Sleepwalking in Children

In sleepwalking, the affected person not only tends to walk but also get involved in doing other things. When asked later, he/she show total unawareness about it. This disorder is clinically termed as 'somnambulism' and it is mostly found in children who are in their pre-pubertal stage of their life (between ages of 4 and 8). Some cases occur less than once in every month and some have frequency of more than once. However, in rare and extreme cases, when somnambulism occurs more frequently, incidents of physical injury could occur.

What Triggers or Causes Somnambulism?
Sleepwalking is a stage wherein, kids or adults are in midway of being asleep and awake. No specific causes of this problem have been deciphered yet. However, professionals assume that the disorder may be associated with fatigue, poor or deprived sleep, anxiety, stress from studies and sometimes, it may also relate to family history of night terrors or sleepwalking. Other factors such as magnesium deficiency in the body, fever, nighttime asthma, length and depth of slow wave sleep, and a condition known as obstructive sleep apnea, wherein, breathing stops temporarily while sleeping, have also come up as the offenders.

Main Symptoms
The prominent symptom is the difficulty in arousing the affected person while he/she is sleepwalking. The affected child may not remember or have a single clue regarding the incident. Other symptom is loud or soft mutterings which are incomprehensible most of the time, suddenly sitting up in the bed, and sometimes running or moving around the entire room. Parents have also observed that their children tend to use obscene words which they do not utter when awake, and sometimes children may also urinate in inappropriate places.

Treatment Plan
Parents will be relieved to know that most children outgrow sleepwalking. The frequency of the events tend to reduce as the kids age and later, there are usually no recurrences. However, if the incidents are not showing any decrease in their occurrence then this would be a good time when parents must visit a doctor.

Parents must ensure that their child gets plenty of rest and follows a fixed schedule of going to bed every day. As mentioned, stress is one major trigger of sleepwalking. So, inculcating some stress-relieving exercises such as meditation or other relaxation exercises before bed time helps the body and mind to de-stress and helps in reduces the frequency of sleepwalking. It is advisable for the child's bedroom to be on the ground floor and the room should be free of objects which may pose a physical threat to the child. Placing an alarm bell on the bedroom door and on the windows will also help parents to be aware if any incident of sleepwalking has occurred.

Doctors also advise parents to maintain a record of the timings when their children actually begin sleepwalking. This way they can wake them up 10 - 15 minutes before the recorded time. This method is also effective in countering the problem. As far as medical treatment is considered, it is best left to the doctors. If there is any underlying cause for the behavior then medication is targeted towards addressing the cause. Such causes, however, are mostly found in cases of adults who sleepwalk.

Somnambulism, as already said, does not raise any major concerns and most children have been found to leave the disorder behind along with their childhood. However, there might be a few exceptions and for them, doctors are always there to help with their professional advice and care.