11 Year Old Afraid to Sleep Alone

[KAM006]

My eleven year old son is afraid to sleep by himself. Up until last month he slept with us, his parents. Since school has started, we have him sleeping with his eight year old sister who is constantly complaining and not wanting him to sleep with her. He seems to have some fear about sleeping alone. We have tried nightlights, sleeping with the dog, etc. but nothing seems to work.

Also, he is always tired, he has indicated to us. We get him to bed by 9:00 p.m., with him falling asleep by 9:30 p.m. but he has to wake up by 6:30 p.m. We cannot seem to get him to bed any earlier.

However, our greatest problem is that he is extremely fearful of sleeping alone. What are your suggestions.

Also, do they make a children's sleep pill? He is restless throughout much of his sleep.

Thank you.

[maylene1852]

My daughters are 6 and 7. They give me a hard time at night. When they were babies they were breastfed so we did cosleep. At about age 3 the transitioned to their own beds. We recently were 6 months in a shelter now have 7 months out tho. They share a room. They complain of being scared so initialy I let them have lights and tv on. But they stay awake all night playin and are tired for school. So I started unpluggin tv after they fell asleep but now they wake up 3am wantin it. 7 yr old said she couldn't sleep so I just got upset and even shut off their bedroom light. The little one whined a bit but fell back to sleep right away. The oldest is still fussing. Maybe its all too stimulating and I'm starting to think the scared of the dark is just an excuse to stay up. Wat do u think?

[Cirque]

I have been reading the posts on this topic for the past 45 minutes, and besides a few horrendous comments, I have a better understanding.  My son is 10 and doesn't want to sleep on his own.  We have tried talking, punishing and everything else under the sun.  But after reading what some of these other pre-teens and teenagers have gone through, I realize that I may not be enough to help him.  He is already a patient at a child behavior clinic.  I just now need to take one step further.  Thank you all for giving us some insight on what could be going on inside his head.

[clmpulling]

Thank you for your insights. I have spoken to several your age range and found this is a common concern.

[Mufinthe]

Oh my goodness, I didn't think people like you still existed in this day and age. I'm afraid I only feel pity for your children if that really is your idea of parenting in 2011.

[vannessa308172]

Well I'm 12 yrs. And I don't know why iam afarid of sleeping alone that's how I got to this site! I'm scared to death and my mommy gets annoyed bby me. I think I need help!

[naturegirl25]

Thank you and Amen!  My daughter has a hard time sleeping, but we know that Jesus and only Jesus is the answer.  The spiritual world is real, everything is not what you see.  Children need love from their parents, but most of all protection and love from Jesus.  He IS...