8yr old son -night waking, anxiety, won’t sleep alone

[billym]

Another 4am start here 😖 My son has been having problems falling asleep by himself and staying asleep through the night for over a year. Doesn’t drop off without panicking until 10pm at earliest and is up every 2 hrs through the night. We have tried literally everything - lavender diffusers, massage, sitting on the bed with him, in the doorway, books, mattress on the floor in our bedroom, session with a hypnotherapist. He’s totally fed up and frustrated and dramatic as it sounds, it’s making me feel depressed and dread the evenings too.i just don’t know what else to do to help him. Feeling bone tired like I have a newborn again 🙈 Posting here in the hope that someone else has come out of the other side of this and will have some advice 🙏🏻

Think back to when the behaviour started - did anything change in his life? Have you asked him if he's worried about anything or if he's worried about anything at school? Maybe worth checking all is ok with his teacher and may be worth getting him checked over with the GP to rule out any potential health problems that may be contributing. Is he going on any screens or similar just before bedtime that may be affecting him?have you tried night lights?

Thanks for replying 😊 we do no screens after 730 and bath before bed. Have got a few nightlights on the go. He did see a scary game at a friends house around the time this got worse but to be honest think it was the catalyst rather than cause as it was already becoming a problem. Teacher says he seems fine at school, sometimes a bit anxious. They’ve said he can have some counselling sessions after half term which I figure won’t do any harm and may help.

If the sch counselling is taking a while go private he's obviously highly distressed about something