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Preparing for your appointment
By Mayo Clinic staffFor children, sleepwalking episodes tend to go away by the time they're adolescents. However, if you have concerns about safety or underlying conditions, you may want to see your doctor. Your doctor may refer you to a sleep specialist.
It's a good idea to keep a sleep diary for two weeks before your appointment to help your doctor understand what's causing your sleepwalking. In the morning, you record as much as you know of your or the sleepwalker's bedtime ritual, quality of sleep, and so on. At the end of the day, you record behaviors that may affect your or your child's sleep, such as caffeine consumption (chocolate and cola count) and any medications taken. Your doctor also will need your medical history, any medications you're taking and whether you've had any sleep disorders in the past.
Write down any questions that occur to you before your appointment to ensure you get the answers you seek while with your doctor.
- Sleepwalking. National Sleep Foundation. Accessed May 26, 2009.
- Sleepwalking. Sleepeducation.com. http://www.sleepeducation.com/Disorder.aspx?id=14. Accessed May 26, 2009.
- Sleepwalking & sleeptalking. American Academy of Sleep Medicine. http://www.aasmnet.org./FactSheets/SleepwalkingTalking.pdf. Accessed May 26, 2009.
- National sleep disorders research plan. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. National Institutes of Health. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/prof/sleep/res_plan/section5/section5a.html. Accessed May 27. 2009.
- Guilleminault C, et al. Sleepwalking and sleep terrors in prepubertal children: What triggers them? Pediatrics. 2003;111;e17.
