Any One Else????

Updated on April 08, 2010
A.Z. asks from Los Angeles, CA
24 answers

hi i know this is going to sound weird but my 5 year old daughter has been waking up in the middle of the night acting counfused sometimes even talking is there any one else that has expierence this?or heard of this ?can it be sleep walkin at such a young age? and is there something i can do or should do?

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M.L.

answers from Seattle on

My 2.5 year old talks in her sleep too and it's generally a bit incoherent and nonsensical. She's done it for well over a year. As long as she has a safe sleeping space, she's fine.

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A.V.

answers from Seattle on

Yes, my 5 year old son does it. Been doing it for years now. I don't think he remembers it. It's seems to be more infrequent lately. Usauly he tlaking to no one, eyes open. But sometimes he gets out of bed and wanders around his room, but that is rare.

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A.R.

answers from Portland on

Yes, it can be sleepwalking. My children have been doing it since a young age also. I have found the best thing to do is to put them back to bed. They won't even remember it in the morning. I also find that they sleepwalk more when they are really tired or if they are anxious about something, like a test or some school assignment.

Hope this helps.

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N.Z.

answers from Portland on

She's sleep walking. My youngest son does that, and my brother, and my aunt..... I usually steer him to the bathroom, he goes, then settles back down. I've had some of the best conversations with my brother when he was asleep.
Just make sure she can't get hurt. My boy has opened the front door and gone running outside, up and down the street. He also tried to crawl into the oven one night. My aunt bypassed the chairs that were put around her bed, and walked to the neighbors and rand the doorbell.
Sleepwalkers can open locks that they cannot open when they are awake. So be aware and try to keep things safe.

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D.C.

answers from Portland on

I used to do it as a teenager, but I would usually wake up enough in the middle of it to know what was going on and then run back to bed because I was so embarrased. I used to walk down the stairs go into the living room and ask my mom if she put my clothes in the dryer. My mom would keep asking me what clothes, after a few moments of being frustrated I would wake up enough to see what was going on and then run to my room. Crazy!!!! I have a son who doesn't necessarily sleep walk but cries out all night in bed usually 5 out of 7 nights. He usually talks about the day we just had. Sometimes he say, I don't want burger king, I want taco bell. Or he'll tell his brother to go see momma. Its annoying and funny all at the same time.

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S.W.

answers from Seattle on

Night terrors probably, it's very common at that age. My son has them periodically. Google it :)

C.M.

answers from St. Louis on

I slept talked and walked for a lot of my youth - I know for sure I did it from ages 5-10. So I think it's a definite possibility. She may be acting confused because she is still dreaming/sleep talking.

I do not think there is anything you can do, persay, except to make sure that she is kept safe and her surroundings are safe. I used to walk up and down the stairs in my sleep and never fell, so who knows?

V.W.

answers from Jacksonville on

Yes, it can be. My son is 11 and he has talked in his sleep for ages. It used to start about 2 hours after he went to sleep... I'd be sitting up quietly watching TV and the only one in the house awake, and I'd hear "voices"... so I'd get up and search it out... only to find it was him talking/mumbling in his sleep. Sometimes he talks full sentences, pauses (waiting for a response I guess?) and then says some more stuff. Often he sounds annoyed. But I don't "get there" in time to actually hear what he is talking about... lol. Then he is done. It comes and goes..

A year or so ago he woke up in the morning on the sofa and wanted to know who put him there during the night (we didn't). He went on a vacation trip with extended family last summer, and the adult supervision said he sat up in bed and was trying to wrestle his cousin in his sleep. He has no memory of it whatever.
He has never had "night terrors".
I have "heard" that sleep walking can run in families... and my hubby walked in his sleep some as a child, so maybe there is a bit of truth to that.. I don't know. But usually, he only mumbles... doesn't get out of bed. No big deal.

F.H.

answers from Phoenix on

did she just get an immunization shot? mine is 9 yo and did that after her shot and I will not immunize further. Just a thought. Good luck.

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S.H.

answers from Honolulu on

She's not fully awake when she is doing that.
If you not interact with her, she will probably go back to sleep.

She is talking/walking in her sleep.

My daughter does that. She has always been that way. She has always talked in her sleep or actually gets up and walks. But she is still in a sleep state. We just don't interact or "wake" her... just guide her back to bed. And then she falls back asleep.

