Sleep Talking/Walking
My recently turned 4 year old has had several sleep talking/walking episodes. Normally I can get her back to bed easy enough, but there has been 2 occasions where she literally didn't know who I was...she seemed awake and was looking at me, but you could see in her eyes that for some reason she didn't recognize me because she reacted to me as if I was a stranger, on these occasions or if she is upset about something in her sleep walk/talk episode I would like to gently wake her and reassure her that she is fine and help her go back to bed. My mother said it's dangerous to wake a sleep walker but I assume thats an old wives tale? My mother also has me paranoid because she told me of when she was a little girl how she almost drowned because she was sleepwalking one night and her mother (my grandmother) ran and found her near their pond, had she not woken up, my mother would have likely drowned as she never learned how to swim. Also what causes them to sleep walk and talk? I regulate what shows and movies she watches so it's not related to that. And do they grow out of it? Any other feedback?
For your knowledge here are some examples of her episodes:
1) Didn't recognize me when I woke her to go pee in the middle of the night, she stared at me like I was a monster and when I tried to pick her up to put her back to bed she pushed me away in hysterics and said she didn't know me.
2) Woke up crying one night, when I went in her room she about near fell off the bed as she was quickly crawling out of bed backwards saying she didn't like that guy and pointed to an empty corner of her bed.
3) Woke up crying one night, I told her to go pee and go back to bed and I saw the light go on in her room but she didn't come out, when I went in she was back in bed and saying she couldn't get "it", when I asked what she repeated she couldn't get it, so I asked her again what can't you get? and she picked up a book from her shelf and said "That" so I said Ok you have it...and she started crying and said "No you have it Mom", so I showed her my hands were empty and that she was was holding it and she said "No YOU have it!" And started crying harder.
4) I brought her to go pee in the middle of the night and when I wiped her (as I always do)she got mad and said she didn't want me to wipe her, so I said OK and tucked her back into bed but noticed she had a big pouty lip so I asked her what was wrong, she said she didn't like me, when I asked why she said because she didn't know me. A bit later she said she didn't love me anymore because I hurt her feelings, when I asked how, she said I hurt her feelings because I was holding her(I was cuddling her in bed). A few minutes later after she went back to bed she came back out of her room almost in tears and said she loved me.
5) One night she woke up crying and when I went in she immediatly stopped crying and said she was playing with it...when I asked what she was playing with, she said "That paint over there" and she pointed to an empty corner of her bed.
There have been a handful more that were in the beggining but I can't remember them offhand.
Answers:
My kids do a lot of sleepwalking and talking. You just gently tell them to go back to bed and they often will. They never have a memory of it in the morning.
I have no idea what causes it. For my little one we had to put a baby gate in her doorway so that she couldn't wander too far. We also put in a lock on the outside doors that she couldn't reach. She did end up outside one time before the locks. Better safe then sorry!
Answers:
I also have a sleepwalker! He's 3. We often find him wandering around his room. And we often find him asleep on the floor. I assume after he's gone for his walk. We've found him very confused in his closet as well. The worst part is when he is "awake" and screaming or crying, but It can litterally take minutes to get him to understand us, be able to talk, and actually wake up all the way.
I knew one guy who's daughter was a really bad walker, they hung curtains of beads and bells across her doorway so that the parents heard when she had left her room.
Answers:
I was a sleeper waker when i was young and even today at 36yrs of age i sometimes walk around the house. I have noticed for myself that when i am feeling very hot(like sweating) or disturbed about something i sleep walk. I wake up on my own and have found myself on top of the stairs or by the dresser in my room and other places in the house. When i wake up i feel very disoriented and i just walk back to my bed and go back to sleep. I also talk in my sleep and my husband has woken me up when i do that which makes me even more disoriented. Its best not to wake up a sleepwalker but guide him back to his bed.So far i have not done anything drastic like walking out of the house! I have never discussed this with my doctor coz as i grew older it became very rare. Maybe you can talk to his Ped and see what they have to say about it. Good Luck!
I feel very disturbed the next morning coz most of the times i know i have sleep walked!
