Infant Sleepwalking: A Common Evil
Infant sleepwalking is a disorder that usually occurs in children between 4 and 8 years of age, manifesting itself in different ways. This can cause many doubts and concerns in parents.
What is infant sleepwalking?
A study has determined that 30% of children under 5 years of age tend to have problems and certain disturbances in sleep. Because of this, parents should be aware of this fact to know the reasons. However, there are much stronger disorders, such as infant sleepwalking.
This means that because sleep tends to be a complex phenomenon, some disorders, known as parasomnias, may occur in this phenomenon .
Infantile parasomnias
Infantile parasomnias are sleep disorders in which children may have pediatric insomnia, sleep talk, sleepwalking, night terrors, nightmares, restless legs syndrome; among others.
In this case, infantile sleepwalking is one of the most frequent, which is why several studies have revealed that between 10 and 30% of children have numerous episodes of sleepwalking, and in general they tend to be mild.
How it manifests
This can manifest itself in various ways:
- Sit on the bed.
- Walk around the room.
- Walk around the house.
- Dressing or undressing.
- Open or close doors.
- Talk as if you were awake.
In such cases, the child performs his tasks in a normal way, with his eyes open although he is sound asleep and logically does not see the same. Now, you can answer very simple questions even though you cannot be aware of what has happened.
Benign disorder
Parents need not worry as it is a benign disorder. This means that it does not leave any type of sequelae in the child and it does not derive from another adjacent disorder.
Normally it usually occurs during the first half of the night, just in the phase where sleep is deepest approximately in the first two hours of sleep. Many parents try to wake up children with infantile sleepwalking, but this is not recommended. Also, the child will not remember what happened.
How long does it last?
Mild cases of sleepwalking usually occur in very short episodes, which indicates that they could last between 5 and 15 minutes depending on the causes that produce this type of episodes.
Infant sleepwalking is not dangerous
The sleepwalking in children does not have any danger since it does not lead to problems connect or violent acts, as is in the case of adults who have sleepwalking disorder.
Causes of sleepwalking
There are numerous causes that can trigger episodes of infant sleepwalking :
Inheritance
On many occasions, childhood sleepwalking usually occurs in children whose parents have also suffered from this disorder, although studies have not determined what is the specific gene that causes it.
Immaturity in the nervous system
In the case of children whose parents have never presented this type of disorder; it could be due to immaturity in the nervous system. This means that, as it is not well developed, certain disorders could occur in the neuralgic alert system.
High fevers
Due to various causes, children may have recurrent fevers that lead to sleep disorders such as sleepwalking. In such circumstances these are isolated cases that could produce it.
How to know if the child has sleepwalking?
At night the child may present some behaviors that reflect that he suffers from infantile sleepwalking:
- Sit on the bed with an expression of surprise or admiration with wide eyes.
- He repeats the same movement several times, such as rubbing his eyes and usually playing with his clothes.
- At other times you may get out of bed and walk around the house.
- May appear dazed, with poorly coordinated movements and speech.
- Usually the child does not answer the questions and only whispers, although many times he does.
Recommendations for infant sleepwalking
When having a sleepwalking child at home, it is very important to take some measures to prevent him from hurting himself; for example taking the keys and leaving the house:
Clear rooms
So that it does not hit while sleepwalking, it is necessary to clear the passage of the rooms, removing furniture and obstacles. In this way, if they get out of bed and wander around the house, they will not suffer any damage, although they usually do not tend to trip.
Close the door and windows
It is necessary to close the door with a key very well and remove it from the lock, thus preventing the little one from leaving the house. It is appropriate to place it in a place that is not easily accessible, so you will not be able to find it. The same happens in the case of the windows, it is best to close them very well to prevent it from escaping through there unconsciously.
Don’t wake him up
Many parents whose children have infantile sleepwalking tend to wake them up quickly. Although in this sleep phase it is difficult for him to wake up, it is better not to try to do so because it could scare him very much. The best thing is to guide him gently to bed, speaking softly, the little ones can understand very well what you are trying to tell them .
Relax them
Try to get them to relax very well before going to sleep; You can help them get the right amount of sleep for them. thus they will not present such episodes of sleepwalking.
Do not medicate them
Sleepwalking is not a disease; so parents should not try to medicate them. However, if the episodes occur too frequently, or that sleepwalking is agitated with accidents, a specialist should be consulted.
You can also take him to a dream unit, so he will be given an appropriate treatment for it, and with the passage of time the situation will surely improve.
