sleepwalking

[blade79]

my girlfriend daughter is 9 years old and she been sleepwalking for years, usually we tell her to go back to bed and she does and she's back asleep upon seconds after laying down. Last night it was a different story, she came in our room 3 times over a 20 mins period. The second time she had her school clothes on and when we asked her why she just said she didn't know.Her eyes were kinda creepy too, she was staring at us with her eyes really but really wide open. The third time she came in the room she wanted to sleep with us, her mom walked her back to bed and she said she was scared because she suddenly had a nightmare. what is bugging me is why she didn't said anything about the nightmare the first time she walked in our room? I know a sleepwalker doesn't recalled their action but can it lie too???

[blade79]

thanks

[specialmom]

Okay . . . here I go.  Confession time.  I am a sleepwalker.  I've done it since I was little and will only do it occasionally now.  Basically---  a sound will jar me out of deep sleep and yet I don't fully wake up.  I've woken up running down the middle of the street at 4 am barefoot in the middle of a nightmare.  I don't completely know what is going on in the nightmare-----  and I am completely freaked out because I am outside running around when I'm fully awake.  Other times I wake up in the morning either being told by my husband (or parents, or college roommate, etc. as I said---- been doing this my whole life) about something that I do not recall.  So it is like dreams----  sometimes you remember certain things and sometimes you don't.  But even if you don't remember and you wake up afterwards, it feels like something wrong has happened.  

So . . . she may have been sleepwalking and come too and realized it and felt freaked out and scared (it can have that affect).  What works for me (I really do it very rarely now) is to sleep with a fan on or something that makes white noise.  It blocks out the sounds that wake me slightly . . .    I will still jump out of bed and run to my kids rooms when they've made no sound and nothing is wrong-----  but it is kind of like an instinct thing.  

So, cut this girl some slack and take it for face value.  She's probably not lying . . .  she felt like she had a nightmare.  good luck