January '05 Peanut Gallery

Annika's been having trouble falling asleep lately because she's "scared." She doesn't even know why she's scared.

I thought it was just an excuse to get out of bed but sometimes she's shaking. I think her imagination is going haywire. She's already sleeping with a lamp on, so it's not darkness.

So I thought maybe if I give in and let her sister sleep in her room, then she won't be alone, and maybe her mind will be off it.... but she still mentioned being afraid (though she did go to sleep eventually, and after a few minor shenanigans).

I just don't know what else to do. Anyone else having problems with nighttime fear? Maybe this is a 4-year-old thing.

Molly will claim she is scared at bedtime, but she'll also wake up in the middle of the night with night terrors and she'll be shaking and jumping away from things we can't see - It gets pretty freaky. I take the night terrors pretty seriously because it is clear she is terrified - and not quite awake.

When she says she is scared in general (lately she's taken to being too scared to pick up her toys, for example) I usually ask her about why she is scared and generally with a subject change, she's fine.

Both the girls sleep in the same room and Annie has also learned to say "I'm scared." So sometimes they both gang up on me until I have to let them play with their light up toys from Disneyland. That seems to distract them enough from being scared to fall asleep.