Since the run up to Halloween my 5 year old is scared of everything. He can't be alone in a room and won't leave a room alone even to use the bathroom. He says he's afraid of monsters.
I try to stay with him as much as I can but I also have a 2 year old and can't physically be with the 5 year old all the time (e.g. while the 2 year old is eating and the 5 year old needs a poo!).
The worst is now at bed time. He used to go to bed alone fine but now insists on me sitting outside his door. I've moved further so that I can be in another room upstairs doing something else while he's going to sleep but he calls me 3 or 4 times saying he scared of shadows / noises / monsters in his head. He also now wakes in the night saying he's scared which he never used to do.
He has always been a clingy child and I don't know how much of it is him genuinely being scared or whether he now knows claiming to be scared is a way to get me to stay near him. He shares a room with his little brother but still wants me to be near.
DH is no help because he thinks we should just leave him to get over it but I'm not willing to leave him scared alone. Does anyone have any suggestions for how I can help him get over his fear and regain his confidence to do things on his own?