Sleep Walking Toddler?

You might try putting her to bed in a playpen instead of a bed she can get out of? Possibly, that will cause her to lay back down and stay asleep rather than wake up scared in another part of the house. Good luck!

Hi. Well both my girls, 4 1/2 yr old and a 19month old, have gone through the night terror thing. That is a nightmare for any parent!! As for the sleep walking thing, i so hear you on that! My 19month old has been in a twin bed since she was 11months old and she would walk around the house at night and eventually start crying cause she was confused. About 2 weeks ago i started to put a baby gate on her door so that it would stop the walking around. It has been a great idea and worked well. Now she will just open her door and sometimes she will just lay down on the floor w/ her "Snuggles" (blanket) and go back to sleep. Other times she will cry or call for me. I will give her a drink of water and then she will usually go back down for me if i don't talk to her or take her out of her room. Do you have a night light in her room? We don't, nor do i have a monitor. We have a 1 story house and i have never slept well since having children. I ask about the night light because if she gets up and turns off the monitor maybe you should try w/o the light or move the monitor to a higher place so that she won't mess w/ it. If messing w/ it too much she might pull out cord and put it in her mouth.~Sorry, thats the mom in me! Lol. Best of luck!!!
T. L

I have walked and talked in my sleep my entire life that I know of. My husband will get me to have stupid conversations with him when he can tell I will talk. I am pretty sure mine always starts with a dream. It is very connected to something being wrong. When I was little it was fear of junk playing in my head, scary movies, a bug that got on me, my older brother 'torturing' me, mom or dad got mad at me (deserved), or anything bad or stressful that happened that day. Also worse if I felt bad or sick or needed to go to the bathroom. Instead of just breaking out of sleep and going to the potty I would dream that I was on the toilet and then just wet the bed or where ever I had managed to walk to. As an adult all the same is true. I have to watch how late I drink. I cannot go to bed with food on my stomach or having eaten anything for dinner that I am sensative to. I talk alot in my sleep when I am menstuating and having cramps. I will cry in my sleep when I have anxiety from something being wrong. Both my daughters walk and talk in their sleep also. The youngest one is worse. Hers is 90% associated with needing to potty. She will sit up, cry, bounce on the bed, get up, walk around, bump into things, and sometimes get back into bed and repeat in 2-3 minutes. She is totally asleep. She cannot communicate at all. She will take short specific commands but you have to repeat them. I cannot wake her up. So she ends up following commands of: get out of bed, go down the hall, turn on the light, pull down you pants, get on the potty, okay are you done?, let's go to bed. She never remembers. Everytime my husband has successfully woke me up in the middle of walking or talking it was very difficult, I felt confused, would cry myself out of sleep, and then finally wake up and ask him what was going on, and I always get a headache. I think the genetic part is correct. My dad and other family members do it. My husband did when he was little and so did 1 of his brothers. I have 1 nephew that had very bad night terrors to the point of considered medication. Just to note, not to add any potentially guilty feelings, but it never happens to me when I am settled and happpy. My children never did any of this until they stopped sleeping in our bed. The oldest one has only walked 3 times and talked about 10 times. She slept with us until she was 7. The younger is way worse and she only slept with us until she was 3. They both moved into a bed together at the same time. Possibly a connection of comfort and safety issues. Good Luck

My oldest son, who is now 3, started sleepwalking once he was in a bed (or at least we noticed it then). My youngest, now 18 months, has had a similar situation only he is still in the crib and also talks/cries so we have caught him "walking in his sleep" in his crib. I have night terrors and have occaisionally walked in my sleep as did my brother so I think it is hereditary. However, my sleep-walking and my sons sleep-walking seems to be an extreme event and corresponds to big changes, stress, or developmental jumps.

There probably is not much you can do to stop it, but 18 months has lots of developmental jumps and increases in stranger anxiety, etc. so she may calm down once that is over. In the meantime, make sure the room is toddler proof (no big book shelves that would topple if she tried to climb in her sleep) and if you are still worried you can always put a baby gate across the outside or the plastic covers for the knobs over the doorhandle to make sure she doesn't wander outside of her room.

