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Trying to Make Sense of It
At first, I wondered if it was anxiety.
Kids don’t always have the words to describe what they’re feeling. Sometimes physical discomfort is just emotional stress in disguise.
Had something happened at school?
Was she having nightmares?
I sat beside her and gently asked.
“Did something scare you today?”
“No.”
“Did someone say something mean?”
“No.”
“Are you worried about anything?”
She shook her head every time.
Then she looked at me with those wide, honest eyes and said something that sent a small chill through me:
“It’s just the bed.”
The Pattern
Over the next week, it became a routine.
Every night, just before falling asleep, she’d say it.
“Mom… it’s happening again.”
And every night, I’d check.
I changed the sheets completely. Washed everything. Even replaced the mattress topper. I checked for springs, lumps, uneven surfaces—anything that might cause discomfort.
Nothing.
Yet she kept insisting.
“It’s too tight.”
Sometimes she’d climb out of bed and stand beside it, hesitant to get back in.
Other nights, she’d curl up at the very edge, like she was trying to avoid something in the center.
That’s when I started to feel uneasy.
Because whatever this was…
It wasn’t going away.
The First Night She Refused to Sleep
One evening, things escalated.
“I don’t want to sleep in my bed tonight.”
That was new.
“Why not?” I asked gently.
She hesitated, then whispered:
“It gets worse when it’s dark.”
A knot formed in my stomach.
“What gets worse?”
“The tight feeling.”
I tried to stay calm.
“You’re safe here,” I assured her. “There’s nothing in your bed.”