fear of sleeping and being alone - my 9 year old daughter

[naturewatcher]

Hi, Do any of you have this problem or any comments on the subject. My daughter aged 9 is really scared of being left alone at night to go to sleep in her bedroom - She has never been good at it, but now refuses to since she watched a Dr Who repeat before Christmas on the weeping angels - awful program -really underminded all we might say about angels looking after us. She has been in my bed since then, but I want her back in her room and need to find a kind, way of helping her overcome her fear.

Her dad lives in France, and she sees him ocassionally. The fear of seperation from me is worse when she gets back from seeing him.

Help

naturewatcher

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coudl you spend the night with her in her room, then gradually decrease the time you spend in there? i have to do this sometimes with dd (3.5) and it works with her. i understand that you may not want to, children's bedrooms aren't usually comfy for taller adults but maybe it might spark some ideas for you? xx

i'd try to find out what exactly scared her about this program and try to counter it/alleviate her fears bit by bit. did you not notice she was scared when you guys watched it? maybe buy new books/films about angels or read from the bible (yes really) to get her out of her shell again.