my 7 year old won't sleep HELP!!!!

[gemmalouise36]

My 7 year old son has seen something that scared him on youtube, since then he wakes every night and NOTHING will pacify him. I live with my partner and other son (16) they have both been kept up by this and have tried to help/talk to him but it made no difference, we are now at a place where we are all sleep deprived and feeling really low. Things I've tried : various lights, a new dream catcher, offering rewards, talking through what is real and what is not, taking things away I.e tv, switch, xbox, continually putting him back to bed (this went on from 2.30am until 5am when I gave in and slept in the bottom bunk - this is what I'm having to do so that we can all sleep) I can't even creep out either as he wakes, or he will shout out in the night to make sure I'm still there. I really am at a loss on what to do,obviously I've completely banned youtube going forward....I go back to work next week and I really need to have this sorted by then 😔 please send advice my way 🙏

He might just need time for the memory to fade.

For a while, could you put a mattress on the floor of your bedroom so he can sleep in the room with you? I think your best bet is to maximise opportunities to get the sleep you can until he’s moved past it in his own time, and that might be a way to do so.

What was it he saw on YouTube?

My 7 year old watched that Grandma game and it freaked him out completely and he woke a few times in the following weeks.

We looked at the image stills together and talked about how a designer got paid to make that and then looked up the designer and talked about them and how it's a job to make things scary etc.

Maybe really breaking down what he saw and why it's scary may help?

We've been through similar with our 8 year old. He's scared and traumatised. I think you need to accept that this is how he is right now, that he needs your presence to feel safe until the memory fades, and work out what to do to meet that need. My DS starting sleeping in with me, and DH took his bed. Kept this up for quite a while. He still has nights where he feels unsafe and gets in with me.