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10 Year old afraid of being alone

My daughter is very afraid of being alone and I am looking for a way to help her. She has spoken to me about it in the hope that I can help her solve the problem. Any problem she has and we cannot solve by discussing she knows and trusts that I will research and find a solution. She is a very intelligent and articulate girl full of fun and generally quite happy. I suspect her problem stems from when she was 4-5 she had to deal with a tremendous amount!! Her mum and I split up so of course she had to move house, but we did 50% custody for the next 4 years until work forced me move 50 miles away (I still see her frequently, but I am a weekend and dad now with a week night visit), both her grandparents died in a freak accident and a very close family friend who seemed totally healthy died within 5 months cancer. She had to deal with all this within the space of about 14 months, that’s such an awful amount for a young child to have to deal with. If she was younger it probably would not have been as bad but being as intelligent as she is she understood all that was going on.

Well that’s the background. Her fear seems to be that something bad is going to happen, someone will come in, break into the house, hurt her or someone she cares about. Even though she is never actually left alone there is always someone else in the house or garden. Even as a baby she never liked to play alone and still doesn't. She will always be reading a book or watching the television or on her computer.

In School, her popularity, marks, attendance etc could not be better, she loves the Girl Guides.

Oh she is also scared of the dark.

Thanks very much for any help you may be able to provide  
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Avatar universal
I would put her in some kind of sport. When I was her age I was scared of the same things (still have it a little bit) and when I went into sports it helped me a lot although it never fully heals it can get to a point to where she can handle being alone or in the dark for long periods of time and not be afraid. So my advise to you Unthred (real name who I do not know literaly) put her in things that work in teams/groups and also by herself that will raise her self-esteem (hopefully I spelled it right), I did team sports and taekwondo it helped me a lot.
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535822 tn?1443976780
Your daughter sounds like a realy great child, I am wondering if she has watched or heard certain things that have worried her, you say you have her at weekends so she lives with her Mom, has Mom recently got a new relationship, anything new or any family problem, has a new sibling arrived on yours or her Moms side . It could be she is upset, then there is also the possiblity that this gets her attention, if you communicate with her Mom, have you asked if she is like that with her. School is good so she isnt concerned there ,it stems from the two homes, it may be good to ask her pertinent questions of her life with them, does she like and get on with anyone new there. Same with your household .Good Luck
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