my son is nearly 9?

Question

and he has just started sleepwalking, has anyone got any info on this?

Answer 1

Sudden sleep walking can be triggered by stress. Take him to the doctor to rule out a medical cause.

Encourage him to talk to you, to tell you if somethings bothering him. But be relaxed! If you don't stress about it, he won't.

Answer 2

It is my considered opinion that there is no harm in sleepwalking! This opinion is founded on the experience of a few people who have actually seen or been with sleepwalking children of ages between 7 and 12: usually no harm comes to them, they are very agile and somehow 'alert' for dangers when sleepwalking, they are not to be disturbed abruptly when they do sleepwalking. Your son will probably grow out of the habit in a year or two, he may not be sleepwalking every night, might be doing it once a week or so, on average?

Answer 3

I did this 2 times in my life - both were times of great stress. Once, when I was about 9 - 10 and school got hard and then my grandma died. The other time I was about 19 and I was away from home and working about 15 hours a day as a waitress in a resort town to pay off credit cards... Did he just start school - or is he starting? Is something else going on that's stressing him? It might help if he talks about things... Good Luck!

Answer 4

Sleepwalking is fairly common among children

It is estimated that up to 20 percent of children sleep walk occasionally

Most children grow out of sleepwalking by adolescence

It is advisable to gently direct sleepwalkers back to bed

Treatment is aimed at keeping the child safe while sleepwalking

Sleep clinics may provide medical treatment for severe sleepwalking

What is it?

Sleepwalking is not an illness but a sleep disorder characterised by walking or doing activities while still generally asleep.

The cause of sleepwalking is not known, but the disorder can be triggered by lack of sleep or psychological factors. The child may be anxious about something, but most children who sleep walk don't have emotional problems.

Sleepwalking in adults is more likely to be linked to mental illness, a reaction to drugs or alcohol, or epilepsy with partial complex seizures.

Sleepwalking is reasonably common among children, with 10 to 20 percent sleepwalking on occasion. However, a small number of children sleepwalk several nights a week.

The disorder is more common among boys and peaks in children aged 6 to 12. It is also believed to run in families.

Sleepwalking usually occurs during deep non-REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, either early in the night or before waking.

Sleepwalkers may display several characteristics such as:

They are hard to wake

Their eyes may be open but they may looked dazed and be unaware of their surroundings or those around them

They may sit up in bed and then wander around the room

They may also use incoherent speech

They may do repetitive things like switching on an off lights, or opening and closing a door

They don't remember sleepwalking

What can be done?

Treatment is not common unless there is a severe problem with sleepwalking and the child is in danger.

There is no consensus in the medical profession about what to do about sleepwalking, but most efforts are directed at keeping the child safe while sleepwalking. The following tips may help:

Improve a child's sleeping patterns. Ensure they go to bed at the same time each night and wake at about the same time.

Minimise stress and anxiety because this can trigger sleepwalking.

Keep the house safe; keep doors locked, block off stairways, or have the child sleep downstairs. Do not let a sleepwalker sleep in a top bunk.

There is no medical consensus on whether to wake a sleepwalking child, but gently directing them back to bed is advisable. Do not yell at your child or shake them awake while sleepwalking because this can scare them.

Make sure your child uses the toilet before bed, and try to limit liquids before bedtime.

Most children grow out of sleepwalking by adolescence.

Getting help

Talk to your doctor if you are concerned about your child's sleeping patterns. For persistent problems, local sleep clinics may be able to provide suitable treatment.

You should seek medical advice if sleepwalking is combined with other problems, if it becomes a persistent problem, or if an adult sleepwalker begins dangerous activities such as driving while "sleepwalking."

Answer 5

has anything altered in his life to make him worried about something, is everything ok at school and with his friends, has somebody recently died in the family, all these reasons could have triggered it off, its normally when a person has got something on their mind, talk to him, if that doesn't work i suggest you take him to the docs good luck

Answer 6

Dangerous, my nephew fell from his bedroom window and broke his arm, fortunately he landed on an old lady otherwise he could have been more seriously hurt

Answer 7

I slept walked around that age and I grew out of it in a year or so. If it is a big problem I would talk to his doctor about it.

Answer 8

Take him to the doctor?

Or just lock the little guy/gal in their room.

Answer 9

This can be a temporary thing or it can become a much bigger problem. You need to discuss this with his pediatrician.

Answer 10

he'll hopefully grow out of it. in the mean time film it and if he does something stupid have a good laugh