I'm feeling very frustrated but want to make sure I'm doing the right thing.
My ten year old son is very mature and grown up for his age. He's a good boy, sensible, clever, very funny etc.
He's extremely confident, goes out to play with friends on our estate and walks to and from friends houses alone no problem. He walks home from school alone.
Everything's fine until bedtime. He is literally petrified every night. Nothing has ever happened to make him scared. There's me, his dad, his sister, him and our dog. He has his own room which is lovely. Before he gets in bed he checks everything, that the windows are locked, under his bed etc. Then he will get in bed with a torch and lie there almost paralysed with fear and anxiety whilst we are downstairs watching TV. I then come up to bed. I cuddle him. Reassure him. He will come in to me multiple times every 5 mins until I lose patience and tell him to not come in again. He takes an age to fall asleep. I think it's sometimes way past midnight so then of course he doesn't want to get up in the mornings.
When I talk to him about it he says that his mind is very active at bedtime and he can't shut off. He thinks of all kinds of scary things such as monsters etc.
I don't know what to do. My husband tells him he needs to face his feels and addresses his fears and tries to be rational with him.i swing between wanting to let him come and sleep with me (husband says no) to getting really frustrated with him because every night is the same.