Night time separation anxiety in a 3 year old

[Sabine200]

My son is 3 1/2 and used to sleep very well until 3-4 months ago. Now he says he is scared to go to bed, wants all the lights on and wakes up several times a night some night. Often he gets up in the middle of the night and goes to sleep on the floor of our room without us noticing or on the sofa in the living room (which is closer to our room). He asks us to stay with him in his room until he falls asleep but then cries as soon as he waks up and noticed we are gone so we are trying to avoid doing this. He wants to come and sleep in our bed which we refuse as we know that once we start giving in, we're doomed. We are seriously starting to feel exhausted right now and I am 2 month pregnant so feel even more tired. My son doesn't know yet about the pregnacy but even if he suspects something - which is possible - his sleep problems started before that so I assume it is not related. It is possible however that the problems have increased recently but I am not sure. How can we re-assure our son? Help!

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

They key will be when your son regains the state when he sleeps through the night and stops fully waking up during the night. This will happen, over time. Be sure you stick to a stable sleep schedule - that is, that he go to bed and wake up at the same time each day. What is happening now is that he is waking up during stages of sleep that normally involve only partial waking. In the meantime, stick to what you are doing. You are handling it well. When young children wake up at night they are all alone and this frightens them. That is why he seeks you out. But you are doing fine, and eventually he will stop waking up durng the night.

[fammily1]

Well he might have sence there is something differnt with both you and you husband. OR I would hat to say is that you might have a gost in you house I don't now. You might want to ask him why he is not likeing his room and why he wont go to sleep in his room. He might beable to tell. That all I  can think of. Hope to here from you soon :)

[nelleb]

I also have a 3 1/2 year old who has just started doing the same thing. He wants to have all the lights on, screams when I leave the room, makes up any excuse to come and see me. I have been laying with him also to calm him down but as soon as he awakes he starts all over again. This can happen 3-6 times a night. I am also at my whits end as I have a 17 month old who is teething and hasn't slept thru for ages. So I am dreaming of my next decent nights sleep.Good luck, please let me know what works for you?
nelleb

[mamma1]

A related discussion, sleep disorders was started.