Sleep Walking - What can be done?
yogimishra posted on Sat, 11/27/2010 - 23:45
My 4 yrs old daughter walks in sleep. I do not know if she dreams of something and then she walks or something else. Actually it could be dangerous as she may endup hurting herself. Would really like to know if anyone here has any clue on what could be the reason and how can it be gotten rid of.
The best thing you can do is do not shake or wake up your child.
There is no treatment for sleeping, in my knowledge. It will go on its own as your child grows up. My daughter is also walks in sleep once in a while and I did consult a doctor for this and he said she will overcome this as she grows.
I remember my mom telling me that I also used to walk in sleep when I was about 4-5 yrs old and I overcame it as I grew up. I do recall one time when I was 7 yrs old I sleep and I found myself on the sofa when I woke, I might have gone there in sleep.
In addition please make sure not to be harsh with your kid by telling him/her that he/she walks while he/she is asleep. This may affect them emotionally and could turn out to be adverse.
Sleep Walking in children is due to poor development of sleeping and waking cycle. Only a part of brain that manages mobility wakes up while the other part which handles awareness is still asleep, this is what leads to sleep walking.
This sleep and wake cycle corrects on its own as the child grows. So, we as parents do not need to worry a lot about it.
My 2nd daughter used to walk in sleep till the age of 6 years but she overcame it. I did consult a doctor for this and he instructed us not to wake her up and just put her back to bed. And we did the same.
I think this is not a issue and goes on its own by a certain age.
Thanks for sharing your experiences. It gives me relief to know that this sleep walking in my child will go with age. And thanks for the tips of how to deal with it.
Any more inputs are most welcome.