sudden phobia to sleep, please help

[nickysan]

My 18month old co sleeping baby girl has developed a phobia of sleeping and will do anything to avoid it. Any advice greatfully received.

It started when she was unwell, one bedtime, (i usually nurse her to sleep,) she suddenly became fixated on shadows in the bedroom and was desperate to leave the room, this continued with her not wanting to be in the bedroom at all, as soon as she wakes in the night, immediately insisting on going downstairs, saying 'shadow, worry". I have been letting her go off to sleep in other rooms, then taking her to bed and slowly she has stopped talking about the shadow and is happy to sit and play in the bedroom etc. But something is still not right, she gets so so so very tired but desperately avoids going to sleep, will not stay in the bedroom at bedtime, and now any other room that is associated with sleeping she will ask to leave, untill we end up in the kitchen. She wont go to sleep until 11pm and as soon as she wakes in the night will insist on leaving the bedroom and is staying awake for a couple of hours before she finally goes back off again. The days of gently and peacefully drifting off are long gone and we are desperate to have them back. We are both suffering from sleep deprivation. Desperate for advice.
nickysan

[Maluhia]

Can you find good story books at the library about going to bed/bedtime?
Can you talk to her in the day about why she wants to be awake when it's sleeping time?

[nickysan]

Thanks for your suggestions Maluhia, unfortunately she wont have anything to do with books near bedtime, I guess its because she associates them with quiet chilling time before sleep, and anything that even hints at sleep is a big no no, so for example if she is so tired she lays down on the floor, I couldn't pic her up and put her in my arms or nurse her and certainly couldn't take her to the bedroom but she will even melt down if i so much as wave a blanket in her direction (even to protect her head from the cold wooden floors). Perhaps I should try the talking again, when we have talked before she mentions the shadow and being worried, I have talked to her about shadows being fun, played games with our shadows etc, drawn pictures of the bedroom and surrounded the area she points out in the picture where the shadow is with hearts and sparkly lovely things........ soooooo stuck, don't know what to try next. Does anyone else have any similar experiences? night time fears in an 18month old, will it just be a case of time heals?

[Maluhia]

I really do think it's a developmental time/fear stage thing from the sounds of it. Could you read those books about good bedtimes (for the characters in the books) in the middle of the day as a story-time rather than bed-time just to get the ideas into his head?