She wont let me use the bathroom alone. She wakes up nearly every night and climbs in bed with me (we stopped cosleeping years ago, but the kids are always welcome to sleep by me if they need me). Right now, she is crying hysterically because she is going to spend the night at Grandma's later this week and I wont be staying with her and her sister.

She has started showing physical signs of hitting puberty. Is this all a hormone thing? Or does my child need psychiatric help?

PLEASE! ADVICE!

Every kid hits stages at different times, but I remember when mine turned 9 she became very, very fearful because suddenly, not only could she imagine every horrible event that *might* happen, but she realized that horrible events *do* happen! It was the blend of her imagination with her sudden newly found grasp on world reality that just came crashing down on her. As we talked, over a series of months, about how it is a. extremely unlikely that any of those events will ever happen and b. even if one were to, worrying about it won't prevent it and c. use common sense to stay out of harms way and be confident in your own common sense and d. know that the adults who care for you also do their best to keep you out of harms way, she calmed down significantly and then finally emerged more confident and aware than ever before.

Please God, grant me the serenity, the courage and the PATIENCE to handle my child in a sane manner.....

:prayers:

Is this puberty? I am beyond my wit's end at the explosive demonic mood swings here.

The mood swings were very sudden? Have you considered checking her for strep? I ask because strep has a newly diagnosed problem where the immune system attacks the brain and one of the symptoms is sudden onset extreme anxiety - being afraid to be left alone.

no signs of being sick. I have decided that it is in fact hormones.

the weird thing about strep Pandas is that strep itself might not show up as a child being sick, just the mood swings.

Hannah, also 10, doesn't act like this in fact she has never been a very cuddly affectionate child. Last night she came in our room and asked if she could sleep with us. Couldn't answer what was wrong... just said "I don't know". I let her lay with us for a bit and then she went back to her room. Was VERY unlike her though. I also wondered if it's just puberty.