scared 3 year old won't sleep in room

[lgliser]

I'm asking this question for a friend.  Around the 4th of July my friend's 3.5 year old claimed to be scared to sleep in his own room anymore.  He is really scared of fireworks and they kept going off in the neighborhood.  Well it's August now and he still screams - absolutely hysterically - if she tries to put him in his room.  So he slept on a blanket by her bed.  Next he slept IN her bed.  Now he won't even go to sleep unless she's in bed WITH him.  He keeps playing the scared card. 

I must say, my 3.5 year olds have never done anything like this (been so very "scared") so I guess I can't say a whole lot without having been there myself.  But I really think he's playing her at this point!  She really wants her room back to herself.  I feel like if it were one of my kids doing this, (at the age of almost FOUR for pete's sake!) that I would just put them in their room and that's that. 

Another thing - he does have a new baby brother.  He's 7 months old now and the baby slept in her room until about a month ago.  So maybe he is/was jealous?

I was just wondering if anyone had some tips I could pass along? 

[~*Nicole*~]

If he was really scared of them and they kept going off in the neighborhood the whole thing is spawned from a legitimate fear....which is hard to dismiss as a mommy. In any event, she probably does need to just put him in his room and do some sleep training so that he can gradually get used to his own bed again. Maybe a nightlight and promising to check on him in 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, then when she goes to bed.

Recently I've been telling my 2 year old who tries to stall bedtime and keep me in her room that I have a lot of mommy things I have to do before bed--the dishes, vacuuming, clean up toys, etc. and that then I need to put my pajamas on and go to sleep b/c I am so tired and she's let me leave the room. Maybe she can tell him she has to do laundry or something equally boring and that she'll come check on him when she is done?

But if I was her I'd work on getting him back into his own room.