hey mamas, i admit i am a little freaked out and i need a little "omg no big deal at all!" from you more experienced mamas lol. two times we have found our 6 year old on the couch, apparently he walked into the livingroom in the night and curled up and spent the rest of the night there. i just thought he had a nightmare or something....(although he usually does call for me when that happens)
tonight my hubby and i were watching tv. it was about an hour and a half past our son's bedtime. son gets up, goes to the bathroom. nothing unusual. after coming out of the bathroom, he came out to the livingroom and started to make his way towards me (sitting on the couch). hubby and i both simultaneously tell him, "turn the bathroom light off". he acts as though he can't hear us (eyes wide open but not looking at us at all) and proceeds to continue to the couch. i intercept him, steer him back to the bathroom. "buddy you have to turn the light off, then let's go back to bed." i leave him at the bathroom door and he walks all the way in, stands at the toilet for a moment like he doesn't know what to do. "honey, let's turn the light off." he puts the lid up on the toilet and makes to sit on it, with his pants still on. i was like "oookay!" i turn the light off for him and get my hubby to help him back to bed - cuz by that time it was obvious he was dead asleep! i even put my hands on his cheeks and looked into his eyes- lifeless. he even seemed to meet my eye at one point but then just went all zombie again! hubby told me not to wake him up (and after i realized what was going on i know that he was right, you're not supposed to do that).
i have heard of this happening but it sooo freaked me out - i did NOT like seeing those dead lifeless eyes! i just wanted to see "him" before he went back to sleep...i feel really wierded out by it. help! i think this is normal - so why am i so freaked out??
thanks mamas...lol. just like some of you don't get why i was freaked out, i don't get how you can not be...my normally spunky rambunctious crazy kiddo just looked so...night-of-the-living-dead. i just really had this instinct to shake him awake just so i could see a spark in his eyes lol.
we're getting a chain for the door today. call me paranoid..that's ok. still doing it :)
the only thing i can think of is that with the halloween/long weekend, maybe he is just now getting back into a good routine? i don't know. i didn't think we shook him up that bad....lol.
and i know, repeating "turn the light off" three times was a little clueless on my part. my hubby picked up that he was sleep walking before i did, i've never seen anything like that. plus, with my kid, he OFTEN gets sidetracked and forgets what he's supposed to be doing. bad habit, i guess, to keep reminding him. but that's why i kept saying it...he was looking around and seemed awake so at first i assumed he heard me, just got sidetracked thinking of something else...lol.
thanks mamas...still smh that no one else has ever been freaked out by this...but ok...i asked for some "no big deals" - guess i got 'em!
happy no more election ads day!
Its normal. My son does it when he is really overtired, or stressed, like when his baby brother was born.
Waking a sleepwalker isn't dangerous, but its easiest to just steer him back to bed and tuck him back in.
It happens. My son slept walked a few times... hasn't happened in a while. He also talks in his sleep occasionally. It used to be more regular, but has REALLY dropped off in the past 2 years or so.
What I noticed with my son, is that he probably hadn't slept well for years (due to allergies)... He has been getting allergy shots for 2 years now, and his allergies are very much reduced, and he sleeps better. He is more rested on a regular basis. And while he is more rested generally, his sleep talking and walking has almost stopped. When he gets out of routine or off his schedule (he is 14, so stays up later on weekends and when school is out, of course)... and isn't able to sleep in the following morning, he is more likely to talk in his sleep the next night... when he is overly tired.
Is there anything that you are aware of that might be contributing to your son not getting restful sleep at night? Over stressed? Post nasal drip? Allergies? A recent cold? Medication?
My grandchildren have done similar things but I haven't let it go so far as you did. If this were my child I would've woken him up when he walked towards me or I would've walked him back to bed without telling him to turn off the light or even waking him up.
I don't know where the idea came from that we shouldn't wake up someone who is walking while asleep or nearly asleep. There are sleep walkers who have a mental or emotional component to their walking and it may be true for them. But for a kid who has gotten up to go to the bathroom without actually waking up is something different. I wouldn't be concerned.
