Anyone dealt with something like this?
My 6 yr old (the baby) has always been a snuggler. He nursed and slept with us till about 6 months old.
We enjoy or cuddle time and rarely send the kids back to their beds if they wake up and come to us in the middle of the night. (or maybe we're just lazy)
About 3 years ago he started having bad dreams about 3 times a week. He'd wake up very sad, wimpering, sometimes shaky, we'd console him and he'd go back to sleep. If it happened once in a night, it was usually over with once he was asleep again.
Now, three years later, it is still going on. Not every night, but more than not. We hear a little wimper and about 30 seconds later he is walking toward us. He will not talk about it while it's happening. But he won't go back to sleep unless he is in our arms or on the couch with a light on. For the most part he is silent, hardly even responds to our questions - just in a daze. If we ask, "did you have a bad dream or tell me about your dream?" He stares right through us and does not respond. If we ask, "are you sad?", sometimes he will respond with a head nod. For about 10 minutes after the inital bad dream, he can't close his eyes w/o wimpering and opening them again.
He has no recollection of it the following day. He asks why we had him sleep on the couch or how he got into our bed. He does not recall having a bad dream or feeling sad.
He is the happiest child the rest of the time. I just don't understand what is causing this?
Could it be night terrors? Could he be a sleep walker?
Sleep Walking and night terrors are essentially the same things but are just manifested differently.
So the answer is... Yes!
It's probably both. As a kid, I was a sleep walker and had night terrors. However, the sleepwalking began first and then once that tapered off, I began to have night terrors. In fact, even as an adult, while I haven't had night terrors in about ten years (I am 47) I still toss and turn all night while having vivid dreams and awaken quite a bit , thinking I am seeing "something" in the room. I have always been like this. I can however tell you that when I am stressed, I sleep even worse. Could be your son is experiencing some type of anxiety ? anxiety needn't be obvious either as what is not stress inducing for you but very well be for him.. When I was a kid, it was as though I was a sponge and soaked up all the energy around me and then at night, that energy was released into my dreams. Maybe an hour before your son goes to bed, you can dim the lights , stop all or any outside stimulation such as a t.v. or even bright lights. quiet the house if you can and sit with him, perhaps read a nice story... but make the place , a place of calm... and see if this helps. just find ways to totally relax his mind and in turn, hopefully, the body will follow..
I wish you the best
We have 4 now all teenagers, but our second used to wake in the night and wander, sometimes shake, look scared, cry, etc. He seemed dazed and almost like a zombie. And he never ever remembered anything the next day. This happened 3 to 5 times a week for a couple years and slowly over the years he never wakes anymore, or if he does he no longer wakes us. Over the years we realized that he wakened and walked for two reasons...he was cold and he had to go to the bathroom. Once we put him in sweats and sweatshirts for bed, the night walking was cut in half or thirds and then if he did wake, we took him to the bathroom, made him go and then put him right back to bed. It worked almost every time.
My daughter talks in her sleep and starts to get up. I sleep in her room most nights and just grab her arm and pull her down. She'll look in my direction and talk jibberish. She doesn't remember it the next day. She never seems sad or scared or upset now or when she was little. She's 11 now.
Sometimes I fall asleep on the couch. She'll come up the hallway since I'm not there to pull her down. I just tell her to go back to bed. She does. She actually wakes up in the hall when I talk with her and remembers that the next day. My daughter is 11. I'm don't remember when it started. We co-slept from day one.
Doesn't sound like night terrors, I got three black eyes when my son was having night terrors to give you some idea how much they lash out. Still like his sleep walking they are not awake and don't know you are there.
So I vote for sleep walking.
