5yr old DD won't go to sleep and cries all evening

[indymum]

Why won't my 5yr old dd go to sleep when I put her to bed in the evening? She cries for hours if I let her, and eventually drops off with tiredness at about 10pm. Then she will always wake us up in the night two or three times. I have tried a star chart which hasn't worked

Poor wee soul - and poor you. Could she be worrying about things at school/nurery?

No, I don't think that would be it. She has been doing this for some months now.

What is her bedtime routine?

Could she be feeling left out cos of a younger sibling/ you going back to work or just anxious cos of other home changes? Or has someone been winding her up re monsters?
It's the latter with my 4 yr old dd. At the mo I tell her I'm making a 'magic circle' around her bed surrounded by 3 good fairies, a guardian angel up above and of course all the other people who love her very much - then give her an exhaustive list of these folk.

The bedtime routine hasn't changed since she was a baby. There is nothing I can think of that has changed to make her this way. I am contemplating taking her to a psychologist as a way round the problem but don't know if this would be helpful

O.K. her bedtime routine hasn't changed, but WHAT IS IT? Perhaps she needs a change! Please tell us more about what she/you say or do before settling down.

Want to help, but need more info.