Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Preteens

Parenting a preteen can be a minefield. Find support here.

7 year old will not sleep on her iwn

4 replies

Abouttime1978 · 08/11/2019 18:42

Posting here as I'm hoping someone who has got through this stage can advise!

DD, 7 and in year 3, shared a room with her younger brother until she was 5. We separated them because my son really struggled with joint bedtimes and it became a nightmare to get them so sleep .

My son used to shout in DD's face at the crack of dawn, tickled her at night when trying to get to sleep.

For context our two daughters are in the converted attic, and me, DH and DS are on the floor below.

Since she got her own room bedtimes have been a struggle. She's regularly scared, can't get to sleep, has nightmares, night terrors, sleep walks.

We get 4-5 weeks when sleep is fine and then all hell breaks loose again for 8-10 weeks.

She now has white noise - which helped for two weeks and then back to square one.

The last week has been full on nightmares and sleep walking and has been sleeping in our bed.

I'm now planning to sleep on the trundle bed, so she gets used to sleeping in her own room again, hopefully dialling back the support she needs.

Two years into this and I'm wondering if we need professional help.

She's generally very emotional at the moment (just turned 7 in August) so not sure if that's part of it, plus the Egyptians topic at school has freaked her out.

Any advise or tips would be greatly appreciated!

OP posts:
redchocolatebutton · 08/11/2019 18:44

can you swap rooms so that she is on the same floor as you?

Abouttime1978 · 08/11/2019 19:45

We could, but we've just decorated their bedrooms, exactly the way they wanted them, so would cost a fortune to redo.

There's no chance of swapping without redecorating as DS would hate DD's room (pink has exploded in there).

OP posts:
redchocolatebutton · 08/11/2019 20:06

ime that age is difficult - the dc sort of wake up to the fact that the world is huge and that not everything/everyone is nice. they need a bit more reassurance from their parents.
have you tried listening to story tapes?
a walk outside before bedtime (exercise plus the chance to speak to a parent one on one)?

lesson for the future - decorate neutralish with splashy accessories so you can swap rooms around...

Abouttime1978 · 08/11/2019 20:14

Yes we have tried audio books, talking time before bed, cuddles after reading time.

Nothing works.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.

Swipe left for the next trending thread