Sleep Walking.

Updated on July 09, 2008
D.W. asks from Turlock, CA
4 answers

Ok ladies, I am on here once again asking questions. My 6 year old has never slept walked before until the last 2 nights. The first night I thought maybe she was just tired, but then she did it again the second night, now I am getting worried. The weird thing is that I too sleep walk. I have found myself outside many times. This is what worries me, I am not sleeping anymore because I am too worried that she is going to leave the house. I have thought about putting an extra lock in the door but since my husband works graveyards he needs to be able to get in the house too in the wee hours of the morning, without struggling with a lock he can't get open. What can I do short of sleeping on the floor in front of the door to make sure she doesn't leave the house while I am sleeping at night? I am so tired and I just want to stop worrying enough to get some sleep tonight! Does anyone know what exactly causes sleep walking anyway?

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M.S.

answers from Sacramento on

Home depot has those inexpensive motion detectors for doors that beep if the door is opened. You can also place one in the doorway of her room, as leaving the house is not the only danger - she could turn on the stove or countless other things. Also, a baby gate in her bedroom doorway - she may not be able to get over it.

You can also try the child proof knob covers, she may not be able to maneuver that while sleeping.

Since you are up with worry, you can monitor how those things work, or need to be tweaked.

Blessings!

1 mom found this helpful
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T.B.

answers from Sacramento on

We have an alarm and leave it on chime so that if the door is opened it beeps three times. My kids have learned to sleep through this but I always hear it if my husband comes home when I am asleep. The other doors we have a flip lock on the top of the doors (garage and back door) that my kids can't reach. I think you can buy a sensor that will chime without getting an entire alarm system installed, but I'm not positive on this. Anyways, it may be able to give you some piece of mind. Good luck. It is scary having a sleepwalker. I had a friend growing up that ended up on the roof (they had a two story house) and they ended up putting bars on her bedroom window!

1 mom found this helpful
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E.R.

answers from Stockton on

My oldest son and I are also sleepwalkers and with a husband who works nights, I totally feel you!!! We have a double-sided key for the front door, (I don't know if that's what it's really called), but you can lock it from the inside with a key and from the outside with a key. (It looks the same from the inside and the outside.) We lock it and take the key out, putting it in a secure place when we worry about our wandering child! We've had it for years and never have worried about losing it and locking ourselves in (we could always use the backdoor if necessary, or the garage if it came to it, though the most popular form of entry/exit for all of us is the front door, which is why it's what we've focused on). You can buy it at any hardware store and install it easily. Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful
Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

P.W.

answers from San Francisco on

Maybe it's just temporary, my kids have done it a handful of times, but maybe you should install some kind of additional lock that your husband can unlock so you can get some sleep.

1 mom found this helpful
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