My 6 year old son is petrified to sleep alone any advice????

Question

The thought of going in his room alone at night even with the light on make him burst into tears and become highly aggitated. It seems to cause a lot of actual fear and anxiety. If he has to walk down the hall way without all the lights on he will scream and cry. I have tried everything, febreeze as monster spray, bed time stories before, moving him to bed after he is asleep, we even put a "magic mirror" up that opens and closes to keep out bad dreams and scary stuff, even music and tv on. Nothing works so I usually give in and let him sleep on a spiderman bed on my floor. I understand his fear because I was scared to sleep alone, but I am worried if he doesn't get over this anxiety it can cause more problems. Please any advice would be great.

Answer 1

I know this must be really bad for you, having to see your child so afraid. But the thing is, you've got to make him somehow sleep on his own because the longer you keep him in your room, the harder it will be for you to move him out later on.

My suggestions would be to go with him to bed and read him a bedtime story. Maybe you can find little stories that have other kids going to their own rooms or something to that effect, or something about kids or animals being very happy and not afraid. Also, illustrations that are pretty may calm him down some. I would suggest books like "Franklin" (the turtle) and "Little Bear and Friends." ( I don't know if you've heard of either but they're really easy to find.)

My other suggestion would be to sing to him after reading. Sing a song you both love...maybe something repetitive to calm him down. Laugh with him, tickle him and have a little fun. If you want, say a little prayer like my mom did and still does with me (I'm a teenager now haha :)) These will all calm him down, I think.

At the beginning, try laying down with him for a little while next to him and showing him that it's ok, and wait until he falls asleep. Gradually cut your time with him like this shorter and shorter and I think he'll learn. But be sure not to do this for too long or he'll want you to stay all the time! But I think that the storytime and the signing and things should help him calm down and calm his fear. Maybe you should ask him what scares him. But really, you have to make him sleep in his own room. A lot of times, kids are afraid and then they exaggerate this fear and make a show so that you'll agree to let them sleep in your room. But calm him down a little with those suggestions if you'd like and if this behavior persists, it's probably for attention. Just ignore him and he'll fall asleep eventually and then he'll learn that his crying and such won't work and he'll just stop this behavior. But I'm not saying I doubt that he's afraid, but he may exaggerate a little. I did when I was little! haha. Good luck! :)

btw, storytimes are really great!

Answer 2

I know what u feel like here are some ideas:

1: warm milk and bath before bed.

2:stay in his bed with him until he is asleep and pretend to fall asleep.

3: Leave all the lights on and put him in his bed and tell him to just stay there and to fall asleep if he gets sleepy and give him the security that u will be checking on him during the night.

4: give him some melatonine

GL :)

Answer 3

We went through this too with our 4 year old.

We had to get Ghost Lady and Robot spray too. I used Lysol. I showed her the label where it works on germs, monsters, ghosts and robots. (She can't read many words yet.) We also told her the Bug Man (Pest Control) sprays outside for them too.

Go on a Monster hunt!

We had a total safari. We had hats and sticks and a bag to put them in. Oddly enough, we didn't find anything but shadows.

She pointed where the monsters were. I'd show her what each shadow was from, IE a toy, a shoe, the coat rack. etc. I moved some stuff around the room and moved the night light to a different corner until she wasn't afraid anymore.

Oh I had to do a sound walk about too.

We watched an episode of Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends. Miss spider took her kids around and showed them what made all the night time sounds (crickets, tree branches etc.) My daughter wanted to do that too. It was kind of cool to show her around outside a bit after dark.

Maybe you could lie down with him for a while in his own room until he falls asleep.

I do that. At first I stayed until she fell asleep. Later I changed the rules. I pick a time on the clock and say, I'm leaving when that number says 9:05. Then I go.

(The clock is there because she used to get up at night and wander around. I told her not to go anywhere but the bathroom and back to bed if the first number isn't a "7". It worked great.)

She used to not even walk down the hallway or go to the play room without me. Now she's better.

You just have to work at it. Little by little until he feels better.

Almost forgot, if your house has an alarm system. You can remind him that they block monsters, ghost ladies and robots too.

Good luck.

Answer 4

let him fall alseep in your bed then move him from your bed to his bed,also buy him a nightlight so he can watch the pretty colors and shapes.

that is what my momma did to my little brother

Answer 5

A lot of children are afraid of the dark, or like to have company when they sleep.   And I have absolutely no problem with the family bed situation.

But your little boy seems to have a stronger than average fear of these things.   There could be any number of reasons for this - he could have heard a scary story at school from a friend, or whatever.   It might be worth looking into a little counseling for him, just to help him overcome this anxiety.  But in the meantime, don't worry about letting him sleep on the spiderman bed.   The important thing is that everyone in the house get a good night's sleep.....including you!