My daughter, is very cerebral and her brain is so active even in her sleep. Or if she is very tired... or thinking of stuff, or dreaming, she does this. She doesn't have any "problems" and the Ped said she is fine.

All the best,
Susan

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V.K.

answers from Seattle on

My brother did this when he was young and it was "night terrors."

You can google to find out more information. One site to visit is:
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T071300.asp

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W.C.

answers from Seattle on

Yes, I used to do it. I have no memory of it. My mother told me about it. I think it began about the same age and I continued until at least college age. And since I lived in a co-ed college I was woken up once looking at some male student. I do not know who he was. But I image he was as surprised as I was.

When I was married my husband was very vexed because he said I sometimes made more sense when I was sleep talking than when I was awake. (he was such a "dear" man)

C.S.

answers from Medford on

My 5 year old daughter does the same thing. We call it sleep talking. She is talking but clearly not there. We find it a little funny. We get a laugh out of it because I do the same thing! We try to talk to her about it in the morning and she gets furious because she literally doesnt remember it happening. I remember once she came in and said she had to go potty, she peed right there on the floor without even realizing she was awake! Just the other night she came in and insisted that she peed the bed (which she didn't), so we went through the motions and changed her panties and put her back to bed. I recall once when I was little I got up to go to the bathroom only to find I had (for some reason) put a pair of panties on over the top of my pajamas...I laugh...My brother-in-law about that age went clear down to his grandma's house in the middle of the night (about 500 feet or so)...
The only thing you can do is make sure the house is safe and secure. We installed alarms (from the dollar store...they actually work!) on the outside doors incase she tries to make an escape.

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A.B.

answers from Seattle on

believe it or not, true sleepwalking happens in the deepest stage of sleep rather than in the dream stage- we often think people are dreaming but this is not the case.

My daughter started sleepwalking at about 6 or 7 years old. She is 14 now and it does not happen often but I noticed that it does happen when she is anxious. She had to have surgery on her arm 3 times in her life and she always seemed calm and 'together' about it never expressing any distress or anxiety over it but she did have all of the sleepwalking episodes that I know about in the couple of weeks before each surgery.
Her sleepwalking is triggered by anxiety.

My other daughter had disrupted sleep quite often and from a young age. She would sleep hard and it would seem impossible to wake her when she was sleeping but she would wake up often having fitful sleep, moan in discomfort or just get up and do something. When she did get up she was disoriented and obviously very tired but could not sleep. She was not sleepwalking. We found out she had serious food intolerances and her gut was so damaged she was not absorbing nutrients. This contributed to her sleep patterns being disrupted and out of whack. Since we have gotten her on an appropriate diet she is now doing very well nad her sleep cycles have normalized.

A couple of things I would suggest. Avoid sugars and dairy a few hours before bedtime. About an hour before bed (especially if she seems restless or hyper) give her a Hyland's Calms Forte (it is homeopathic and non addictive)
Continue to pay attention to her sleep patterns and journal what she has eaten in the day, her moods and attitudes during the day, if there are any stressors in her life or something that may have happened during the day and what is going on in her sleep.
This way if you do notice things that cause greater concern you will have a good record to present to a doctor if needed.

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S.G.

answers from Albuquerque on

My daughter is 4 and does these sorts of things all the time. When I go in to kiss her goodnight she will often be talking, if for some reason I wake her she is totally confused. We have also found her up and confused at night a few times. We talked to her dr. and he said it could be sleep walking but it's not a big deal. Just make sure she is safe. We put a gate up in the hall way so she can go to the bathroom and our room, but not in the laundry room or down the stairs.

My advice would be to just keep her safe but not to worry too much. I think a lot of little ones go through this. If it gets worse or you feel she is in some sort of danger, I would talk to her dr.

I know some kids also have night terrors. My nephew did, but you can tell the difference. With night terrors kids are usually crying or afraid and hard to console. If this is the case with your daughter, my sister just started waking her son up when she went to bed and then letting him go back to sleep. It seemed to break the cycle.

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M.F.

answers from Sioux Falls on

Yes, it is normal. I did it, my brother did and 2 or my three kids did. I can still have full conversations with my 16 year old when he is asleep and he doesn't remember a thing! It's quite comical actually. Just make sure she can't hurt herself on anything and gently coax her back to bed.

