6 year old wont go to sleep!!!!!

[herecomesthechoochootrain]

I am at my wits end. Since the middle of the school holidays my child (previously perfect sleeper) just wont go to sleep.

He says he is scared of the dark so he has a nightlight, light and hallway light on now which helped for one night but now seems not good enough. He says he wants company, but he's never needed this before. We've tried everything. It takes up to an hour to get him to go to sleep which means he's not going to sleep until 8.30/9pm. He is a nightmare to wake in the mornings at 7am for school and says he's tired. We are all shattered.

Could it be molars coming through? I feel totally lost as rewards and punishment just don;t work.

Any tips gratefully received. He is perfectly happy until I go to give him his kiss and cuddle goodnight and the sobbing starts. He also wakes 2/3 times in the night and gets upset again saying its bad dreams. Nothing in our/his lives has changed that I can attribute it to.

Help!

I totally sympathise OP.

My previously brilliant sleeper is driving me round the bend at the moment.

She is 5 and would go to bed at 7pm and be asleep within 5 minutes.

Now we're lucky if she's asleep by 9.30pm. I have tried everything and nothing is working. I am at my bloody wits end to be honest!

I think that this is just standard delaying tactics. I'd bet money that he's not genuinely scared.

Could you try sitting by the door? Just say that you've done bedtime now ahd you're not going to talk until morning time but you're going to sit there until he falls asleep. If he tries to engage just repeat that you're not talking now, it's nighttime

I'd recommend trying an audiobook. My 7yo listens to one every night. We tuck him in and turn off the light and he listens in the dark then is usually asleep in about 20min.