Fear of Being Alone

[Boosistas]

My 9 year old son has a big fear of being by himself.  If he walks out the room, he will check back to make sure we're there.  He can't sleep by himself.  He only wants me.  If his father tries to sleep w/him, he cries & refuses to go to sleep.  He use to play in his room by himself, but now he refuses to do that.  Any suggestions for what we can do?  Thanks!

[AnnieBrooke]

You might have a counselor talk to him.

[Mrs_teddy_bear]

I would talk to him and ask him what he is afraid of exactly. It may be as simple as he watched a scary movie and needs some reassurance. It could also be more complicated. You need to get down to the cause of his fear and only then can you really begin to help fix the problem. Does your 9 yr old have any siblings or friends who may have scared him? He could be doing it to get attention. So, like I said it could be any number of things.