A great place to start Disorder information source Rated and Reviewed Sleep Links Entrance to all monitored Sleep Forums Search all of Sleepnet.com


Children's Sleep
Forum Posting


Archived Children's Sleep Forum3 viewing only. To post a new topic go to the Children's Sleep Forum Homepage.

My Son Officially Spooked Me

Posted by Dash on June 11, 2002 at 12:59:31:

Last night, my 7 y.o. son woke about about 3.5 hrs into his sleep. He normally goes to sleep as soon as he hits the pillow and sleeps like a stone for 9-10 hrs. Just like me.

He woke up yelling "move", "get out of here", "Shut-Up" and "Please leave me alone" (the please was a genuine plea) He sleeps on the top bunk with younger sister on the bottom bunk. Normally I would have figured that he was yelling at his sister to return to her bed and get out of his.

I was up working on my computer and went into their bedroom. My daughter was also awake from his yells and was in her own bed, theory one was false. He sat up as soon as he saw the hall light come on and was speaking rather incoherently when I went to him. Well so I thought. After re-vistiting in my head what he was telling me, he was very logical and very sure, he also assumed that I was seeing the same things he was. I calmed him down, his heart was pounding. I stayed at his side for about 15 minutes. He didn't actually fall asleep in that time. He was trying to get back to sleep (I wasn't sure if he actually did wake up to talk to me). I left the room and in a matter of seconds he starts yelling again. I went to the door without turning on the hall light just to observe for a moment. The room is partially lit by a night light. I didn't need to observe long to see that he was upright and swinging and pushing at something in the air, while yelling. I ran in to him to find out what was really going on. (I'm still not convinced that he was totally awake) Just as I was entering the room, he yelled at me "what Dad?!" (in a tone that was like "why am I in trouble, I didn't do anything") Ok so he was accutely aware of his real surroungings. He said to me that, "he won't move, he won't leave and he won't shut-up" This is where those bone chilling goose bumps cover me scalp to toe.

"Who?"... "the guy"... "What Guy"... "I don't know"... "What is he doing"... "Clicking his fingers at me" ..."Can you tell who it is?"... "No".... "how do you know its a man?"... "I don't know (arms waving and hand gestures), big hands, I guess".... "What do you hear" ... Beeping and clicking and growling"

Finally I recognized that my younger daughter was hearing this and promptly took my son to my bedroom. Of course my daughter only took a few seconds to be at my door. She crawled in bed with my wife and I took my son back to his room to talk with him. He was describing in more detail about what he saw and what he heard. I questioned him repetatively and his story didn't change one bit. His posture and attitude were very positive and very confused as to why 1) I kept questioning him (as if I didn't believe him) and 2) how come I couldn't hear or see what he was seeing. He's a really smart kid, and what he said next was comforting.

"Dad, I know it's just my imagination, but I'm still hearing the beeping" I went room by room to find the source of the beeping... he has much better hearing then mine, since buried under a pile of towels on the couch was my cell phone with an almost dead battery.. beeping. I turned that off.. Ok so he's not completely crazy.

We put the kids in our bed and my wife and I went to the living room to talk. She told me that he woke up the night before yelling the exact same things, but went back to sleep as soon as my wife went in the room. I was snoozing soundly so I didn't hear that.

Only a couple of minutes talking with my wife, and he started yelling again.. same things. I ran in and he was upright, telling me "he won't leave me alone, can you tell him to leave?". My wife and I got into bed with them and went to sleep.

I haven't talked with him at all this morning about it. I am curious if he remembers (I'm almost certain that he will), but I wanted to do some research (or something) to find out what I can. This is a first (other than the night before). I figured that he was hearing something in his sleep and his subconscious and making a story for that noise. But the same thing two nights in a row?

Any help, direction... anything would be more helpful than my wife and I being frieked out?

Oh yeah, the last two nights have been very hot nights in the house. Sleeping even for me has been less than comfortable... wondering if the heat could have some contribution.

Thanks for reading

Follow Ups:


Archived Children's Sleep Forum3 viewing only. To post a new topic go to the Children's Sleep Forum Homepage.
  • IMPORTANT : Information not intended as medical advice. If you suspect that you have a sleep disorder you should seek care from a qualified professional. Read Terms of Use.
  • The Sleep Forums are not to be used for commercial purposes.
  • Commercial products and services are not endorsed by Sleepnet.com.
  • Sleep Deprivation due to Sleep Apnea and insufficient sleep are common and can present as insomnia, narcolepsy, or idiopathic hypersomnia. In infants and children sleep problems commonly present themselves as ADD or ADHD.


Copyright ©1995-2005 Sleepnet.com., All rights reserved