Does My Five Year Old Daughter Want Attention or Is She Not Tired At All?

by Haily
(Virginia)

When my daughter was born she would sleep all night from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m. and when she started growing up, she has been sleeping from 7 p.m. to 10 a.m. and would wake up refreshed and would take 1-2 hours of naps and still go back to bed at 7 p.m. and wake up at 10 a.m. It was wonderful.

Lately, my daughter and i moved out of state to move to another state and she's 5 1/2 and lately she doesn't want to go to bed she says "my bed is moving" , "i'm scared" , "i see shadows" , or "i'm not tired, mom" and when I'm there reading her a book she falls asleep. I tried putting her in bed by 10 but by 1 a.m. or 5 a.am she wakes up and starts crying and screaming, but when i go see her she goes to bed and waits for me to sleep with her.

During the day I make her read stories, she eats well, she takes a shower, and she plays, she helps me clean but when it's night-time, she makes a big deal about it.

My husband and i have made her room comfortable as can be, she has two night-lights, she has a tv (that sometimes she wakes up, i ask her if she wants to watch tv, so she could fall asleep, and she starts screaming "NOOOOOOOOO i hate tv I'm tired") and she likes to confuse us by saying shes afraid of the light, so we turn off the lights and then she says shes scared for us to turn on the lights, or sometimes she says she doesn't want to sleep in her room because shes scared, that she rather sleep in the couch, or with us. But my husband and I are making her sleep in her room by herself.

And at this point we have pulled two all-nighter and until she would fall asleep and during the day she seems fine. I have tried everything from making a board of her behavior and tell her how she has been during the week, taking her ds, movies and everything away and she still doesn't understand. As far from now i'm losing hope and i don't know what else to do.

So my question is.. What should i do?