Night Waking - Portland,OR

Updated on June 04, 2012
J.R. asks from Portland, OR
4 answers

My three year old DD has started waking up in the middle of the night (about 2am) and emptying out her room into the hallway. Toys, books, pillows, etc. When asked, she says "I don't want them". There is no panic/anxiety to the behavior, but it is a bit of an compulsive type behavior- left to her own devices she won't stop until her shelves are completely clear of toys. I know she loves the toys she's tossing out.

This has been going on for a few nights now. Tonight, I was able to intercede midway by putting a blanket over her toy/book shelf so she couldn't see the stuff any more. I also told her I'd leave her light on low if she stayed in bed and went to sleep. (...or maybe not- she just opened her door again and put more stuff into the hall). It's not an attention-seeking behavior (she will do this completely independently and we completely slept through it the first night).

I can't find anything on the Internet on this, but I may not be getting the right search terms. Is this normal??? Any guesses on why this is occurring or what her logic might be? The night waking is definitely taking its toll, she has dark circles under her eyes. Help!

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More Answers

A.L.

answers from Dothan on

I dunno really but I am reminded of my Uncle & my brother who both, 'sleep walked'...mostly it was nothing to concern ourselves with but something not so good happened to both in the course of their sleepwalking events...I would speak to her Ped about it, perhaps a mild type of sleep med @ night could be in order for her (shaking my head)...have you tried putting her back to bed & making SURE she is awake? After being sure she is awake staying with her until she falls back asleep completely...pondering though I might I cannot think of any GREAT answers...my family was alwayz trying to, 'cover up' the fact that we had, sleep walkers rather than try & fix it...I was really little when my uncle lived with us so could not help...with my brother, when I was still @ home I would put him back to bed, talk gently to him & stay with him until I knew he had gone back into a good sleep...I hope she gets some rest soon & you too!

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❤.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

Sounds kind of like sleep walking. Could that be it?
How about if you research that on the internet & see what kind of ideas
they give for that?
Also, I would call her pediatrician to inquire what he/she thinks you could
do to help with this situation if it is indeed sleep walking.
If the ped had limited info in dealing with this situation, you could then
move onto a child counselor that specializes in this area in your medical
program.

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J.S.

answers from Seattle on

I don't know what to tell you to look for, but first I'd say you should make sure she's actually awake when she's doing this, and also I'd suggest that you talk to her during normal, daylight hours to see if she's having dreams and explain in simple terms what dreams are.

It's normal for kids to start having vivid dreams by age three but not all kids understand what's happening. My son can get very disoriented following a dream and he'll ask for things that I think are totally random. I calmly say, "It's ok sweetheart, you're just dreaming. Back to sleep." and he'll roll over and close his eyes most of the time without any issues. I don't think he even fully wakes up. Although quite often he wants to repeat his normal bedtime routine of asking for a drink of water and then to swap out one of his stuffed animals for a new guy.

I hope this helps.

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D.T.

answers from Muncie on

Try asking her about it in the morning? It is the same items every time or just the things on the bookcase? Move the bookshelf out of her room into the living room, if they are wall shelves, move them up higher? Make sure her room is clean and everything is out of sight, like tucked away in a closet or toy chest?

My daughter does something similar, every night some thing is evicted from her room. Some random toy or book, it could be the one she'd chosen during the day as her favorite or something she hasn't played with in days but that's sat on the floor, but at bed time must go. We call it "Baby Feng Shui". If we catch her at it and try to intervene by telling her to go to bed because she knows she's only allowed out if she has to potty, she pitches a fit. It's easier just to let her exile whatever and then tell her to get her tush back in bed.

Good luck.

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