Child Sleep Walking and wetting

I have an 8 year old daughter who everynight walks around the house. She scratches her head constantly...wonders for a while then sits anywhere and goes to the bathroom. Some nights she just comes upstairs and walks around gets undressed or dressed over her pajammas and goes back to bed. She used to wet the bed for a long time but now if she wets its on the floor or in a chair or something. If my husband or I interact with her she gets very upset, cries and says things that do not make sence.
We are wondering if there are any answers as to why she still does this. Can it be something wrong phisicaly or emotionaly...is it stress realted? Any input would be so helpful...we just do not know what to do to get her to stop.
Thedoll

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Such partial wakings, and the behaviors that accompany them, are pretty much normal parts of development during childhood. However, your daughter is getting to the age when we would expect such episodes to subside, unless she is somewhat behind the norms in other areas of development as well. Generally, there is no accompanying medical or psychological problem that accounts for such partial nighttime wakings (by the way, if you wish to read more in detail about these episides, take a look at Richard Ferber's Solving Your Child's Sleep Problems). But, as children get older, they can be associated with increased stress in their lives. It wouldn't hurt to have her evaluated by a child mental health professional, just to be on the safe side, to rule out that any emotional or psychological factor may be contributing.