My 10yo son sleeps walk and the scary part is we just figured he goes outside. This morning I went out to throw the trash and found all his clothes by the side door. And when I asked him why his clothes were outside, he said he didnt know why.. But when he woke up this morning he was naked. That is really scary, cause there is no clue how long or far he could of went, and the worst part is that he unlocked the door to get out.
how can I control my night time cruiser?
Chain locks up high on all ouside doors, where he can't reach them. If that doesn't stop it I would get an alarm put on the outside doors and windows so that you will wake up if he opens a door or window. I would also talk to his doc. asap and see what they reccommend.
My niece used to sleepwalk also, one day a neighbor (3 houses away) rang my sister-in-law's doorbell in the middle of the night – she was "returning" their daughter (my niece) that had made her way into their patio. My sister-in-law was so thankful that she didn't wonder off further away or end up in bad hands, totally thanked the neighbor and started almost "baby proofing" the whole house. They did get a total house alarm but, knew this could be a hazard itself since you're not supposed to wake them up so along with the alarm came window locks, keyed deadbolts, baby gates and a good baby monitor she kept pretty much at her ear every night! My niece was all of maybe 5 or 6 at the time, she's now 12 and seems to have gotten over the sleepwalking now. I have two small children of my own, if either would start sleepwalking, I think I would definitely do the same. Not sure if this is "safe" but, I'd also consider maybe reversing the doorknob so that you can lock it on the outside of his bedroom? I know, I know… not the safest especially incase of a fire, or nightmares – I'd still use a baby monitor just incase of anything.
Good luck in anything you choose to keep your little guy safe.
My step daughter does that. It has improved since she's gotten older. My husband did the same thing and my MIL said that she put a lock high on the door so he couldn't reach or use a lock that requires a key. I hate that idea because you want your family to get out if there is a fire but if your son gets out in the middle of the night that's really scary. My step daughter would come downstairs and go to the fridge. She'd usually eat or drink something odd. I'd told my husband about it but he didn't really believe it....it does sound weird.... One night we were downstairs watching TV around 12:00. She came down the stairs and he spoke to her. She didn't seem to hear him at all. She tripped on the landing and fell down 5 steps onto the hardwood floor. She stood up and went to the fridge. Falling and hurting her self didn't wake her. It is very scary and I think you are taking it seriously. Don't let anybody discourage you or say you're overreacting. (My MIL would do that to me) We had an alarm system in the house. It wasn't monitored. It was already installed. We'd set it so that if someone opens a door to the outside it chimes in our room. If you don't have a system already in your house you can buy individual door alarms that just use batteries. When we moved into our new house our son was 18 months old. The construction code in Nevada requires that you have alarms on all doors that lead outside if there's a pool. Usually the builder will remove them before the new owner moves in but we asked to keep them so my son couldn't get near the pool. They are individual and take a 9v battery. I'd check Lows or Home Depot. They are cheap and they work.
I'd make sure his room is safe no matter what he did and alarm his bedroom door at night. Radio Shack has a simple contact alarm for doors that is easy to install. I might also install keyed dead bolt locks on the outside doors and not tell him where the key is located. Be sure to have the key near the door with easy access for yourself. At 10 he can probably reach a chain lock.
I'd also talk with his pediatrician about possible reasons for him to be doing this and possible treatments.
This is very scary.
put simple hook and eye type locks up too high for him to reach. That's truly frightening, you must do something to secure your house.
Try to Google search sleep disorders/sleep walking....
Ask your Pediatrician...
has he always done this, or is this something new?
Put door-knob alarms on your door-knobs.
They just hang on the door knob.... .and if someone touches it or jiggles it.. an alarm goes off.
For safety sake....
If you go to Amazon... and put in the search word "door knob alarm"... many will come up.
all the best,
Susan
Could you put a gate up in front of his door? That might stop him from leaving his room without waking up. Nothing like the pain of stubbing your toe on a baby gate to wake you up in the morning.
