Help needed with 5 year old dd who isn't sleeping

[emanon]

My 5, nearly 6 year old daughter has always slept extremely well and we have never had any problems.

In recent weeks she has been coming into our bedroom maybe once or twice a night but is quickly settled when returning her to her room.

However, during the last 5 nights she has been coming into our room approx 7 times each night and on one occasion 12 times. She is obviously having trouble sleeping and will not stay in her room. My DH and I are shattered.

I am not sure why this happening. She is perfectly happy during the day, my only slight concern is whether there is anything going on at school.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this and does anyone know how to deal with it as we are having trouble coping with the sleep deprivation!

have you chatted with her about it? We had similar with our 4 yr old dd who had always been a good sleeper. Tbh I think it was linked to getting dry at night, she seemed to get almost obsessive about going to the loo constantly. I ended up putting a potty back in her room which she doesn't use but seemed to work as a kind of back up system! I did find a book about a dad not getting any sleep, after I read it I talked to her about us not getting any sleep and being too tired to play with her. It seemed to work!

My DS did this when he was about that age (he is 7 now). Came in every night for 3 or 4 months despite us walking him back every time although he didn't manage 12 times in one night .

I wonder if it is a developmental thing going on - their brains are being over-stimulated at school or something. Like your daughter he didn't seem bothered by anything. We tried a few of things. Mostly he said he was having bad dreams but didn't seem particularly upset most of the time. We tried a dream catcher and told him it would take the bad dreams away. I had heard other people use them with some success but it didn't work for us. Might work for you though.

We gave him a night light in case he was frightened of the dark as they are at an age when this sort of fear is at its peak. We were leaving the landing light on all night too but in the end figured that it was too bright so now we have a lamp on the landing so it isn't scary but not keeping him awake.

I think in the end we resorted to a star chart and it worked for us. I think it at least made him think again before getting out of bed and coming in to bother us and it that time he went back to sleep. Maybe it would have resolved itself at that point anyway but it is worth a try. He is fine now and his little brother has taken over the mantle of night wanderer!

Can either you or your DH go and sleep elsewhere to avoid an interupted night once a week, just to catch on some sleep? It will keep you both sane if you can.

Not sure any of that helps you but I just wanted you to know you aren't alone and I have heard of other children of a similar age doing the same thing.

Pinkteddy and Niecie thank you for your replies. It is interesting because dd has only within the last few months been out of nappies at night (she has had great trouble becoming dry) and can be quite worried about wetting the bed, although at other times shows no real concern about it. I did wonder whether this might have a link.

It is reassuring to know others have been through the same thing because my instinct is that this isn't something that a nearly 6 year old should be doing. You expect it from a toddler!

It does often seem to be an attention seeking device, but she doesn't show any sign of attention seeking during the day.

Pinkteddy, I meant to say that yes we have both chatted to her about it and explained how tired it makes us and that Daddy has to go to work etc. We have also tried bribing her, but nothing seems to work. Do you remember the book you found? I think I could do with a copy.

book is in dd's room atm! I will dig it out tomorrow and post the name and author. It might be a bit babyish for your dd, but maybe be worth a go.