Free Webinar: 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Helping a Child Who is Scared to Sleep

It was bedtime. While most parents were breathing a sigh of relief and doing a mental countdown, I was starting to tense up. I was tired. No, I was exhausted. I hadn’t had a good night sleep in months. We were on a bad run.

Anxiety had focused all of it’s fury at bedtime.

The questions started to pour from my child’s mouth before I even left the room.

Did you hear that?
Where are you going?
Can you sit here?
Did you see that?

Then came the rules…

Open the door a bit.
Turn on the bathroom light.
Cover me all the way up to my neck.
I need a drink.
I need to pee.

This was not a young child, this was a child in the grips of fear. Fear of his safety. Fear of our safety. Fear of an imminent attack. I wouldn’t learn the depth of his fear for a few more torturous months.

As a child therapist I deal with these type of issue all the time in my practice. But to deal with it as a parent, was a whole new ballgame.

I was exhausted. I honestly thought, I don’t know how much more I can take.

I thought objectively. What would I tell other parents to do? I tried to look at the situation as a therapist, not a mom. And finally all of my clinical skills that drained out of my sleep deprived brain, came pouring back.

I discovered his core fear. I listened to him. We made a plan. I built his skills. We set up challenges. And finally we started to make progress.

His mood improved. My mood improved. Our family improved. Because without sleep, no one does well.

Sleep struggles can be a slow torture that no one should have to endure long term!

From my two decades as a child therapist and more importantly, as a mom to three anxious kids, I’ve learned what to do and what not to do when dealing with sleep fears.

This week I am saving parents time and giving them a big short cut. In my free on-demand webinar, parents will learn 5 Mistakes to Avoid When Helping a Child Who is Scared to Sleep.

Because when you are sleep deprived and desperate, you don’t want to be doing things that inevitably won’t work.

The webinar is 30 minutes long and will play as soon as you sign up. If you aren’t ready to watch it now, save this link and click when you are ready. There is no pause button on this webinar, so find a time when you won’t be interrupted. But don’t wait too long, this webinar will be gone in a few days.
 

Click here to enroll and start watching now

Online on-demand class, How to Parent a Child Who is Scared to Sleep: