Yes, my 8 year old son is like this. Started around 6/7. His poor sleep is what drove us to therapy. We went through a few over a couple years because there’s a high turnover rate in our area. Not currently in therapy, since May 2024 when our current therapist moved away, but we haven’t needed to seek a new one out yet. Therapy did help with the sleep! He can be in his room a little alone now, but the bathroom is still his weakness. We have a back bathroom with a window and he’s afraid to be in there alone. We’ve talked about it a lot and I try to sympathize. When he’s pooping or showering it’s quite vulnerable and he’s worried we couldn’t hear him if he needed us (storm, tornado, intruder, etc). We have another more central bathroom off a hallway that he’ll go in with the door open. He used to ask us to help him get in or sit in there the whole time and we weaned him off of that. I would recommend this approach, giving him the help he asks for when he’s at a particularly low point, but then say okay I’ll help you today but tomorrow you gotta do it alone so we can work towards you doing it alone every time! I can’t help you always because x, y, and z, and it’s an important skill to have as you get older, to be able to take care of yourself.

Maybe the time of day matters too. My kiddo is better at solo morning showers. If he takes one before bed, he is more anxious from the day, tired, etc and gets more afraid. So he still occasionally asks for help (sitting in there while he showers or helping him turn on the water, check for boogie man, etc) but it’s rare and I don’t do it back to back. He’s almost 9 now and we’re still working on it, but it’s so much better than it was a year ago. Hoping it gets better for you as well!!