My daughter's homesickness is affecting her wellbeing

My nine-year-old daughter Ella gets incredibly homesick meaning that she misses out on everything which makes childhood so much fun; slumber parties and camping trips to name but two.

We have tried everything to make a night away from home without mum and dad easier on her, but she always returns home with a “sick tummy” or “headache” before too long.

From filling in her friends' parents on her anxieties to scheduling a phone call home at a certain time to assuage any fears, nothing seems to work.

Ella considers her chronic homesickness a massive source of shame, and I know for a fact that the weight of it is causing untold strain as she navigates school life while trying to hide the burden of it all.

When other little girls burst with excitement at the prospect of a sleepover or sleepaway camp, my child arrives home, concern etched all over her face as she pleads with me to come up with an excuse to avoid having to go.

I don't know where her fear originated or why she harbours such fear that something will happen me or her dad if she's not under the same roof as us, but what I do know is she can't live like this much longer.

The older she gets the harder it will be to enjoy pre-teen and teenage life, but I don't know what to do.

From spraying my perfume of her wrist when she heads for a night away to offering her a reward if she manages to make it to the following morning, I'm at a loss and can't bear seeing her so distressed by something her friends don't seem to suffer from.

She calls herself a “freak” for being scared to stay away from home and insists she must be a “baby” when the knots start developing in her tummy at the prospect of a night away from her own bed.

I could console myself that she will grow out of it, but the longer it goes on, the more I fear that the issue will intensify.

What should I do?