My 6yo DS has never had issues with sleep (well not since the dark days of being a baby). He has always taken a while to drop off but has generally been content to lay in bed till he does. He is very confident but he is generally a deep thinker and does ruminate on things which can make him anxious.
Recently though he's been having nightmares and I have no idea what's brought them on. They are about something happening to me or his dad (or both). They seem very vivid and he is very upset. Tonight we've had huge distress about going to bed. He is saying they are back but I think it's more thoughts that they will come back and then scaring himself before he goes to sleep.
I'm typing this from his bedroom floor as this has been going on since 7.30 this evening. We've tried distracting, positive thoughts, audio book, coming downstairs for a bit, going to sleep in our bed (usually the solver of all problems) but nothing seems to elevate the fear. Reading it back, maybe we've done too much but he is so upset as soon as it comes to being in bed.
I'm at a loss of how to help him so any suggestions would be very welcome. Thanks