10 year old daughter will not sleep alone !

[RuthannW]

I have a 19 year old and a 10 year old who shared a room untill 4 years ago.
The 10 year old has not stayed a single night in her room alone, she says she is too afraid, We even
have a alarm system on the entire house.  I told her to sleep with lights and tv on and door open.
I even purchased her new bedroom furniture, thinking this might help. She will stay in there when friend stays the night. But when the 19 yo goes away for the night, the 10yo wants to sleep with us or us with her.
She even seems afraid in the daylight, runs from room to room. We Never scare her or anything like that. NO SCARY MOVIES EITHER.  The 19yo will one day move out,.....then what do I do?
any suggestion? thanks,
Ruth Ann

[lady67]

Hi Ruth,
I am going through the same thing with my 12 year old.  She has slept with me and my husband since she was a baby.  She also will stay in her room when she has friends over, but when she is alone, she doesn't want to sleep in there.  We have a king sized bed so it really hasn't been a major problem until now.  She has grown up and still sleeps curled up in my back and it is giving me problems.  Her 17 year old sister slept in her own bed from the day she came home from the hospital and jokes with her about it all the time.  Unbeknown to us, the older told the 12 year old that "Mom and Dad have sex in that same bed."  It grossed the 12 year old out so bad that she started sleeping in her own room.  She did it for about a month and a half, but something really scared her a few weeks ago and she is back in our bed.  I don't know what I am going to do now.

Of course, I can't talk, I slept in the same bed as my mother until I got married.  Pretty weird huh?  My Dad had a stroke when I was younger and had to be put in a room with a hospital bed so I went in my mom's room and stayed there.

[RuthannW]

Thank you.

I was so glad to see and hear of someone else with the same problem.
No one in my family understands this, their children were never allowd to sleep
with the parents. We loved it when they were small, but now I am just happy I still
have the 19yo daughter home for the 10yo to sleep with. LOL
One day we will have our night life back, I pray. Ruth Ann