Young Sleepwalkers

My oldest of three was and still is a sleepwalker! She is now 9.5. I transitioned her to a toddler bed until she was tall enough to safely get out of the twin on her own! That is if your son is not too tall for the crib size mattress, which doesn't sound like he is to me ~ since he is still in his crib now. The toddler beds are not very much money at Walmart and they have basic style ones or character beds too. They are alot closer to the ground then a twin with a bed frame! I also put a baby gate on her door so she would not wander too far around the house, she played in the fridge one night and that was a HUGE mess =} I have heard that some kids do outgrow this, but so far mine has not. I do know that if she gets over tired then she seems to be more apt to sleepwalk then if she is well rested ~ I try to keep a strict bedtime/wake schedule and she only has maybe one or two episodes a month, and they seem to be when she is more tired then normal. Good luck to you.

1 mom found this helpful

HI,
My daughter did that when she was younger.
We had her in her own bed/own room from about 2.5 years old... and she also co-slept in our room.

My daughter never got hurt, or fell, or tumbled out of her bed. Somehow, no matter how she "woke" in her sleep and walked around she always got out of her bed like any other "awake" person....although she was still "asleep" and not really aware...make sense?
It was fine, and she was fine.
I mean,my daughter never roamed the whole entire house, when she sleep-walked, and it was only for a couple of minutes, close to where she slept.. .and she somehow always went back to her bed, or on a sofa.

ALLOW your son to be in his bed... he is 4.

All the best,
Susan

1 mom found this helpful

Hi C.,

My now 16 year old was and is a sleepwalker, talker, eater.....he has done this since he could walk. He has walked downstairs and just crawled into my lap (when he was little) and I would take him back to bed.

Now I find him walking eyes open and I will talk to him and he will answer as if awake, and in the morning he doesn't remember. Fortunately he has never gotten hurt and always winds up back in bed.

I also have a cousin that is a lifetime sleepwalker. She travels for her job and has found ways to protect herself so she doesn't like walk out of her hotel room and get locked out or lost.

Neither one has hurt themselves while walking. I think the brain is wired so they don't fall or trip. I would just make sure that all doors leading outside were locked in such a way he can not open them and wander outside.

Also if he is doing it around the same time each night, then stay up so you can redirect him back to bed and as he gets older and if he doesn't outgrow it he can train his brain on where he is to be.

Might want to also talk to his Dr.

Good Luck,
L.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi C.,

My oldest son who is now 10 was a frequent sleepwalker. He doesn't do it as much now, just on occasion. The funny thing is that he usually needs to go potty at the times he wakes & walks. Anyway, keep your son close to the floor or put a guard rail up on his big boy bed. Also put door alarms on the doors so you won't have to worry about him getting outside. That actually happened to a family friend and the child spent hours out in the snow (in Canada). So to ease your mind and keep him safe the alarms shouild do the trick! Also, if you have stairs, I suggest putting a gate at the top so he won't tummble down.

Take care

1 mom found this helpful

Hi C., sleepwalking can be genetic, if you have someone in your family that is prone to sleepwalking, talking, or night terrors then maybe he inherited it. There isn't too much you can do to prevent it and it usually happens in the first half of the night. One thing to be careful of is to not let him get over-tired, this can cause or lead to more sleep-walking. My advice is to put a gate up at his doorway once you get him in a bed, and make sure his room is baby-proofed very well. If he is safe in his room then you won't have to worry if he gets out of bed at night.
Best wishes,
K. Smith, Sleep Consultant and Parenting Coach
www.theindependentchild.com

Try "silent nights" by Lifewave. It is homeopathic and works very well. Affordable too. Lifewave.com/kherihealth

How about a trundle bed? If he sleeps in the top, you could pull the trundle out so if he gets up or falls out of bed, it would be on the second mattress...?

There are sleep centers you can be referred to by your sons doctor. It would be really a good thing if you could have him tested. This can go on for years I heard it could be get more serious. Be sure to tell your doctor. There might be alarms you can get so he can stay in his bed. There is a alarm that attaches to a door look at homedepot or osh.

