Help! Childhood Sleep Anxiety! Small Update Post #28

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

Well, I carried her back to the sofa 3 times last night. DD(age 4) then woke from a nightmare screaming and crying. I didn't even have to go up to her. She calmed herself down after about 2 minutes.

Somehow, though, I woke up with Sarah (the 7-year old) in my bed. I must have been really asleep, because I missed her climbing in totally.

I called and made an appointment to see our PCM this Wednesday to see if he has any ideas.

I'll let you guys know what happens.

Geesh. No wonder I'm mean all the time.

 

[damo]

What about having a pet sleep with her?

 

[dizagain]

Well I'll be on pins and needles waiting to see what the doctors say...we haven't tried anything like that. DD - 10 on Wednesday - is the same way. She says she NEEDS a body next to her to sleep. We've tried body pillows, and that didn't really do it for her. She's up and down several times a night - always makes sure I'm up too. We're battling this and finally put our foot down this week and won't let her in our room...I'll walk her back to bed and cover her up, but that's it. Now she's going into big sister's bed!!! Good luck...I absolutely feel your pain. I've got about 6 and a half months or so to cure this before there's a baby in the mix. Keep us posted!

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

What about having a pet sleep with her?

I have a pet mollucan cockatoo that nearly bit my nose off last month. Maybe he'll make her feel more comfortable.

Only slightly better is our only other pet...an eclectus parrot. She loves both of them but is afraid to hold them or get near them.

Sounds like a good excuse to get a dog, right?

 

[DWDreams]

I was going to suggest a dog also. It's obviously an added responsibility, but maybe you'd be taking it on with better rest! Our dog sleeps with my daughter every night and I know it eases her mind since she tends to have some anxiety thinking someone will break into the house but it doesn't interrupt her sleep except on the very rare occasion. A dog is a huge commitment though, and it might not help, but it's a thought. Good luck, I hope you find something that will help you all with this.

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

I wish you good luck with finding a cure. My older dd (now almost 11) had some sleep anxiety. She would get nervous about someone coming in her window to take her. She would worry about someone grabbing her foot when she climbed down the ladder from her loft bed. It doesn't matter if she knows the fear is unrealistic -- it still scares her. To this day she does not like to walk to the bathroom by herself if she wakes up at night. We keep the bathroom light on so there is some light if she wakes up. We used to keep the hall light on but it was too bright. The frequency has lessened a great deal but it can still happen.

The interesting thing is that she goes to sleepaway camp and is fine there. They do have a light by the bathroom area on at night, but she doesn't have to wake someone to go with her and she sleeps fine through the night.

Her younger sister (7) is not scared. If she has a nightmare she might show up in DH and I's bedroom but after a few minutes she is ready to go back to her bed and she will walk back by herself.

 

[goofy4tink]

I'm another one who will be interested in what you PC has to say. My dd, now 12, still has horrible sleep issues. She only sleeps really well if she is in bed with me. Otherwise, she can not fall asleep for hours. Sometimes it's 1 a.m. before she gets to sleep. But, last week she couldn't fall asleep, so got out of bed and wrote a short story and turned it in to her teacher. She may be getting extra credit for it. But, I would love for her to be able to fall asleep in her own bed. She, also, has that fear of someone coming in and taking her. You can't leave the windows open at all at night. Or put the bed anywhere near them. And the shades have to completely cover the window at night. Man!!! I have gotten up at night only to find her at the foot of our bed, on the floor, wrapped in her comforter..fast asleep.
Please let us know how it turns out....seems to be more common than I thought.

 

[Rafiki Rafiki Rafiki]

Well, we saw our primary care manager (doc) today at the military base. I went through the litany of what we've done to try and get her to sleep. He didn't have any new ideas.

He referred me to a pediatrician off base to see if she has any new ideas. He said if that didn't work out he wanted to send us to a pediatric sleep specialist in Birmingham (a two-hour drive for us). Of course, they didn't have an appointment for a week. Ugh.

Tonight we investigated all the nooks and crannies in her room where a snake might be hiding and made sure there were no little holes where a snake could get into her room. Then we repeated a little prayer over and over again that went something like..."Dear Jesus, please protect me tonight, because I just can't worry about all this anymore"

She's been asleep an hour. If I had any sense at all, I would have gone to bed when she finally went down.

 

[dmslush]

Well, we saw our primary care manager (doc) today at the military base. I went through the litany of what we've done to try and get her to sleep. He didn't have any new ideas.

He referred me to a pediatrician off base to see if she has any new ideas. He said if that didn't work out he wanted to send us to a pediatric sleep specialist in Birmingham (a two-hour drive for us). Of course, they didn't have an appointment for a week. Ugh.

Tonight we investigated all the nooks and crannies in her room where a snake might be hiding and made sure there were no little holes where a snake could get into her room. Then we repeated a little prayer over and over again that went something like..."Dear Jesus, please protect me tonight, because I just can't worry about all this anymore"

She's been asleep an hour. If I had any sense at all, I would have gone to bed when she finally went down.

I hope you have a peaceful night. I did remember one thing that I used to do with Shelby, but she was very young, so it might not help. I would take a lightly scented airfreshner, bottle of lavender spray, etc.. and make a 'monster spray' label for it (she was afraid of her closet and under her bed). Before she crawled in bed, we would go around the room, spraying all of the places that a monster could hide. I assured her that the spray would keep them away all night, she bought it, she slept, I slept.