Help my 6 yr old sleep walks

Darci - posted on 02/25/2013

The daughter I wrote this about is now almost 10 and has pretty much stopped sleep walking. She does take melatonin at night before bed b/c she will lay there literally for HOURS without going to sleep.

June - posted on 02/25/2013

My 8 year old sleeps walks and and using the bath room around the house I don't wanna put her on MED's . I use to do it to but I grew out of it.... what could I do to help her

Kelli - posted on 09/17/2010

my six year old daughter sleep walks too one night when our door was locked she tried to unlock it we asked what she was doing she did not anwser now i just make sure she is safe but if i dont ask questions she seems to go right back to bed quicker than when i bothered her maybe my solution might be not what everyone would do but i always made sure my daughter did not get hurt

Elizabeth - posted on 09/11/2010

Since no one else has mentioned it and it may help one or more of you I thought I'd just say: There is some evidence to suggest a relationship between Food and Sleep issues.
Some symptoms list on the web site (http://www.plantpoisonsandrottenstuff.in...) are:
Insomnia
Nightmares
Night terrors
Night waking
"Noise" in head
Overactive brain
Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS)
Sleepwalking
The website gives the details for the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Elimination Diet to help you find out which foods are affecting you/your kids. I hope this helps.

Deanna - posted on 07/30/2010

I used to sleep walk as well. My parents were extra vigilant and I eventually grew out of it. However, there are door alarms that you can put on your doors that will make an awful, horrible sound anytime it is opened. You can also get them for the windows if you are worried about that as well.

Jennifer - posted on 04/12/2010

get a small latch lock for all of your doors (like the ones in bathroom stalls) and put it at the very top of the door out of her reach....only lock it at night before bed so you can be sure she does not leave the house....keep stairs and floor ways clear of obsticles so the child is not tripping and falling....and as always keep chemicals out of reach and locked away (you don't wan't her to ingest a chemical, in her sleep she may think it is a drink) Have a routine- bed time same time every night, have a bedtime ritual (shower, pj's brush teeth, read a book or something quiet to calm down BEFORE bed, and then bed...the same thing EVERY night....the room should be dark or only a small night light on and it should be quiet (no tv!) hope something in hear helps you!!!

Samantha - posted on 04/12/2010

my daughter did sleep walk for a while when she was 5, so i went to the library and read pretty much every book they had on the subject. Turns out they pretty much all say that the number one cause of sleep walking is a lack of sleep. Cause can be going to bed to late or problems like Tamika's child had. If your child has breathing problems it could be causing her to not get proper sleep due to waking up frequently that you may never notice. I would start with trying to get her in bed an hour earlier and see if that helps. with schools starting sometimes as early as 7:00am now days for a 6/7 year old to get enough sleep they may need to be in bed as early as 7:30 or 8;00.

Amber - posted on 04/04/2010

I am having the same issue and like a post before, My daugther also has night terrors. The sleep walking usually dont bother me too much cause we can get hr back in bed. Its when the sleepwalking and night terrors happen at the same time that scares me. She literally screams at the top of her lungs and it takes ALOT to calm her down. I know if they're sleep walking and stuff its not good to wake them up abruptly, so I try to be subtle when shes also having a terror. I was told by family that its no big deal and she'll grow out of it, but it scares me very bad. She'll go running thru the house and with dogs and 3 other kids, I dont always know what is put on the floor after i go to sleep. Should I bring this up to he pedi the next time i have to take her?

Tandi - posted on 01/01/2010

My son has done this since the day he could walk. Here is what we have done to keep him safe. We installed alarms on all doors going outside. These are little things that have a maganate on the door, and one on the frame, when the connection breaks it goes off. I think they cost $15-$20. You can turn them on or off, so they aren't going off all day long. We also put blue &/or green night lights in the parts of the house that there is no reason to be in at night. Like the kitchen, I read somewhere that blues and greens wake you up more than reds, so reds went into the bedrooms and bathrooms. I have seen a slight difference in the places he goes now. I also have noticed that it is connected with needing to go to the bathroom, however, making sure his bladder is empty before bedtime hasn't mattered. So just protecting them and preventing things is what I am doing!

Michelle - posted on 11/30/2009

My six year old sleep walks too! If u r scared she might try to walk out of the house or things like that that could hurt her then one suggestion would b to create a few small obsticles that would get in her way and probably wake her up or u up! U dont want to wake her up b shaking her or anything but when she goes to bed put a chair in a place where she would have to run into it a little on order to get out of her room! She might bump her shin or something but it will prob take her out of that stage of sleep!(Some of u may think"why would u put her in position to hurt herself) but a bump on the shin is much better than walking out the door and getting hit by a car or many of the other much worse things that could happen! I am by no means a doctor but it is something u could try! Also if u r still awake and she comes into the living room while sleep walking and doesnt go back to bed when prompted then flick the living room lights on and off and this will trigger her brain to wake up! (my doc said to do these things and they helped a great deal) Good luck!

Gladys - posted on 11/26/2009

My child sleep walks and has night terror, it's not fun when I talked to her doctor he said give her bendryl , tried still didnt help plus didnt like giving her meds. she didnt need. Started seeing a new dr now going to take her to see what she says of i find snything useful I will be sure to share!

Michelle - posted on 11/05/2009

i used to sleep walk... have you talked to her ped? maybe consider anxiety meds if kids that age can take them

Tammy - posted on 10/25/2009

I would definitely talk to your doctor. Maybe nothing may be something neurological that should be addressed. My daughter was doing the same thing. Since it was so rare my dr. said when we see her doing it just make sure she is safe and out of harms way

Stacy - posted on 09/19/2009

Hi Darci,

I'm sorry I don't have any suggestions, my son sleep walks also, and I've never had to deal with it before, so I'm in the same boat as you, if anyone has suggestions it would be great!
Also, I don't know if this is any correlation, but my son usually has to go to the bathroom too, not every time though. Perhaps we need to make sure they are emptying their bladder before bed?

Stacy

Tamika - posted on 09/07/2009

sleepwalking (also called somnambulism). My 6 year old had a few nights of it before we had her tonsils removed and she used to snore really bad also. there is a website that was very helpful to me. kidshealth.org/parent/general/sleep/sleepwalking...which helped me make an informed decision with her Pediatrician.