Hi mums!
Sorry for the essay of a post! I'm just after a little advice and reassurance! My 5 year old miss is going through a 'phase' where she is struggling to sleep through the night, when she had been pretty good for the past year or so. For example, last night she woke up at midnight and got out of bed continously till 4.30 am ?, I have been just putting her back to bed, trying not to get cross with her, but being pregnant with no.2 and a shift worker I'm feeling a little worse for wear! Not really sure what i am asking, is this a normal phase? Am i doing the right thing? Is it such a huge deal if she kips next to me? Her dad doesn't handle this quite as well and yells at her making her terribly upset so we are butting heads a little ?.
Also, sorry, another q! I think she may have a little anxiety, she constantly has her hands in her mouth, like nervous nail biting, worries about being alone and is quite reluctant to try news things at first. Do any of your lovely people have any tips how to help her? I'm big on the reassurance, love and being overly excited clapping like a seal when she does something she's afraid to do, Is there anything else I can do? I just want her to feel safe and happy and be able to be the amazing mini human she is ?
Thank you for reading!!
4 Replies
If she has anxiety, affected sleep can come from that too. No its not bad to have her sleep next to you if it helps you both.
You can do relaxation, and social stories and talk about emotions, give the anxiety a name and talk about it, not her. Just helping her know what shes feeling.
there are many many resources on line that all touch on it but I found seeing a psych helpful to explain it directly relating to her and sothen i know which resources Im looking for and which would be important to use.
http://www.positive-parents.org/2016/05/49-phrases-to-calm-and-anxious-c...
This is good. Its a lot &as I said its best to have a plan by understanding which few will really help her, then you can be consistent & hopefully see some change.
Is there a chance she might have worms? Possibly waking up when they are most active at night? Mightn't hurt to worm her just in case! Very common in kids that age.
I agree, get the anxiety sorted, that will lead to better sleep. If you are worried about her coming into your room, go into hers and sleep. It's easier to fade yourself out of her room than fade her out of yours.
Get her checked over medically. Some kids when they have low grade virus' will have more nightmares.
Some children become anxious and clingy when they know another baby is coming to mess with there existence.