Refusal to go alone to his room
My 5 year old son began refusing to go to his room alone about a month ago. He is saying it's because he had a nightmare about skeletons and is scared to go there alone. I'm not sure if this is an attention getting behaviour or if he has slipped into some phase where he's actually scared of something in that room or both. His explanations about what he's afraid of are flimsy. He doesn't want to talk about it. He's very belligerent and has been refusing to do anything and everything I ask ever since he was about two, so when he's difficult to deal with I'm not surprised, but do you think this is part of the same difficult attention seeking behaviour, or is he really scared? He doesn't seem like it some of the time, others he does.
Either way, I don't know what to do about it. I've tried a little monster exorcism ceremony, but that didn't work. I've tried going with him and obliging the unrelenting demands to accompany him, But he's not getting over it. If anything, it's getting worse. He was already sleeping in my bed, and now there's not a chance in the world that I could get him to sleep alone anytime soon unless I can solve this problem.
1 Answers
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Total shot in the dark, since I don't know your son...
Maybe there's some kind of item that can provide a level of comfort so he won't feel he's by himself. A stuffed animal, a toy, or something you can tell a story around that will help (this is a magic ball that keeps monsters away...).
Also, there's a book we have called "Go Away, Bad Dreams!" by Susan Hill. It's a children's book that may possibly have themes that overlap with some of the things your son is going through. If nothing else, maybe reading it to him will lead to finding out what's really bothering him.
