I have a serious issue here at home. It started in January and is still continuing and I am SO exhausted i need some serious help. Jesse - our lively 2 1/2 year old - it seems has a sleepwalking issue. Now before i get advice for sleep training, just be aware that ALL of my babies have slept through the night from 4-8 weeks of age (i know - you can whinge now!) And so did Jesse until around 2 years of age. At that point we would find him climbing out of the cot at all times of the night and not being able to get back in. This worsened when we put him in a bed - he started roaming around the house, opening doors, switching lights on and sometimes we couldn't even find him. VERY SCARY!
We removed the back of the door handle so he couldn't get out of his room but because he shares with his baby sister, the light turning on/off and other noisy behaviour has seriously interrupted hers (and our) sleep. It has really come to a head the last 2 nights as Kieren and I have been so exhausted (after the rounds with the flu as well) that safety concerns (such as forgetting to put panadol away and Jesse sculling it) has meant 1 trip to the hospital and another to the Dr. I can feel it spiralling out of control - sleep deprivation and accidents seem to go hand-in-hand. I am feeling like a really slack parent but how can you keep up being awake and vigilant during the hours of 1-4am and still function normally during the day?
We have tried so many options - different sleeping arrangements, spanking, simply returning him to bed, bedtime routines, even phenergan (which now doesn't even work!). it does seem to get better for a little while but we have also noticed that his daytime behaviour and tantrums worsen during phases of sleepwalking. So please if you've any experience with this or know of any information that may help...please leave a comment. I am all outta ideas!
