My 8 year old completely out of the blue, came downstairs whilst me and the Mrs were watching telly last night, eyes open but clearly sleep walking, talking jibberish.
Now we shouldnt have suprised as she is a restless sleeper and often talks, but this really shook us up. Has anyone had any experience of this ?

My son is 8 and sleepwalks about 3 or 4 times a year.

The first time he did it he was about 4 years old I think and my wife and I’s reaction was similar to yours.

Now we know what is happening we just make sure that we guide him back to bed and settle him back down.

Funnily enough he only does it within 2 or 3 hours of going to sleep, he will not do it any later than that.

Yes this was a couple of hours after going to bed. It really shook us up. We are now worried about sleepovers, camping and places that she doesnt know as well, conisdering a stairgate help as falling down the stairs is our biggest fear for her. Wonder if this is all a bit kneejerk for a one off (so far) episode

Our son’s bedroom is right beside the top of the stairs and we didn’t put a stairgate in after he started his wanderings.

One of his sleepwalks coincided with a doctor’s appointment the next day and I mentioned it to her and she said just to make sure we put him back in bed safely.

I remember starting a thread about sleepwalking on here a while ago and quite a few people had experience of it with one or two funny tales to tell.

My sister has night terrors (which are pretty extreme). She needs to lock all the windows and front door then lock those keys in a key safe in a cupboard. Not good if there’s a fire, but better than running screaming into the street like the nutter she is.

Have done a bit of research one of the really unnerving parts is that according to experts the open eyes of the walker are “unseeing” and their navigation around the home is all based on memory. This scares the beejezuz out of me. I was convinced by the way she came down the stairs and sat down on the sofa etc, she was able to take things in through her eyes. Weird.