Sleepwalking or somnambulism is a state of a person in which he makes unconscious actions in a dream: talking, walking, moving objects, opening doors, etc. It can become aggravated on a full moon, apparently, hence the name. Although this dependence is not always observed.
Sleepwalking in children is much more common than in adults. According to medics estimates, up to 15% of children suffer from such sleep disorders. In general, sleepwalking in children manifests itself after 5 years. The main peak occurs during the adolescent period of 12-14 years, with adulthood, as a rule, all the symptoms go away.
Sleepwalking occurs during the phase of deep sleep. The child can behave as if he is awake. Eyes are wide open or closed, they look to nowhere, he can dress, play toys, draw. After awakening, he does not remember his nightly journeys.
Of course, parents who had to face this problem for the first time are very frightened, start to panic: how to treat sleepwalking in a child, what to do? But before you understand how to get rid of sleepwalking in a child, you need to identify the reasons that cause it.
Causes of sleepwalking in children
Unfortunately, the exact causes of sleepwalking in children in medicine are not fully known. Moreover, most doctors this violation of sleep is not considered a disease at all. Calm down that most likely this condition will pass after the child grows up.
Nevertheless, it is noticed that sleepwalking can appear after some psychological trauma. He can be provoked by strong emotional experiences, stresses, internal fears and anxieties. Usually such experiences can become aggravated against the background of puberty. Child's psyche in this period is not stable. That is why when a child is growing up, sleepwalking very often passes.
It is understandable that all these factors are deeply individual. And that's why the main role in the treatment of sleepwalking belongs to parents. Only close people can isolate the causes of sleepwalking in a child and remove them at the maximum.
Here are the symptoms of sleepwalking in children:
- The child shudders violently, talks in a dream.
- The child in the dream starts to swing from side to side. Rocking (yaktatsiya) - the same type of motion in a dream.
- The baby in his sleep kneels and swings.
- The "folding" syndrome, when the child sits in a dream, leans forward and lies back.
It is worth paying attention to and paying attention to your baby.
Very often somnambulism is observed in children with epilepsy. Sometimes at first there is sleepwalking, and then epilepsy appears.
How to cure sleepwalking in a child?
It should be said that there are no direct ways of treating sleepwalking. Sometimes the concomitant diseases (epilepsy, psychoneurological disorders, etc.) are treated, and sleepwalking also occurs.
In any case, with such a problem you need to turn to the pediatrician. Now in many cities there are centers of sleep disturbances, where they carry out treatment of sleepwalking in children. The expert will help to understand the problem, calculate the factors that contribute to this. But, we repeat, close people fulfill the main role. It is necessary to know how to deal with sleepwalking in children and how to behave, so that the situation gradually comes to naught:
- First you need to calm yourself. Put your feelings in order and not be upset about anything.
- The furnishings of the house should be as friendly as possible. At night, do not watch TV, active games are contra-indicated, etc.
- Next, you need to find out what the child is worried about. Bring him to a frank conversation, so he told everything that he had in his heart.
- Perhaps, it is worth to reduce the load, to reduce the number of circles that he visits. Or even change some situation in the family. Do not need to remind the child of the problem.
- It is noticed that sleepwalking is more common among lethargic, crying children. Therefore, it is worthwhile to organize a more active atmosphere in order to balance the nervous system:
- increase the number of walks;
- every weekend go hiking;
- skiing, biking;
- hardening, douche (and do not lag behind).
Sleepwalking in children is a problem that appears in an unfavorable emotional atmosphere. Create the most harmonious environment for yourself and your child and the problem will leave you forever!