My 9 year old daughter refuses to sleep in her room Can Anyone Help?

Question

she will not sleep in her own room at night, she sneaks down in the middle of the night and sleeps on the couch. She is very scared she says but can't explain what she is scared about. I have tried leaving the light on, reading until she falls asleep...etc. nothing seems to work. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Answer 1

If she can't tell you what she is afraid of, then she is not afraid.

She is playing you!

Be a parent and stick her butt back in bed when she gets up.

Answer 2

Similar to my daughter.  I laid down next to her and napped until she was sound asleep.  I left a couple of night lights on in her room and the doors to her room and mine open.  They were directly across the hall from each other.  I could hear when she got up.  This took a couple of nights.  Then she was pretty good, except when there was a thunder storm or high winds.  Continue to try to talk to her to see what is bothering her.  Good luck.

Answer 3

this happened to me when I was 9.

I thought that I would sound stupid if I said what I was scared of.

I was scared of ghosts.

I had a mirror in my room and (living one hour away from adams, tennessee) I was scared of the bell witch in my mirror. I could hear everything in my room (cracks, people talking, ect.)

and at three in the morning they would scare me!

ask her if thats it, then try to comfort her.

it is very frightening.

trust me.

Answer 4

My son is 10 and he much prefers to sleep on the couch.. and has been that way for about 2 years now.  I really feel that he's going through a bit of separation anxiety... and prefers to be in the "hub" of the house... because he feels silly coming in and asking to sleep with mom and dad.  I think too at this age their sleep patterns change and they may not sleep as soundly as they used to... so they wake up in the middle of the night and the house is really quiet... and they're the only ones awake... it can be frightening.  I slept in his room one night to see what the problem was... and ya know, his room makes different noises than the rest of the house, a streetlight casts an eerie glow in his room and it does feel like it's almost a different house.  We're now in the process of making his room seem more comfortable and have begun setting specific nights for family room campouts.

Answer 5

I would sit down and talk with her and see if she can come up with a reason why she is scared and comfort her and assure her that she has nothing to be scared of.  You could also read to her while in bed until she falls asleep.  If she is getting up in the middle of the night I wouldn't know what to do.  My son used to have "night terrors" when he would get scared in the middle of the night, but he "grew" out of it.  He is nine years old now and I have not had any night problems with him in years.  Maybe she is having some night terrors, does she cry/whimper in her sleep or wake up screaming?  Good luck.  I am sure in time she will be fine.  You could just ride it out.  Is it possible she sleepwalks????

I also asked my son to get a child's point-of-view.  He says the  parent should sleep in the daughter's room for one night or make  a goal for the daughter (10-20 nights straight in her room) and she can get something  new she wants.  Ha.

Answer 6

Ignore the ignorant response of your child "playing you".

What I would do? I would lay with her in bed til she fell asleep. Or I would allow her to sleep on the couch if that' what she felt comfortable with. What will it hurt? You can set up an alarm if needed.

My 8 yr old does not like his room either so we made him a bed in our room. No more problems. Sometimes he chooses to sleep in our room, sometimes he doesn't.

As long as she's getting enough sleep, who cares where it is at?