Sleepwalking is actually relatively common among children and most outgrow it by the teenage years. And it's usually more troubling for the parents who are watching their kid sleepwalk than it is for the child. In fact, most of the time, they don't even remember it. And if your child does it on occasion, then that's totally fine. It's nothing to worry about. It doesn't mean that they're psychologically distressed. Sleepwalking in and of itself is not dangerous, but if a child is up and walking around, especially if they're doing this frequently, then you need to make sure that you're making the environment as safe as possible so that they don't fall, get hurt, or even escape the house. They may do these things without even realizing it. Kids may open up windows or open up doors and actually leave the house, and so you might find that you need to lock all doors and windows at night. And if you have a young child, you may have to put a safety gate at the top of any stairs, or even at the door of their room, to prevent them from getting out if they've hurt themselves. Do what you can to eliminate clutter, and make sure that there aren't any rugs that the child might trip on when they're walking around and stumbling while they're sleepwalking, and reduce the risk of them falling and breaking something that's glass. Remove those objects from around your child's room.
There are 5 stages to sleep - stage 1, 2, 3, 4, and R.E.M., and all of these stages make up an entire sleep cycle. And each cycle lasts about 90 to 100 minutes, and so during a typical night's sleep, most of us will go through 4 to 6 cycles, depending on how long you're actually sleeping. And sleepwalking usually happens in stage 3 and 4, and these are also the stages whee it's harder to wake someone up, and so when someone is sleepwalking, it can be difficult to get them to wake up and realize what's going on. And it can be very confusing and scary to them if they're awoken, so one of the best things to do is just to gently guide your child back to bed, tuck them in, and leave the room, and they probably won't even remember that it happened.
If you've noticed a pattern to the sleepwalking, you might want to think more about how much sleep your child is getting, what time they're going to bed, what activities they're participating in before going to bed. See if you can get them to bed a little bit earlier, because kids who are overly tired are more likely to sleepwalk. It's also important to stick to your routine as much as possible. Make sure that they get enough sleep at night and go to bed at a decent time. Stress, illness, fever, and certain medications can also contribute to sleepwalking, and so if it's become a very common thing, especially if your child is getting hurt, talk with your pediatrician about it and they'll ask you more specific questions and determine if further investigation is warranted. If you have more questions for me in the future, feel free to ask them on our Facebook page at [ Ссылка ], and recommend us to your friends and family too.