I remember my parents walking my brothers back to bed while they were still asleep after getting them up to pee.
I've answered the phone as have friends, talked to the caller, and didn't remember it the next morning. I suggest we were sleep talkers. Very normal especially when we're over tired.
It's not something that would have freaked me out, so I'm sorry that I can't quite relate. I can tell you that both our boys have walked into the living room while my husband and I were watching tv. When this happens we pray that they don't wake up and we can just walk them back to bed. Usually works, but sometimes they wake up. So annoying.
As I was reading your post I just kept laughing and thinking, who cares about the light? Just turn it off after you get him back to bed. Sorry, our boys are still young, and I just have too many memories of being up late at night thinking, "Will you please go back to sleep? Mommy is so tired!" If one of us had tried that hard to get them to turn the light off, they would have gotten the evil eye. We don't do anything that might cause them not to go right back to sleep.
I know you have plenty of answers already and just wanted to say that my son is a sleepwalker. I am not freaked out by it, BUT I too was a sleepwalker. My oldest son is totally freaked out by it because like you said the eyes are wide open and they may or may not talk to you. they don't really hear you either. My son will occasionally communicate but never remembers any of it. Neither did I growing up. Nothing wrong with getting locks to keep your son safe. My mom used to find me in the basement...I hated the basement when I was awake.
Totally normal! I remember I discovered that *I* had done it once. I woke up to the sound of my cat scratching on the screen door to be let in (I was a kid). So either after I let her in or the next morning (I don't remember now which) I asked mom if she took me into the living room for some reason. Of course she hadn't, so I just mentally noted that my cat must have been telepathically communicating with me so she'd be able to get back in the house. ;) As far as I know, that's the only time I've ever done it.
I think it is normal that you were freaked out. Sleep walking like you describe is an amzing phenomenon, IMO. I understand how freaky it would be to see your son like that. My son probably doesn't stand a chance as far as not walking or talking in his sleep as he gets older. My husband talks in his sleep NIGHTLY, with proper inflection and tone based on who he is "talking to" in his sleep. When I am awakened by his sleepy chatter, I can always tell if he's talking to colleagues or our son or even the dog based on his tone! It's hilarious!!
I have walked/talked/functioned in my sleep many times. I have some REALLY funny stories about them--some I remember and some I was told about by others the next day. Anyway, there is no danger in waking the sleepwalker; just don't laugh at them!! I always got really mad and frustrated when someone tried to wake me up and convince me that I was asleep. I wouldn't believe it! Best thing to do is play along if spoken to and lead the person back to bed. He may or may not remember it the next day.
I hope you can reframe your thoughts about seeing your son's lifeless face. Perhaps you can be in awe of the human mind and how amazing it was that he could function and be asleep at the same time. Cool!!
:)
When I was a tween, I sleepwalked a lot. I would even take a shower and blow dry my hair! After the first few times, my mom left me alone. She was more freaked out by it than I was. The times she woke me up or I woke up on my own (middle of the shower - how did I get there), I was so confused.
The reason I did it was because I was stressed about school and getting there on time (I figured it out years later). I eventually stopped taking showers while sleeping. I still sleepwalk to go to the bathroom though.
Our middle daughter sleepwalks to the bathroom too. She usually goes back to bed on her own, but occasionally, we find her on the couch.
I don't blame you for being freaked out - I would have been too.
Do you have stairs in your house? I'd be afraid he'd fall down the stairs.
I'd also be afraid that he would fall in the toilet and wake up traumatized... perhaps you might not want him going in the bathroom by himself?
Be vigilant about medicines or vitamins being out where he can get them. Cleaning supplies under cabinets should be hard to get to (maybe childproof cabinet locks...)
I think you're doing the right thing putting a special lock on the doors so that he can't walk outside.
I would also talk to the ped about this if I were you. It's good to run it by the ped so that he or she knows about this.
Glad you saw this happen so that you can prepare for it!
Dawn