Answers:
Thanks everyone, I love hearing other peoples stories, it makes me feel better somehow knowing I'm not alone. Yes, the couple times Kierra was crying and hysterical it took a few minutes to settle her down, luckily most other times she goes back to bed easily, what is the most frustrating is being able to guess if she is awake or not...like I said she has her eyes open and can carry on a conversation...I haven't been able to see a link between anything that would trigger it other than her needing to go pee, every time she has sleepwalked/talked I ask if if she has to pee and she says yes and then once she has gone she gets back into bed and right back to sleep. But she does have a pediatrician appointment next week so I'll ask about it. Thanks again, keep the stories/feedback coming.
For your knowledge here are some examples of her episodes:
1) Didn't recognize me when I woke her to go pee in the middle of the night, she stared at me like I was a monster and when I tried to pick her up to put her back to bed she pushed me away in hysterics and said she didn't know me.
2) Woke up crying one night, when I went in her room she about near fell off the bed as she was quickly crawling out of bed backwards saying she didn't like that guy and pointed to an empty corner of her bed.
3) Woke up crying one night, I told her to go pee and go back to bed and I saw the light go on in her room but she didn't come out, when I went in she was back in bed and saying she couldn't get "it", when I asked what she repeated she couldn't get it, so I asked her again what can't you get? and she picked up a book from her shelf and said "That" so I said Ok you have it...and she started crying and said "No you have it Mom", so I showed her my hands were empty and that she was was holding it and she said "No YOU have it!" And started crying harder.
4) I brought her to go pee in the middle of the night and when I wiped her (as I always do)she got mad and said she didn't want me to wipe her, so I said OK and tucked her back into bed but noticed she had a big pouty lip so I asked her what was wrong, she said she didn't like me, when I asked why she said because she didn't know me. A bit later she said she didn't love me anymore because I hurt her feelings, when I asked how, she said I hurt her feelings because I was holding her(I was cuddling her in bed). A few minutes later after she went back to bed she came back out of her room almost in tears and said she loved me.
5) One night she woke up crying and when I went in she immediatly stopped crying and said she was playing with it...when I asked what she was playing with, she said "That paint over there" and she pointed to an empty corner of her bed.
There have been a handful more that were in the beggining but I can't remember them offhand.
Answers:
My kids do a lot of sleepwalking and talking. You just gently tell them to go back to bed and they often will. They never have a memory of it in the morning.
I have no idea what causes it. For my little one we had to put a baby gate in her doorway so that she couldn't wander too far. We also put in a lock on the outside doors that she couldn't reach. She did end up outside one time before the locks. Better safe then sorry!
Answers:
I also have a sleepwalker! He's 3. We often find him wandering around his room. And we often find him asleep on the floor. I assume after he's gone for his walk. We've found him very confused in his closet as well. The worst part is when he is "awake" and screaming or crying, but It can litterally take minutes to get him to understand us, be able to talk, and actually wake up all the way.
I knew one guy who's daughter was a really bad walker, they hung curtains of beads and bells across her doorway so that the parents heard when she had left her room.
Answers:
I was a sleeper waker when i was young and even today at 36yrs of age i sometimes walk around the house. I have noticed for myself that when i am feeling very hot(like sweating) or disturbed about something i sleep walk. I wake up on my own and have found myself on top of the stairs or by the dresser in my room and other places in the house. When i wake up i feel very disoriented and i just walk back to my bed and go back to sleep. I also talk in my sleep and my husband has woken me up when i do that which makes me even more disoriented. Its best not to wake up a sleepwalker but guide him back to his bed.So far i have not done anything drastic like walking out of the house! I have never discussed this with my doctor coz as i grew older it became very rare. Maybe you can talk to his Ped and see what they have to say about it. Good Luck!
I feel very disturbed the next morning coz most of the times i know i have sleep walked!
Answers:
Thanks everyone, I love hearing other peoples stories, it makes me feel better somehow knowing I'm not alone. Yes, the couple times Kierra was crying and hysterical it took a few minutes to settle her down, luckily most other times she goes back to bed easily, what is the most frustrating is being able to guess if she is awake or not...like I said she has her eyes open and can carry on a conversation...I haven't been able to see a link between anything that would trigger it other than her needing to go pee, every time she has sleepwalked/talked I ask if if she has to pee and she says yes and then once she has gone she gets back into bed and right back to sleep. But she does have a pediatrician appointment next week so I'll ask about it. Thanks again, keep the stories/feedback coming.