we were referred to CAMHS, they would only suggest the things we’ve already done and he was at a loss as to what we can do to help her.
I spoke to a children’s counsellor who was willing to see my dd, but only if dd wanted to and wanted it to work. Dd spoke to her on the phone and then refused to see her.
We are very certain she hasn’t been harmed or abused.
I think that I have made it worse by trying to find solutions instead of allowing her to sort it out herself. Dd is 11 years old and very bright and intelligent.
This is having a huge impact on all our lives. She won’t allow us to sleep because she can’t. She was hysterical last night because we had our bedroom door shut. Any ideas?