I don't know if this is the right section - I see most posts here are for babies.
The Background:
We spent years co-sleeping with our babies, but now they are 7.5 and 4. My 7.5 DD has always had a hard time sleeping by herself. Now she goes to sleep with 4 yo brother (while my husband or I have to lay with them until they actually fall asleep). DD usually wakes between 11 and midnight and comes into our bed. Lately DS (4 year old) has been coming into our bed upon waking, so now there are four of us in our bed. My husband has started going into DD's bed when this happens because otherwise we don't have enough room and we don't get enough sleep (even though we have a King bed).
The questions:
1. Is this normal? Will it ever end?
DD (7.5) says she is too scared to fall asleep alone and too scared to go back to sleep when she wakes around midnight (when she climbs in with us). When asked what she is afraid of, she said she's afraid of someone stealing her, etc. She generally really dislikes being alone in the house (e.g. she doesn't want to be upstairs if we are downstairs). In all honesty, when DH is travelling with work, I too get scared (noises in the house, etc.) Of course I have NEVER told her this and she wouldn't know - she thinks I'm very brave, lol, but I'm wondering is it a genetic thing to be afraid of stuff like this?
2. Are we doing the right thing by laying with her/them until they are asleep, and allowing them into our bed? We've ALWAYS tried to do whatever we can to meet their needs and DH says we should continue to do so. Still, I just wanted confirmation of all the smart cookies here of whether we should do something different to help her not be so afraid, which would help her to sleep alone (we've tried talking about it, nothing works).
Help!
The Background:
We spent years co-sleeping with our babies, but now they are 7.5 and 4. My 7.5 DD has always had a hard time sleeping by herself. Now she goes to sleep with 4 yo brother (while my husband or I have to lay with them until they actually fall asleep). DD usually wakes between 11 and midnight and comes into our bed. Lately DS (4 year old) has been coming into our bed upon waking, so now there are four of us in our bed. My husband has started going into DD's bed when this happens because otherwise we don't have enough room and we don't get enough sleep (even though we have a King bed).
The questions:
1. Is this normal? Will it ever end?
DD (7.5) says she is too scared to fall asleep alone and too scared to go back to sleep when she wakes around midnight (when she climbs in with us). When asked what she is afraid of, she said she's afraid of someone stealing her, etc. She generally really dislikes being alone in the house (e.g. she doesn't want to be upstairs if we are downstairs). In all honesty, when DH is travelling with work, I too get scared (noises in the house, etc.) Of course I have NEVER told her this and she wouldn't know - she thinks I'm very brave, lol, but I'm wondering is it a genetic thing to be afraid of stuff like this?
2. Are we doing the right thing by laying with her/them until they are asleep, and allowing them into our bed? We've ALWAYS tried to do whatever we can to meet their needs and DH says we should continue to do so. Still, I just wanted confirmation of all the smart cookies here of whether we should do something different to help her not be so afraid, which would help her to sleep alone (we've tried talking about it, nothing works).
Help!
