Sleep Walking Help!!

Emily - posted on 12/18/2009

There was a question on here a month or two ago about sleepwalking and one suggestion was to switch the lights on and off to safely snap the person out of it. The mother said this is what the doctor told her to do and it worked. Obviously you want to check with his doctor first to make sure it is a safe way to handle the problem.

Jesse - posted on 12/18/2009

You will find that he has a mental pic of where ever he is. Even if he's not there often. When I was 10 we went to stay the night with my Aunt, she had a 2 story condo. All the children were upstairs and my mother and aunt were downstairs watching TV. They heard a noise in the kitchen about midnight and there I was going through cabinets. They told me to go back to bed and I made my way back upstairs. I had never been in that home before. Then later that night they heard walking upstairs and when they came to check I was walking circles around the room. And I was doing it without disturbing any of the other children in the room, which included a baby in a playpen.

Make sure everyone he stays with knows of his condition and that under no circumstance should they wake him. If he appears terrified you can try to calm him and question him gently, I answer questions in my sleep all the time. Don't stress if the answer you get doesn't make sense, remember he is asleep. He won't remember anything during waking hours. I didn't start remembering my dreams until I was about 8 and even then I had more terrors than I remembered. If you want to find out what is causing them a sleep therapist is the best idea. I don't know that I trust them but I have known people they were really able to help.

Good luck.

Crystal - posted on 12/18/2009

my oldest son does this too. he is 6 almost 7 and he has been doing this for ahile. when he was younger he too had night terrors. he also grew out of his night terrors. he still gets bad dreams, but nothing like before. i notice too that if he is over tired that he tends to get up more at night, so i keep them on a good scheduale even on weekends or holidays. i have to watch what he is watching on tv and stuff more so he doesnt get scared too close to bed time. and when he does get up i go and check to see hwat he is doing and i tell him to go back to bed. i dont "wake him up" i just help him back to bed if he cant get there himself (sometimes he says he cant fing his room). i have tried walking him up a few times and it just makes him really upset, so i just gide him back. or i tell him to go back to sleep and he will. i heard that this runs in the family, i dont know of anyone in mine or hubbys, though my sister did this a few times when she was young but seem to grow out of it..

Melissa - posted on 12/18/2009

I have asked him this morning (incident happened last night) and he has no idea that he gets up. He doesn't remember what he was pointing at. I just don't know what to do. Cause sometimes he sleeps at my parents house and his bedroom in downstairs (finished basement) and he walkes up the stairs and just stands in their kitchen. I am afraid that he will fall down the stairs and really hurt himself. And he goes to bed great. We have a nightly routine that we stick to and he has never given me a problem going to bed. And he falls asleep within 30 minutes or so.

Jesse - posted on 12/18/2009

I too was a sleep walker and talker. I grew out of the sleep walking when I was about 15 the talking I still do on occasion. I did walk out the front door one night when I was about 6. Thank goodness my dad heard me and sent me back to bed, I told him I was going to get a drink of water. It sounds like he's also suffering with cronic nightmares which I had as well, that is something I have yet to overcome.



You may want to look into a councelor that believes in past lives and works with dreams and other sleeping disorders. What I found that worked for me was to acknowledge when I am getting sleepy, my parents refused to get outside help. Exhaustion seems to make the chance of sleepwalking more likely. I know little boys and girls are hard to get to sleep and to get them to understand that when they are tired they just need to sleep, they are all afraid they will miss something.



This will also put his children at more of a risk for sleeping disorders. I have 3 boys, all of them talk in their sleep and one is a walker. Be sure when he gets older, even if he gets over it, that he knows about his night time activities as a child. That way he will be able to keep an eye out for his youngins.



I hope this helps. And I also hope you are a light sleeper.

Muriel - posted on 12/18/2009

Wow. :( Has he EVER said anything on what he is pointing at??? :( poor baby. I would be scared too Mom.

Kelli - posted on 12/18/2009

I have a 5-year old son that sleep walks and has really bad night terrors. Thankfully, he has outgrown the night terrors some, but since his room is at the top of the stairs, we won't be without a safety gate for quite some time.

My first suggestion is to accept that these things will happen and to keep your composure. It can be scary to witness and we want to help, but they usually have to get over it themselves because they are still asleep!

My second suggestion is to keep them safe. Putting safety knobs (the ones that click over the doorknob) can often be enough of a deterrent and will keep them in their rooms. Door alarms or bells on the door might alert you if he is getting out of his room, too.

I have no cure, but I hope this helps! I'd be happy to hear about some other ideas, too!