Sleepwalking - Mesa, AZ

Dear N., My sister was a sleepwalker and talked in her sleep. She is now 62 and I'm 60. I'm not able to give advice, but what I do have is prayer. When I read your request it touched my heart. I'm praying for a perfect peace for your son, that he may have peaceful sleep knowing how much he is loved by Jesus Christ, who loves him so much He died for him. It took alot for me to write this. Please, know that my prayer is in deep desire for your son to relax and enjoy Loving Arms to rest in. I.

You should worry about him sleep walking when he is away. I have slept walked a few times in my life and for some reason, being away from home can trigger it.
Let his counselors know and let him go to camp. Also if there is a time that he is more prone to sleepwalking, then maybe he can have an alarm clock set to about half an hour before that when he is away and he may not set into that stage of his sleep.
I have heard that if you wake a child who has night terrors about an hour before the terror and roll them over, they don't have them and eventually they grow out of them. They noticed a pattern of the terrors happening at the same time every time they had one. Plus they don't even remember the fact that you woke them (most of the time). Just long enough to gain a second of conscience. So that I why I suggest the alarm clock thing. It is worth a try.
I also know that hormones traumas can trigger sleep walkers to start sleep walking again even if they haven't done so for years. Like woman can start sleep walking again after child birth.
It is ok to worry about your son, but you also need to accept that you can't protect him from everything. If you honeslt feel in your gut that he shouldn't go to camp then listen to that, but if you think you can shield them from everything....lol you have another thing coming..lol Just tell the counselors and who ever he bunks with and he will be fine.
I wish I had some real advice for you, but I only had my 2 cents.
Good luck

Hi N.,
I'd think your son would be able to navigate out of a tent, and I'd think the chances of him sleepwalking during an exciting trip (like Boy Scout camp) are pretty good.

However, I hope you still plan on letting him go to camp. I would have a more in-depth conversation with the troop leader, and if he's not open to suggestions, I'd go over his head, because the solution seems pretty simple:

He'll probably be sharing a tent with his closest friends, right? Why not have one of his buds sleep in front of the tent door? (I guess this wouldn't work if your son were embarassed about his sleep-walking, but I hope that's not an issue: we had a friend who sleep-walked when I was younger, and it wasn't a big deal.)

I'm a sleep-'talker.' I have single-handedly "freaked out" two roommates in college because I didn't know I did it, and I'd sit up in the middle of the night and tell them some crazy stuff. I've done it several times to my hubby, too, who thought it was pretty funny - wierd sense of humor :)

Hope your son has an awesome time @ camp!
T

It sounds like sleepwalking is something in your son's genes from both sides - he should outgrow it - unless he starts to take sleep aid drugs which could make it worse. I have heard from a friend of mine who is a naturopathic colon therapist that restless sleep patterns (ie: sleepwalking and vivid dreams) are often the product of parasites in the system. My own just-turned-12-year-old had very vivid dreams and slept walked - often ending up in our bed - until a couple of years ago when I discovered a very powerful - but safe and all natural not pharmaceutical - vermifuge (anti-parasitic herb) called Sangre de Drago. Using it not only purges parasites from the digestive system and keeps them from being able to return, it also heals any damage that having them in the system has caused. I know it works because after initially giving it to mt son when he was about 10 he pooped out a 6-inch long worm of some kind - we couldn't identify it (and didn't take it to a lab because it would have cost too much) but it definitely was a-swimming around in the jar my husband scooped it out of the toilet into - and when we added a few drops of the Sangre to the water to see what would happen, it swam like mad trying to get OUT of the water - it took about a day but it finally died swimming like crazy the whole time - my son still gets the Sangre on a regular basis - as do all our pets. Let me know if you have any questions about it.

Hello N..
You have a bit of advise here. I'm not certain if you have answers you were looking for.

Your conscious might rest more easily if you do pursue the door latches that were mentioned, or some other kind of alarm device that would let you know whether or not the door had been opened. That will not help you when it comes to having to allow your child to travel or go somewhere where he is not under your supervision, unless the device is small enough and easily enough to install and remove to be taken with you or your son, and your son will take responsibility for its use. At 12, it would be isolating to feel "different".

You might consider consulting your son's pediatrician regarding the situation. He or she may have some advise to help you as well. Personally, I would be very leery of anyone offering to medicate your child for this, medically certified, homeopathic or otherwise. It seems counter-intuitive to me to believe that a parasitic infection would cause anyone to sleepwalk. Just not the same two affected systems functioning, medically speaking. I can quite assure you that neither my sister nor I was ever treated for parasitic infection in our lives, and both of us were sleepwalkers into our teens, and randomly even older. I would confidently say the same is likely true of your spouse and his brother, though you might check.

With regard to what triggers sleepwalking episodes, you might try some web research. I know in both my and my sister's cases, we walked under stressful situations; travelling, moving, at the start or end of school years, when there was school testing, sunburns. In my case, I was still sleepwalking on occassion into my 20's, each time associated with a stressful employment situation.

I believe your spouse and the others who mentioned it are correct, your son will grow out of this behavior. In the meantime, you are a very conscientious mother to be looking for ways to keep him safe during that timeframe. I would be too. Do not take your instincts lightly, despite your inexperience with sleepwalking. If you are not confident in the situation for your son's safety, then best to forgo it until you can be or come up with an alternative that leaves you, as his parent, responsible for his safety. You only have one son, and he is one of a kind in this world.

Hang in there, and good luck.

Hi N.,
Well when i was reading your question i thought of this one device. I just cant remember what it is called. But i will do my best to explain how it works. It is use in nursing homes i know that for sure because i used to work in one and had to use it on a patient. one end gets hooked on to the shirt or pj the person is wearing and the other end gets hooked on the pillow or the sheet and if the two get disconnected it sounds off a small alarm. It has been over seven years so i cant remember the name of it. i think that this will work really great for you that way you will get to him sooner, maybe even before he gets out of his bedroom door. You should ask around and see if anyone one knows what this device is called if not i can get back to you and find out. Just let me know. Here is my email ____@____.com Luck.

Hi, N. ~

I had night terrors as a small child, which were the result of a seizure disorder. I was placed on Tegretol (sp?) which helped immensely. The episodes became fewer and further between. Then when I was nine, they stopped altogether, though my EEGs were still abnormal long after that. I still have pretty lucid-sounding conversations in my sleep. Like another mom who responded, my husband finds it quite amusing. :) Anyway, I just want to assure you that it doesn't usually last and to encourage you to protect your son while it does. All the best to him and to you!

~ R.