My son is 5 and he hates to be away from me. Like even in the house. He will sometimes be ok if he's got the iPad to distract him which gives me space to have a shower or hang up washing. Otherwise he follows me to the bathroom and won't be in his room or toy room alone. He can't sleep alone either. I have to stay with him when he goes to sleep and if he wakes up he calls me back. Otherwise he has a panic attack. He would hardly go into his room after seeing a spider for two whole weeks and wouldn't sleep in his bed at all until afew nights ago. He's now sleeping in his bed again but he won't stay in there alone. If I need to leave any room he has to come with me. He now follows me more closely then ever. I'm hoping to grow his confidence and independence a bit. Can anyone help with advice? I would really like to sleep in my own bed again. I get a sore back sleeping in his because of lack of space.
3 Replies
Blunt is the only way to go here. He needs professional help. He is 5 and this is extreme that a 5 year old can't be away from mum ok another room to play.
I don't mean to scare you but it sounds like this goes deeper than normal parenting strategies. School is coming up on you both fast and you need to be getting to the bottom of his separation anxiety and ruling out underlying causes before he starts school. Otherwise the poor little dude is going to have a negative experience.
Getting professional help before then can make a huge difference to his experience.
So I'd be seeing my GP this week for a referral to a peadiatrician and child psychologist.
He's fine at kindy and if we're out. He doesn't need to know exactly where I am if he's on the playground. He's fine when I drop him off or he goes to grandmas for the day. As soon as we're at kindy he runs off and forgets about me. This is only at home.
Might want to put that in your question, makes it sound like a totally different scenario!