Sleep walking is also known as noctambulism or somnambulism. This problem is mostly seen in children who are aged between 4 to 8 years. Mostly this problem of sleep walking appears to run in families. There are lots of chances to obtain this problem for your child if anyone of your family members has this problem.
The factors which cause the problem of sleep walking in children are:
Fatigue or lack of sleep
Due to fever or some other illness
It can also be caused with the usage of certain medications which are not suitable for your child.
Stress or some psychological problems
Facing problems in getting uninterrupted or good sleep
some Emotional problems can also lead to this problem
Sleep walking is not so serious and there is nothing to worry a lot regarding this. Most of the sleep walkers don’t perform this more often. Yeah! Sometimes this can cause some hazardous problems when the child doesn’t realize what he/she is doing such as walking through the opening windows and down stairs.
Sleep walking in not a sign which indicates that the child is physically or emotionally wrong. The child will not cause any type of emotional harm if he/she has this problem. Most of the sleep walkers will go back to their bed on their own. They don’t even remember what happened in the last night.
The most common symptoms which can be observed in the children who have the problem of sleep walking are:
Opening eyes (half open in some cases) during sleep
They will have blank look on their face
They appear awake or sit up during their sleep
They try to perform some detailed activity when they are in sleep
Disoriented, confused upon awakening
Talking among themselves in their sleep
They will be clumsy, dazed and feel hard to wakeup.
Some other conditions which accompany this problem are:
Obtaining brief pauses while breathing in their sleep
Enuresis (it is also known as bed wetting)
Night terrors
By sitting up in their bed they will perform some repeated motions like fussing their pajamas or rubbing eyes.
Follow these simple steps to keep your child out of harm:
Remove breakable or sharp things which are present around the bed of your child.
Don’t let them to sleep in the bunk beds because there is a chance to fall from that bed when they awake in their sleep.
In order to prevent stumble remove all the obstacles which are present in your child’s room or in your house
Install the safety gates near the stair cases and/or outside of your child’s room
Lock the doors and windows throughout your home
Don’t scare your child but awakening him/her suddenly in their sleepwalk
Make your child to feel more relax when they are ready to sleep by playing some relaxation or soft music tapes Visit Sleep Disorders Blog