DD (10) has stopped sleeping

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Dd(10) has not been sleeping properly for a week. She comes to see us throughout the night (every hour or so) She’s just come to see me at 6.30 this morning saying she’s not slept at all last night.

She was in tears last night saying she feels so guilty when she sees how tired we are. She says nothing bad has happened when questioned. But she’s afraid to “die in the night”. She’s had a fear of death for years but not to this extent.

She has a bedtime routine. She’s a big reader so evenings are spent reading. She’s been at tennis camp this week so lots of physical activity and not much tv/video games. Obviously no caffeinated drinks.

I’m really worried (and tired!) Do I take her to the gp? What else would you recommend?

Sometimes people drift in and out of light sleep without realising it. I would tell her resting on her bed/ or listening to audio books is as good as sleeping (it's not but if you tell her lack of sleep is a problem she might get stressed about it).
I sleep poorly but have found that some nights I must have slept because there are bits of the story I was listening to missing. You can listen to exciting stories which will probably keep you awake but at least pass the time or more boring factual things which might bore her to sleep.

Also you can get audio books for free from the library via their app.

I remember feeling really anxious about things like that when I was about her age and it made it difficult for me to sleep - I wouldn’t underestimate the fear she’s feeling, especially if it’s stoppin her sleeping to that extent. I agree, audiobooks could help as it provides a good distraction, but if there’s no improvement I would look into some counselling. And I still wouldn’t rule out that something else is worrying her, even if she said there isn’t - I’m not saying it’s something serious but it might be something a bit random or silly that she’s embarrassed to speak about. Do you think she might have watched something to scare her more - a horror film or something like that?

Thank you for your replies. I did think about her watching/hearing something scary but she says that no, she’s just afraid of “dying in the night”,which has become a recurring sentence in our household. We’re pretty careful on that front. She only watches shows that are age appropriate. Still, i’ll Be even more careful on that front.

Audio books are a good idea, I wanted to avoid anything that stimulates her but at least this would avoid making sleep an issue,

I’ll also look into counselling.

Thank you ever so much,