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A.M.

answers from Seattle on

My seven years old son has the same problem. But I am thinking it is panic attack he is getting. It happens to him like one ever two weeks.

L.G.

answers from Eugene on

Children do this for a variety of reasons. One is that they are receiving spiritual messages about their Mission in this lifetime. What they have been sent here to do. It can be they have met their totem animal and find it disturbing or want it to come back.
Another is they are frightened by a dream. They do not slowly come out of sleep but startle awake between the two Worlds that of the Material world we live in and the World of Creation where we go in dreamtime.
Sometimes they are reliving an experience they had in earthly time that was upsetting to them.
This type of sharp awakening is normal between the ages of 5 and 7 1/2 and just holding your child and reassuring her is enough.

M.S.

answers from Columbus on

My daughter does this, too. She does it less, now (she's 8). She would wake up, come into our room and sometimes not remember it. We found her sleeping on the stairs one morning( only a few - not a full flight) . One night, she got out of bed and burned her leg on the vaporizer! *We now use the cold steam! My kids all sleep really, really, deeply, so it's no wonder they are confused when they are woken at night. Unless she's actually leaving her room and you are scared for her safety, I wouldn't worry about it. She may outgrow it. If she does walk in her sleep and you are afraid she will leave her room and fall down the stairs or something like that, I'd put up a gate and explain to her its for her safety. Only use it at night, so she won't feel like a "baby" again. Don't lock her door, whatever you do. I'm a freak about fire, and that could be a fire danger.......I should have been more of a freak about burning steam, eh??? LOL! Good luck!

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S.P.

answers from Los Angeles on

My brother used to do this when we were little. He totally grew out of it before he was 10, but I have to say he did some pretty funny things. He was probably about 7 and he took his school shoes, walked down the stairs, put one on the wrong foot and the other in the freezer! He came back up stairs wrapped the shoe from his foot in his blanket and fell asleep cuddling it. We know this because my dad watched the whole thing happen and was in total disbelief. Because my brother was asleep while doing it we have no idea why he did it!

Needless to say most people grow out of the walking part, and the talking part can't hurt anyone!

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M.D.

answers from Seattle on

Just to let you know antihistimines can have a a side effect of sleep walking. My husband experienced this as a child - he was on an inhaler and took allergy shots. I too, as a child, just talked in my sleep. So, while our kids (4 & 2) are not taking allergy medicine all the time, lately they have been consistently on Claritin because the pollens have been so bad, and one night my son sat up in bed and seemed confused and cried a little because he seemed disoriented but calmed down quickly and feel back to sleep as soon as I came in and consoled him.

My two year old, on the other hand still wakes me up a few times a night just with her wimpering cries from ceing cold because she kicked off the blankets or she is slipping/falling off her toddler bed. Sometimes she is scared and I have to call my husband in because I can't seem to comfort her as well as he can.

But, your daughter's experience sounds like it might be some sort of sleep walking which can be a side effect of antihistimines or other medication, you might want to ask your pediatrician about it.

Good Luck!

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L.M.

answers from New York on

Yes, sounds like sleep walking to me. You should talk to her in a calm, quiet voice try to get her lie in her bed so she'll go back to sleep. My daughter would get out of bed and say "I can't find it, where is it?". I would say go back to bed and Mommy will go get it. She'd lie down and 2 minutes later would be asleep. Don't wake her up.

My daughter is now 14 and we haven't experienced any sleep walking in years.

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M.W.

answers from Seattle on

My girl has being doing it for a couple of years now, i think it is an over active imagination when she is sleeping! she yells and chats in her sleep has bad dreams and the odd time ive caught her standing in her room or pointing at the roof chatting away...sometimes i hear her crying and go in there, ask her why she is crying and she says she isnt, then gets angry at me..She is about to turn 5..there are natural remedys that you can give them, i think its white chestnut that helps unwanted thoughts or you could try a rescue remedy..

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N.A.

answers from Harrisburg on

My daughter had something like this, turned out to be night terrors. She would appear wide awake, eyes open...but totally inconsolable. The doctor advised us to wake her an hour after she fell asleep and that apparently breaks the cycle. Worked for her.

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