I have two (occasional) sleepwalkers. They seem to be awake, completely aware of their surroundings and navigate easily as if awake. We've never had any mishaps. We just guide them back to bed.

all three of my kids were in regular beds by the time they were two. My middle son was a sleep walker and his older brother had night terrors (he even fell from the top bunk one night and never remembered it the next morning). They both outgrew it.

my son just turned 4 and he's been sleepwalking for years already.i think he'll find a way to get out no matter where he's sleeping.our son sleeps with us and he'll just crawl over us to get to where he's going.im a light sleeper so im always up when he gets up so i know he wont get hurt but im worried for when he gets his own room where i probably wouldnt hear him.i would just suggest putting pillows on the floor next to his bed just in case.

My step daughter now 12 is still a sleepwalker. She's been doing it since she was your son's age. She hasn't had any mishaps. She does sometimes go to the fridge and drink but she only drinks milk. Her eyes are open but she doesn't respond if you talk to her. Good luck. It seems scary and as a mom it's hard not to worry but most sleepwalkers ever do anything dangerous.

I dont know anything about sleepwalking children, but I wish you luck. I am sure you will get good advise on this website for that.

What I wanted to tell you is when transitioning to the twin bed look into getting a "bunky board" instead of a traditional boxspring for the mattress. A bunky board is a boxspring for kid beds. It is only about 2 inches high as opposed to the 6 or 7 inches on a traditional one. If you get a standard metal bed frame, he wont be too high off the ground and it will look much better than a mattress on the floor. You could always put risers on the bed frame later as you see fit.

I know it's a little worrisome. My older boy is now 8 and has been sleepwalkng and having nigh terrors since he was about 4. I was reluctant to have him in the bunk bed that was a gift to us, but though he continues to leave his bed before he's awake, he's never gotte hurt! It blows my mind! I do notice that when he's overly tired, he definitely is more prone to sleepwalking. Good luck!!

Hi C..

I have 3 kids, 2 of which are sleep walkers. I am lucky in that they dont' do it often, and SO far (one is 13 the other is 7) havn't done anything dangerous. They both were moved to beds about 2yo. I'd say put him in his big boy bed. Although they are "sleeping" they still seam to be somehow aware of what is around them. Make sure doors are locked and windows are as well.
Good luck!
H.

Hi C.,
I was a young sleepwalker way back when. I never got hurt, but once I did walk out the door, so I advise putting a lock (or an alarm) up high on both the front and back doors. I never fell out of bed. Most of the time my Dad would hear me walking about, and get up and ask me if I needed to go to the bathroom - I'd use the bathroom and put myself back to bed. I outgrew the sleepwalking as I got a little older.
Best of luck.
Linda

http://abchomeopathy.com/c.php/150
try finding him homeopathic remedy based on the symptoms you know he has while sleepwalking. although, this is not a stuffy nose condition,so your chanses of getting it right are not huge. if whatever you've selected does not give results, see professional classical homeopath.
Good luck
V

My son was sometimes a sleep walker when he was younger, but other than banging into the wall occasionally he never had any accidents. Have you told your pediatrician about this? He may have some good suggestions. My friend caught her son urinating on the Christmas tree while sleep walking one night. Funny as that is in retrospect, these sleep walkers are a worrisome group. Good Luck.

Both of my boys are sleepwalkers. My oldest did grow out of it. My younger son is 7 and sleep walks at least 2 times a week. We put the bed against the wall and put the rail up and he still found a way out of the bed. He has never hurt himself and neither did his brother. They just get up and walk either to the bathroom or to our room and then we guide them back to their bed. Only 1 pee'd in the hamper instead of the toilet. Other than that it was good. We were told to wake up our son before we go to bed and make him go pee to change his sleep cycle and that works when he goes to bed early enough. Good luck

YOu can try putting one side of the bed against the wall and getting a bed-rail thing on the other side which may deter him from getting out. You could also install a baby gate across the bedroom door and keep it closed at night. That way he won't get out of his room