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Give your daughter some melatonin, stat! It'll help her fall asleep quickly and "painlessly". Because it'll make her too sleepy to worry about her fears. She'll fall asleep pretty much as soon as her head hits the pillow. There are two caveats, and only two: (1) melatonin has a side effect of vivid dreams, and (2) sitting in a bright room or in front of a screen after taking it can negate the effect.
Because right now, your daughter is starting to associate sleep and her room with fear (from shadows/monsters/whatever) and boredom (from insomnia). If you don't break that association, your daughter could develop lifelong sleep issues. After all, adult mental problems have their roots in childhood.
Is there any history of mental health issues on either side of the family? Anxiety, OCD, schizophrenia, anything? Be honest. If there is, this is likely the first signs of it developing. Consult your pediatrician, and perhaps a pediatric psychologist.
You could try positive reinforcement. In other words, she gets a present out of the present grab bag in the morning if she stayed in bed all night without bothering you. (fill it with little things, like my pretty pony figurines, hand me down toys from family with a teen girl who has outgrown that kind of stuff).
If security love object and rewards don't help, seriously, you need to see her pediatrician. There are kids whose anxiety at this age is helped by a low dose of an SSRI, like sertraline.
My daughter did this around that age K or 1st grade. Her brother told her a delightful story about how a man in a white van was going around kidnapping kids (which was not true and he was dealt with accordingly). She was scared for weeks. We have a dog though and in time she was reassured that our dog "K" would alert us to and get the bad guys if there ever were any. She is 8 now and doing great.
My coworker gives her 5 yo melatonin gummies every night per her pediatrician'a order. Maybe call and ask about that?
Ditto others on routine and changes.
Please realize that melantonin helps with falling asleep but it will not keep a child asleep. It can also cause vivid dreams that wake a child up. Know also the with melantonin, less is better than more - the dosage in the normal gummies or pills should really be cut in half or in a fourth to start.
Between two tenths of a milligram and five milligrams 60 minutes before bedtime is a typical dose for adults, while children should take a smaller dose.
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