Hi, I am new to this web site but am at my wits end over my 7 year old son and would appreciate some advice.
My son has always been a very independant, happy child until a couple of months ago when he began to have issues being alone in the house. The problem started with him beginning to be afraid to sleep alone at night. He would cry and work himself up to the point where he was hysterical and would tell us he was scared of burglars breaking into the house. We tried the usual methods of reassuring him, sitting with him until he fell asleep and trying to support him in these new fears but none of them have worked. It got to the point where he was choosing to sleep on the floor in our bedroom in a sleeping bag rather than be in his room alone.
The problem then escalated to the point where he now follows us around the house as he is too scared to be alone. He will follow me up to the toilet, the shower, will sit for hours un-occupied and bored just so that he doesnt have to be in a room on his own. When we try and make him spend some time on his own there are usually tears and he will resort back to these worries about burglars and sometimes ghosts. It is getting increasingly frustrating and also I am convinced that at times he is simply saying these things just as an excuse to be following us round.
I am divorced so my son spends time at his dads house on a weekend and during the week. When he is at his dads he never voices these worries or issues, is happy to play outside on his own, in his bedroom and will go to sleep every night with no problems. This tells me that his worries go deeper than 'burglars and ghosts' as surely if this was the case he would be scared of them wherever he was.
He is also developing strange habits in other ways. He has a big obsession with the time at the moment, asking every few minutes what time it is, how long things take, how many hours/minutes/seconds there are in a day. It is becoming something that he fixates on and I am un-sure as to whether this is normal either.
My boyfriend moved into our home at the beginning of the year, something which my son was (and is) happy about. I am sure that many people will assume that these problems stem from this and yet I feel confident that this is not the case. The only problem we have in that area is that each time I give my boyfriend a hug or a kiss my son will have to jump in and have a hug or a kiss too. He is fixated on how many hugs or kisses my boyfriend has had per day and how many he, my son, has had per day. If I am busy, for example cooking the tea, and say that I cant drop everything to hug or kiss him, my son will cry and become very upset. This is my son who uptil a few months ago never used to cry and was always very 'grown up' in that respect.
I have tried to reason with him, explain things to him, comfort and reassure him and yet none of these things are working. It is absolutely exhausting with the constant need for attention and reassurance and is becoming a massive problem in our family. I am un-sure where to turn from here as no matter what I do he is not responding to our input.
I would appreciate any advice, similar experiences, etc. Thank you in advance!! xx
My son has always been a very independant, happy child until a couple of months ago when he began to have issues being alone in the house. The problem started with him beginning to be afraid to sleep alone at night. He would cry and work himself up to the point where he was hysterical and would tell us he was scared of burglars breaking into the house. We tried the usual methods of reassuring him, sitting with him until he fell asleep and trying to support him in these new fears but none of them have worked. It got to the point where he was choosing to sleep on the floor in our bedroom in a sleeping bag rather than be in his room alone.
The problem then escalated to the point where he now follows us around the house as he is too scared to be alone. He will follow me up to the toilet, the shower, will sit for hours un-occupied and bored just so that he doesnt have to be in a room on his own. When we try and make him spend some time on his own there are usually tears and he will resort back to these worries about burglars and sometimes ghosts. It is getting increasingly frustrating and also I am convinced that at times he is simply saying these things just as an excuse to be following us round.
I am divorced so my son spends time at his dads house on a weekend and during the week. When he is at his dads he never voices these worries or issues, is happy to play outside on his own, in his bedroom and will go to sleep every night with no problems. This tells me that his worries go deeper than 'burglars and ghosts' as surely if this was the case he would be scared of them wherever he was.
He is also developing strange habits in other ways. He has a big obsession with the time at the moment, asking every few minutes what time it is, how long things take, how many hours/minutes/seconds there are in a day. It is becoming something that he fixates on and I am un-sure as to whether this is normal either.
My boyfriend moved into our home at the beginning of the year, something which my son was (and is) happy about. I am sure that many people will assume that these problems stem from this and yet I feel confident that this is not the case. The only problem we have in that area is that each time I give my boyfriend a hug or a kiss my son will have to jump in and have a hug or a kiss too. He is fixated on how many hugs or kisses my boyfriend has had per day and how many he, my son, has had per day. If I am busy, for example cooking the tea, and say that I cant drop everything to hug or kiss him, my son will cry and become very upset. This is my son who uptil a few months ago never used to cry and was always very 'grown up' in that respect.
I have tried to reason with him, explain things to him, comfort and reassure him and yet none of these things are working. It is absolutely exhausting with the constant need for attention and reassurance and is becoming a massive problem in our family. I am un-sure where to turn from here as no matter what I do he is not responding to our input.
I would appreciate any advice, similar experiences, etc. Thank you in advance!! xx
Best of luck!!! I really do get how exhausting it can be at times... trust me. If you even just need to chat or vent, please feel free to send me a note 
) Anyway, these games have since been banned from my house for quite a while, and I have tried everything- and my son is still afraid to do things alone. No amount of reasoning and reassurance seems to work. 
