organicsis

I was woken up last night/this morning at 2:45am when my neighbor down the street called to tell me my DS (he's 8!) had apparently been sleep walking and ended up at her house. (insert all the what ifs here)

I haven't been able to sleep since (go figure) and have been looking up possible causes for sleep walking. Of all the possibilities, only abnormal sleep patterns and fatigue really fit him. He's been testing his personal limits by staying up late but he rarely compensates by sleeping in and is usually up before I am. He also has been choosing ot sleep downstairs where we can't hear him very well. I think his sleeping patterns coupled with a possible family history on his bio dads side and maybe even a 14 hour Pokemon cartoon marathon (no I'm not exaggerating, 14 hours! LOL) may have put his body over the edge last night.

I'm obviously pretty worried and by his reaction to waking up at the neighbors front door, so is he. He was in such a daze that he thanked me over and over for coming to get him as if he thought I might not! Then he did nothing but hug me until he fell asleep. It obviously really frightened him. I plan to take some precautionary steps (alarms on doors, maybe a bell around his ankle LOL) but I also want to talk to him about it. However I don't want him to be fearful this will happen again but I'd like him to connect the possibilities of why it happened. I obviously don't want to force him in bed by 8pm but I do want him to be knowledgable and aware, ya know?

What would be the best way to discuss this? I thought about looking at all the websites I found with him, that way I'm not putting my ideas into it and I'm allowing him to decide what he thinks the cause might be. But I will admit I'm a little worried as to what to do if he doesn't see the connection and continues with the same patterns that this may happen again. Although I plan to take precautions, it's still a very frightening thought of how he could hurt himself indoors as well.

Any suggestions?

Tara
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Karen Swanay

FWIW...once is an event....more than once is a pattern. My 9 yr old
sleepwalks too. Just install a lock on the door that's complicated to
open perhaps. This may never happen again. I think I'd wait to see
if HE asks about it. My son never remembers his sleepwalking but I
usually tell him because he thinks it's hilarious. (If he were
bothered by it I wouldn't tell him.) Anyway, with my son it's a
pattern but he doesn't leave the house. If this is the first time,
I'd just secure the house and wait to see what happens because there
isn't anything he can do about it anyway, and night time escapes are
unusual as well.

Karen

On Mon, Feb 25, 2008 at 10:59 AM, organicsis <organicsis@...> wrote:
> I was woken up last night/this morning at 2:45am when my neighbor down the
> street called to tell me my DS (he's 8!) had apparently been sleep walking
> and ended up at her house. (insert all the what ifs here)

BRIAN POLIKOWSKY

I would be careful to declare his sleepwalking on him sleeping little. As much as it fits the profile it is not a certanty that it is causing it for sure.
You maybe be making a educated assumption but none the less an assumption.
Maybe he wants to sit with you and look up online for reasons, safety measures, etc
Involve him without being alarmist in a solution for his safety.
It may never happen again.
Also a big hug for you and him for the scary moment. You probably could not sleep after that.---------




Alex
http://polykow.blogspot.com/




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[email protected]

In a message dated 2/25/2008 9:03:38 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
organicsis@... writes:


Any suggestions?


Tara, I was a sleepwalker, but never left the house. From what I understand,
it's actually not THAT weird. I don't have answers, other than safety locks
way up high on the door frames. I'm sorry your ds felt so scared, but really
glad that he felt so secure upon returning :)

Take care!
Karen



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Tara

> I would be careful to declare his sleepwalking on him sleeping
little. As much as it fits the profile it is not a certanty that it
is causing it for sure.
> You maybe be making a educated assumption but none the less an
assumption.


Oh no, I don't want to "declare" it to be the case. I'm just thinking
I should share *all* the info I found. He's usually in tune enough
for things to "click" if they seem right to him. If they don't that's
fine too. But I do plan to keep my worry to myself.

I'm planning on being pretty relaxed about it and even laugh a little
if we can because I know he was pretty freaked out. I want him to not
be freaked out. I'm thinking that sharing the info I found, as well
as making it light-hearted will give him a sense of control over an
otherwise scary situation. He gets easily frightened and I don't want
him fearful of falling asleep.

I'm actually wondering if my putting bells or alarms on the doors
will show him I'm concerned and cause him more worry. But I don't
want to take chances with him wandering the streets of Las Vegas.
Maybe if I make it a joke and ask him help me pick out somethings
that will wake him up if he decides to go traveling in his dreams
again?

T.

Pamela Sorooshian

How frightening!

Share information - make sure it is accurate, don't exaggerate in
order to manipulate his behavior. Give him information that is
relevant and real and the amount of information that he can understand
and use. Tell him that you don't really know what led to his
sleepwalking, that lots of times kids do it and then don't ever do it
again - sometimes they go through a phase of doing it, but "grow out
of it." I had a sleepwalking kid, too - Rosie did it several times
when she was 7 to 9 years old. She also had night terrors when she was
younger - really extreme ones.

She's 17 now - no sleepwalking, no night terrors. She still talks in
her sleep once in a while and sometimes will even be a little
responsive when I talk to her while she's doing that.

-pam


On Feb 25, 2008, at 8:59 AM, organicsis wrote:

> I was woken up last night/this morning at 2:45am when my neighbor
> down the street called to tell me my DS (he's 8!) had apparently
> been sleep walking and ended up at her house. (insert all the what
> ifs here)



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Deborah

Apparently, hooking a heavy chair under the door knob worked for our house.



Best,



Deborah



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serendipitymama

Hi there,

This is my first post and I'm not used to this format so I'm I hope
this isn't really old but I wanted to chime in and say that I would
totally put the ball in his court. Share the information and then ask
him what he thinks you guys might do to prevent it from happening
again. He might think of an alarm or bells on the door, and if he
doesn't but he is sharing other ideas, you could then offer it up.
Good luck, that must have been terrifying.

Brianna
http://serendipitymama.blogspot.com/