I think DD is sleepwalking!

Every once in awhile (maybe 2-3 times a month) I hear Heather bump into the wall and cry. Sometimes she is back in bed before I get there so I'm not positive she has been up, but she is still mostly asleep when I get to her. Last night I heard her again and when I got to her room she was standing in the middle of her room. Again, she was really groggy, disoriented, seemed to be semi-asleep.

Is she sleep walking? Or is she just getting out of bed and can't always find her way back? Anyone else experience this? Should I be concerned? Her room is proofed so she can't get hurt. It seems to scare her though. Any advice?

 

My brother was a major sleep walker, as in walking out the house and (we lived next to railroad tracks) and walking towards the tracks.

We found that it happened more often when he was extremely over-tired or had a VERY active/aggitated day.

Maybe you can keep in mind/ or keep a record of what happened or even what she ate that day and see if there's a pattern. Then you might be able to go with what the issue is and try to correct it or if not, know that it may happen because x happened that day.

good luck!

 

I don't know if sleepwalking runs in families, but my mother and nephew did it as children. My mom used to go to the fireplace and pick up hot coals when she was a child. My nephew would walk down and cross a major highway at night. They eventually outgrew it.

 

The other day I heard a loud thump and figured Matthew fell out of bed. He's all over the place when he sleeps and has fallen out of bed on occassion. I went in and he was laying on top of his brother (who is such a deep sleeper he never even noticed).

I moved him to his bed but could tell he wasn't with it. He didn't remember the episode the next day.

My sister used to sleep walk, we always had to watch where we were going in the morning because you never knew where she would be sleeping. Once when my brother was around 4 or 5 my mom heard him up in the middle of the night and found him in the kitchen. He had opened her bottom towel drawer and was about to pee in it. I think it's fairly normal for toddlers to get up at night and either sleepwalk or just get disoriented.

 

Not any help for you, my husband still sleepwalks (maybe 2-3 times/year) and this just made me remember that he did it last night . . . I'll have to remember to tell him when I get home.

It's actually pretty funny - I know he's sleep walking because he'll do something odd in the middle of the night, and I can ask him what he's doing and get a very bizarre answer that makes no sense. We've had some strange conversations, and he did once try to walk out the front door naked in the middle of the night . . . He never remembers it in the morning, so I always have to fill him in on how funny he is.

Last night he was pushing on our bedroom door. I asked him what he was doing, and he said "looking for Elliot". I told him that Elliot was asleep in his own room (granted, he had slept in our room for the previous 3 nights while MIL was sleeping in his room). Dh said "Oh" and started walking back the bed. Then he said "come on guys", like he was calling the twins to follow him. He went back to bed and that was it.

So, again, no advice on sleepwalking in small children, but I guess some people never do outgrow it (although DH is not aware of having done it as a chiild at all, so maybe it started later in life).

-Rachel

 

Thanks everyone. I'll keep an eye on her and see if we can come up with any "triggers".

 

Is she potty trained and looking for the bathroom?

I was a TERRIBLE sleepwalker. I used to go outside and I nearly flooded our house! My eyes would be open the entire time, and I was able to maneuver around just like I was awake.

My trigger was the bathroom. If sleepwalking, my mom would tell me to go to the bathroom. I would, and would go back to bed and sleep through the rest of the night.

Jackson had night terrors, and I have suspected him of sleepwalking in the past; however, since he had his tonsils and adenoids out - no more sleep issues. I am not sure that is what fixed the problem(s), but it certainly did not hurt.

 

QUOTE(heathernd @ Jul 2 2007, 01:31 PM) [snapback]314966[/snapback]
Is she potty trained and looking for the bathroom?


I wish that was the problem! No, not potty trained yet. I'll have to keep that in mind for later.

 

does she take any allergy meds? my daughter started sleepwalking when she switched to Singular and we found that it is a side effect of many allergy and asthma meds.

 

QUOTE(daniellecic @ Jul 3 2007, 08:21 PM) [snapback]316861[/snapback]
does she take any allergy meds? my daughter started sleepwalking when she switched to Singular and we found that it is a side effect of many allergy and asthma meds.



Nope, no meds either. Maybe she's not sleepwalking, but just waking up and getting out of bed thinking it's morning. Of course it's so dark and she can't find the door and bumps into the wall. Who knows. I'll have to keep an eye on her and hopefully she'll grow out of it.