If you know her room is safe and she can't get out don't worry. My sons' rooms are set up so that there is very little furniture (low book case, massive, sturdy dressers, a chair, and bed) and no worries they could get big injuries (bump on the head or stubbed toe maybe, but nothing requiring a doctor visit). I sleep well knowing they are safe and I hope you will too. You are not alone.

Hi L., my husband sleepwalked into his mid 20's. It is not due to lack of sleep but vivid dreaming. I was told most sleepwalkers outgrow it in the teen years. (Except my 22y/o daughter who Still sleepwalks, eats, turns on the tv and has it blasting yet still doesn't wake.) Radio Shack makes an alarm that is a light beam which when crossed by the sleepwalker sounds the alarm. It could be placed in the doorway to the child's bedroom to alert you if she leaves her room. It is less than $20. Another of our children had night terrors as well which he outgrew about age 9. He would scream, holler about what he was dreaming and be rigid. We could not wake him. Those episodes lasted about an hour. We tried everything under the sun which made no difference in either child's case. It must be hereditary. My husband's side of the family had both those problems. If someone has an answer to this, I'd like to know it as well.

The most important thing to do is make sure she is safe. I would put up a baby gate at her door to prevent her from walking around the house. If it creates an issue at bedtime, do it after she is asleep. If she encounters a barrier, she should just stand there and cry. I wouldn't try to wake her up, that can be confusing, and sometimes when they are that deeply asleep they won't even wake up. Just get up and put her back in bed with some quiet, reassuring words. Hopefully she will fall right back to sleep. Good luck.

My now 5 year old son used to sleep walk. It started when he was about 1 year old. We used a baby gate to block his doorway. I had a monitor in his room until he was 3. When he would get up, I would go in his room & put him back to bed. He stopped by age 3 and hasn't done it since. We used the baby gate to make sure he couldn't get out of his room and wander. It may be hereditary, I also slept walked when I was little. Hope this helps.

both my children did that and i did it when i was there age shes porabably having grounding pains that what mine were and my kids were having. the doctor use to tell me all the time that you grow when you are asleep. they told me that when and if they did that massage what hurts before they go to be and mabey a lil bit of tylonal or motrin for the pains it helped min i hope it helps yours i have the same problems not getting enough sleep sometimes though so i know how you are feeling

I think it is just a phase. My son also does the same thing, but usually does not wake up. We will just find him in his closet, under his bed, in the corner behind his rocking chair, etc. I would suggest moving the monitor out of reach, fully baby-proffing her room (if not already) and putting a baby gate on her door. That way, at least when she is not in her bed you will not be running around the house in the dark, possibly stepping on her, and giving both of yourselves an anxiety attack. You know she is in a confined space, looking for her will be less frightening. When I find my son curled up somewhere, I just put him back into bed and don't make an issue out of it. The gate gives me some some assurance, if he is not in his bed, he is safe in his room "somewhere". Not possibly outside. We have the exterior doors baby-proofed with the hotel type locks, but all it takes is one time of forgetting to lock that top latch and they could get out. My son is 2 1/2 now, he sleeps through the night and rarely does it anymore. She'll be okay, good luck!

Sleep walking is probably hereditary. It runs in my family (I was a sleep walker and so was my dad). I am waiting to see if any of my kid will do it. You can't do much about it, but she will outgrow it eventually. The important thing is to make sure her surroundings are safe and try to guide her back to her bed without rousing her too much. My parents did notice that sleep walking seemed to increase when I was stressed out or excited about something. Good luck.

L.-
My son does not walk, but he does sit up and talk, with his eyes opened. Sometimes the look in his eyes is really freaky. It can be inherited, it can also be sleep deprivation. It may be something she will grow out of. I know it is scary, try getting her to nap a little longer if you can during the day, and if you can, you nap then also!

Hi L.,,
I was a sleepwalker when i was small i'm almost 50 i don't walk in my sleep now but talk outloud .I don't think there is much you can do ,,but dont wake her just put her back in bed.
hope this helps L.