Sleep anxiety 6 year old

[Pootle76]

Hi

I’m looking to chat to other parents who have a child 6/7 years old with sleep anxiety (or any age really!) My daughters never been a fab sleeper but has suddenly over Christmas developed a real anxiety about sleep (e.g, fr shr won’t get to sleep and fear she’ll wake up too early) I’ve read tonnes on the topic. Home life is good, although I have to confess I was really impatient with her over christmas and have probably made her anxieties about sleep more magnified now. We have a good routine at night etc. At the moment I am just letting her get in bed with me at night as my gut feeling is being firm is not going to address the anxiety. I want to try and dial the anxiousness down and try to get into some kind of better routine at night before I get firm around boundaries at bedtime. Anyway I just wonder if it’s a developmental thing going on? Any similar experiences thank you x

Does your daughter has a clock in her room? Maybe a grow clock or something very simple for her to tell the time that can help her know when it's time to get up or not?

My child is 6 and also a poor sleeper, always has been though he is slowly getting better as he gets older. The slightest thing can make him anxious at night and he has the most awful night terrors some nights. Like you, I allow him to sleep with me on those occasions, it's no big deal and he at least gets some sleep and doesn't end up going into school like a zombie.

I don't think there really is any quick fix or magic wand, just talking and trying to ease their fears as much as possible. Do you know what has triggered her fear of waking early etc? Is there anything at school that could be troubling her?

Thank you. No there’s nothing significant that has happened although I was really mean to her over Christmas when she struggled to sleep or woke up in the night. She’s always woken about 3am and needed help settling, or just gets in with me when that happens but it’s happenings earlier. I fear my response to her over Christmas has caused the anxiety - my fault and I feel awful for it. She is growing at the moment and her brain is definitely having a developmental leap. She’s a very bright and intelligent child. I’ve popped a night light in the room and I’ve also just bought a book called I dread my bed which is written for kids who struggle to get themselves off to sleep. I’m hoping it’s a phase, she went through a similar anxious phase when she was 3. Thank you and glad your son is improving (-:

Try the night light and also one of those clocks that get brighter nearer time to wake up.

My son is a 4am stirrer / waker, he was exactly the same when I was pregnant with him, always fidgety and kicking. I knew what time it was without looking.