Anyone else living with a sleepwalking adult? Tips/strategies?

[Slythermum]

This is posting on behalf of my mum and stepdad. Stepdad has chronic PTSD and sleepwalks at least a couple of times a week. Apparently, it's more common than we imagine - 4% of people (who knew?!)

Anyway, SD normally has a beer or two after work and then falls asleep in front of the telly and then if she tries to wake him to go to bed he starts the nighttime show of wandering about talking nonsense (and will sometimes go into the kitchen and eat random things) - he's like a child who will do anything rather than go to bed and she has recently just started putting a single duvet on the top of him on his armchair instead of trying to move him.

Does anyone else live with an adult who does this? What do you do to care for them/keep them safe/stay sane?

We will be staying with them at some point when the rules permit and so our kids might see it happening - we've explained that he sleepwalks etc, but yes any ideas from people who understand it would help!

Get one of those little bells off a cat collar, put it on a string and have him tie it round his ankle.

If he doesn't do it unless 'woken' by your mum I'd leave him where he is or maybe have him lie on the sofa. Or maybe he should head to bed before he falls asleep.

If he does it regardless of the above, maybe tie him to the bed? As in a long string, not strapping him down.

Also make sure all windows are locked as well as outside doors.

I work in sleep studies and have heard of patients sleepwalking in the road, walking to the next town and even driving themselves!

Cutting out the alcohol would be the first step, then stop waking him. No matter where he falls asleep then he just needs to be left. After that asking the gp for a referral to a sleep clinic.

I sleep walk, I had no idea until I got a flat mate. When he was here he used used to tell me I was asleep and to go back to bed.

Apparently I can be quite funny, I once walked in to the living room, he was still awake. I apparently looked like I was using an invisible remote so he asked me what I was doing, apparently I was 'trying not to disclose human stories' he told me I was asleep, I said, "I know" so he sent me to bed.

He could try cutting back on the beer.

Has your mum tried waking him? If he walks at the same time each night she could try waking him 15 mins earlier and asking him to go to bed.

My son sleep walks some times it could happen a few times during the week. It seems to happen an hr or two after he falls asleep.I found that he needs to wee so I tell him to go to the toilet he does then I tell him time to go to bed and I walk him to his room.

We were away one year in ground floor apartment, I woke to him screaming and pulling the door handle and my DH holding on to him to stop him getting out of the front door.

It scared me to think what could have happened if my DH hadn't woken up. My Ds is 10 and started sleep walking when he was 5.