UPDATED: Questions About Extreme Fear in 5Yo.

Give the child his meds! Is he seeing a specialist? Are you sure he hasn't been anywhere with anyone who may have abused him in some way? Make sure as Dawn said to report this. It's possible he may be having a reaction to even his stay @ the hospital, hospitals can be scary places especially @ night when a child is used to quiet @ night, people that he didn't know coming into his room @ all hours, people talking, walking up & down the halls, etc..

Poor kid, poor Mama...I hope he can settle back into his routine soon, I think THAT may just be what he needs, time to settle back in.

My son has aspergers and is 7 years old. He has gone through so many stages since he was 5 with all kinds of sensory stuff and fear of the dark was one of them. He still has a little fear of the dark but it is getting better. As he gets older it helps. When he was 5 he wouldn't go into rooms or downstairs until the lights were on and I was with him or he would want me to get whatever he needed from that room. I said to him that I would go with him and we can get the item together. While we were going there I would make a joke or talk about other stuff that was funny to him as we were headed into the "dreaded" room. This way I kept his mind distracted from the fear and once we got there I would say o.k. that was great and praise him for coming with me. That wasn't so bad I would say "easy peasy". My son would then respond but it's scary or it's dark, and I said to him "yes it is but we did it" yeah and then tickle him. We continued everyday to work with our son and that's what it takes sometimes with kids on the spectrum. Now at 7 when he has nightmares he wants me to sleep with him and I do to give him the comfort and lessen an anxiety and the next day we try again. As a parent of a kid on the spectrum it can get overwhelming at times too and its important to keep calm and remember this too shall pass. You would be surprised at just how much our kids pick up on our moods and attitudes without us realizing it. I have a question for you. You mention that he was hospitalized did his behavior of "fear of the dark" and "hearing things" begin after hospitalization? I'm sure for a little 5 year old that was a scary thing and anxiety from just that event could be triggering things now. Good luck and give your little guy a lot of love. I know its tough.

He sounds a lot like my 13yo son. When he was about 10 he became a different child. He would get that fearful look on his face if we tried to discipline him. We never abused him or caused him harm. He swore we weren't his real parents (which we are) and that he was going to walk from TN to TX to live with his big brother. Lights, noise, some fabrics, bothered him. Then we had him diagnosed and turns out he has Aspergers Syndrome.

There was a time he would not sleep in his own room but on the floor next to my side of the bed. That went on for over a month. No explanation or reason we could see. He hates loud noises, crowds, bright lights.

Since he's gone through puberty things have calmed some but when we moved to San Antonio I put him in public school and his anxiety went through the roof. So I'm back homeschooling him because I could not drag him out of bed to go, nor would I even try. He's better, still has his obsessions, paces a LOT when he's thinking, gets overwhelmed easily but he's learning how to deal with public places a bit better. He will occasionally place his own order when we got out somewhere. He tries to make eye contact but it is usually quick or not at all, usually not at all. AS makes it hard to make eye contact.

I would have him seen by a pediatric neurologist. That is who diagnosed my son. Have you noticed any balance problems or rigidity? Joshua is not very flexible and I read that AS kids tend to have balance problems and very stiff muscles. The neurologist tried to get him to allow her to bend his arms and do other things and he was not very flexible, even a chiropractor I once took him too noticed that.

I do give my son melatonin and he's never had issues with bad dreams. AS kids tend not to sleep deeply and I noticed that when Joshua isn't on it, he's super grumpy the next day. It just seems to put him in that deep sleep he needs even with all his tossing and turning.

Best of luck to you. I know it's difficult to understand what makes our children behave the way they do but with Joshua I knew something was up...something bigger than himself that he couldn't control.

I think he needs his meds, S..

Make sure that you tell the doctor all of this away from your son. You do not want him to hear your conversation with the doctor.

I'm so sorry. Maybe some other moms have some ideas for you?

Dawn

has he been tested for strep? sometimes it hides in the brain

He started having these fearful symptoms at exactly the time he went off his meds, right?

Tell the doctor tomorrow everything you said here -- hold nothing back-- and ask "Is this possibly a result of his being off his meds?"

It's very likely the doctor will tell you yes and will restart the meds. Did you make the call to take him off his meds on your own or did a doctor advise it at the time he left the hospital? If a doctor advised it -- why? (Talk to the doctor at the checkup tomorrow about that; the regular doctor your son sees should be in contact with any other doctors who treat him and should know if another doctor advises you to take your son off a med.) If you did it on your own, talk to the doctor about why you did so, what you thought was the problem with the meds, and please, if you do it again, do it with the close advice and monitoring of the doctor.

Talk with his psychiatrist alone about these new behaviors. Maybe some talk therapy can help him or maybe it might take some new medication to bring it under control.

I would try CBT therapy first as is it specific for anxiety issues...you can Google it. The CBT alone is about 60% effective in helping childhood anxiety. With medication it can bring it up to 80%, but why not try therapy alone first as see if that would help.

But we here are not doctors just other moms...I did just research this subject on Google for a friend. Sending you a hug...none of us like to see our children suffer.

And my son went through a stage from about five and a half until almost seven...where he didn't even want to go to the bathroom alone and slept with a lot of lights on...we cut out all scarey shows/movies even if we didn't think they were scarey but seemed to bother my son. He was almost through it then Halloween came and every store had a big display...he could not go shopping with me for about six weeks they terrified him. My four year old didn't even blink or have one bother...