my 9 year old daughter has been struggling with anxiety recently and it’s showing specially at night. She’s waking up every night in the middle of the night with intrusive thoughts or thinking that there’s a bee on her bed and starts complaining about her pillow. I’ve tried every meditation, relaxation story to get her to go back to sleep but it’s taking her about an hour to sleep again. She started seeing a therapist recently but still not improving her sleep. I’m so exhausted from the lack of sleep and of how emotional draining it is to help her go back to sleep. Any ideas as to why is her sleep interrupted every single night and what to do? Thank you!!
So sorry to hear that! Anxiety can unfortunately impact sleep and our children’s fears can show up and disrupt their sleep. Have you tried melatonin? Many kids with anxiety and ocd have lower melatonin levels. Also, it can help to address these fears and intrusive thought (themes) during the day and tackle it head on. That way it doesn’t ooze into her sleep state as frequently.
