Have you ever seen a child asleep walking, talking, and acting like it was awake in the middle of the night? It can cause injury or an accident, and it is really uneasy for parents. Let's suspicion of a sleepwalk, a child whose eyes are open but are out of focus and unresponsive.
Pediatric sleepwalking
Sleepwalking or sleeping palsy is a sleeping disorder in which the child is awake and unaware of the actions taken. Kristy Silithi, a professional sleep counselor, said sleepwalking is a type of abnormal behavior that occurs during sleep and requires proper intervention rather than treatment.
One of the causes of almost every type of event sleep is either too tired or lacks adequate sleep. The best treatment is restorative sleep, which allows the child to sleep well.
Three types of sleepwalking
There are three types of sleepwalking, namely, simple sleeping mood, dangerous sleeping mood, and panic mood swings.
Simple somnambulism: It is said that simple sleep somnolence occurs when a child gets up from bed and takes a stinging motion and sometimes speaks. I go around the house and go back to bed.
Somnambulism at risk: Symptoms of sleepwalking last at least 10 to 20 minutes and are considered to be at risk when two to three occurrences occur per week. It is quite dangerous because children can get hurt. The child can hit somewhere in the house and roll or slide down the stairs.
Terror somnambulism: A child acts aggressively or defensively in an unconscious state. They run around the house, scream and cry. But if you wake up, you do not remember your actions.
Cause of sleepwalking
The most common causes of sleepwalking are fatigue and sleep deprivation, irregular sleeping habits, stress, anxiety, sleeping environments unusual, sickness, fever, certain treatments such as sedatives and antihistamines, and family history.
Rarely, it can be a symptom of a sleep disorder that temporarily stops breathing while sleeping, such as sleep apnea, migraine, RLS, or head injury.
To check for sleepwalking?
You can often find your child wandering around in the middle of the night. They walk around the house, go down stairs, or avoid furniture. They even answer questions with their eyes open. At this time, the child's brain state is closer to arousal than sleeping. The best thing to do for a sleepwalking child is to get rid of the dangerous stuff in the house so that you do not get hurt and to let your child sleep well again.
To treat sleepwalking
There are several ways that a child can get away from sleepwalking and get a good night's sleep. Pediatric sleepwalking usually disappears naturally when puberty begins. In the case of a simple sleep wake, if the stress is solved, the cause of sleepwalking can be eliminated. You need to find out what causes your child to suffer or be harassed and then resolve the cause.
On the other hand, if you are constantly suffering from sleepwalking, you may be prescribed benzodiazepines or antidepressants that are prescribed to treat anxiety through counseling with a pediatrician. Although there may be times when the treatment is no longer effective, it can help with sleep.
On the other hand, doctors often recommend relatively effective hypnotherapy. There is also a sleep study that takes one night in the sleep laboratory. After attaching the electrode to a specific area of the body, it can measure the heartbeat, the respiration rate, the muscle tension, the motion of the eyes and the legs, and the blood oxygen level.
If the sleepwalking is chronic, the doctor may recommend a 'scheduled awakening method'. After observing a child's sleepwalking symptoms for a few nights, he awakens the child 15 minutes before the expected sleepwalking symptoms. You can create a new sleep cycle for your child and control your sleepwalking behavior.
