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Children's health

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Help, 14yo son sleepwalking out of the house late at night

14 replies

stripeylion3 · 19/11/2024 01:00

Hi, I’ve just got home from working nightshift. My kids and I and my parents all live together. My parents told me that my 14yo was sleepwalking and left the house at 11.15 last night. We have security camera’s and I got a notification at work and actually saw him go out the front door. We have a bonus cat hanging around lately and I thought he must have been up late and gone out to see the cat before bed. He looked and moved very normally on the camera so I wasn’t alerted to anything wrong. There was a second notification nine minutes later when he came back in where he did look sleepy. He was still at home and ready for school when I got home. Why I asked him if he went for a wander he said he must have been sleepwalking because he woke up at the end of our road near the alleyway when he woke up. Approximately 200m. Just wearing long pyjama pants. He had unlocked two doors. He walked briskly out the front door, down the driveway and broke into a run. He is very fitness conscious. My Dad thinks he was dreaming about training. He has tried to get out of our chalet on holiday at 2am when he was about nine. He had had episodes of what looks like night terrors where I would try to wake him up but he was fully asleep with no recollection in the morning. He has had no trauma that could cause this. He is potentially a bit spectrumy but high functioning. I thought this was related to obstructive sleep apnea. He had his adenoids out and cautery of turbinates about 5 years ago and had no further episodes like this. Until now. This really unnerves me and I feel like key locking the door isn’t enough.He did eat at his friends house last night which was something different but I can’t see it being a causative factor. I thought about getting an alarm mat but then it will alarm for all the normal movement too and alarm fatigue will render the idea futile. Maybe I’ll seek a sleep study. We have a super dodgy drug house halfway down our street. I am so terrified of this happening again. Has anyone else had this problem?

OP posts:
SilenceInside · 19/11/2024 01:03

Can't you lock the door with the key and then keep the key with you at night in a locked safe box that he doesn't know the code for?

Needanewname42 · 19/11/2024 01:04

Not had the issue but I'd be taking the keys out the door. If it's a thumb turn I'd be getting it changed to a keylock ASAP.

But I think I'd see if the GP has any suggestions on how to stop him sleepwalking.

JurassicPark4Eva · 19/11/2024 01:10

SilenceInside · 19/11/2024 01:03

Can't you lock the door with the key and then keep the key with you at night in a locked safe box that he doesn't know the code for?

Great when there's a fire and no one can get out the main door.

OP, he needs to see a GP.

Hillmandakota72x · 19/11/2024 01:21

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stripeylion3 · 19/11/2024 01:24

Thanks for the replies. We will be key locking the locks to create more steps associated with getting out. We do keep a key near the door about knee height in case of fire etc. He doesn’t usually use this so hopefully it wouldn’t be easily thought of or managed while asleep. I’ll definitely be seeking GP support.

OP posts:
SilenceInside · 19/11/2024 01:24

@JurassicPark4Eva perhaps the risk to her son is greater than the risk of a house fire at this precise moment. Clearly just a stop gap suggestion until she can get his sleep investigated. Perhaps locking the keys away is unnecessary, if he doesn't know where exactly they are kept at night.

Hillmandakota72x · 19/11/2024 01:28

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Pinkbonbon · 19/11/2024 01:32

..you sure he's not just setting the stage for having a night out with his pals at house party and blaming it on sleepwalking?

RockyFowlboa · 19/11/2024 01:38

Oh man. I used to sleep walk too; my mum caught me walking down the street in the middle of the night a few times, and one time I woke up on my front porch in the middle of a pushup, wearing a nightie. On other occasions, my mum said I would go sit on the toilet and just scream for no apparent reason. I am also a little bit on the spectrum and fitness conscious, plus I have really vivid dreams.

I wish I could tell you what made me stop, but I have no idea. It just went away on its own. Could stress be a causal factor?

stripeylion3 · 19/11/2024 01:55

Definitely something I’d think of but he was not dressed for the occasion took nothing with him and returned if his own accord nine minutes later.

OP posts:
Pinkbonbon · 19/11/2024 01:58

stripeylion3 · 19/11/2024 01:55

Definitely something I’d think of but he was not dressed for the occasion took nothing with him and returned if his own accord nine minutes later.

Because he has to fake it a few times so that it'll be believable when he vanishes for the actual thing, if he is caught?

TheWoodpecker · 19/11/2024 02:00

Does he have caffeine? I sleepwalk often and have done since I was a teenager and it's noticeably worse when I've had more caffeine.

stripeylion3 · 19/11/2024 02:05

Pinkbonbon · 19/11/2024 01:58

Because he has to fake it a few times so that it'll be believable when he vanishes for the actual thing, if he is caught?

I’m pretty relaxed with letting them do what they want, within reason, so he would just ask if there was something on. We are in suburban Perth Australia, nothing is happening at 11 on a Tuesday night. He has always been particular about getting enough sleep, I never even hear him on the iPad, phone or computer after bedtime or before he gets up.

OP posts:
stripeylion3 · 19/11/2024 02:09

TheWoodpecker · 19/11/2024 02:00

Does he have caffeine? I sleepwalk often and have done since I was a teenager and it's noticeably worse when I've had more caffeine.

This is interesting, Thanks. He does have a latte style coffee sachet thing occasionally. I’ll have to ask him.

OP posts:
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