Pam
Both my son and me have experienced sleepwalking when were around the same age. In my case it was related to stress. At that time I was in the 3rd grade and had a very strict Math teacher. I was under a lot of pressure and stress. As a result I started to sleepwalk as well as talk in my sleep. After the stress was removed I stopped. My son also had a similar situation. He was having a tough time in school and then at home my husband and me had changed work schedules. This made us as parents a little more stressed in the afternoons and therefore we were not quite as patient. He would sleep walk and talk in his sleep also. My son one night got up took my husband’s briefcase and walked downstairs and outside and put them at the front security gate and then came back in and went back to bed. That also was very frightening to me. So after carefully watching his daily activities and visiting the school and at first I couldn’t figure it out. Then I remembered as a child I also experienced the same thing. So I went back to school and observed and talked with his teachers and I got him extra help in the things he was having a hard time with and eventually he had to change teachers. The teacher he had was a just a little too impatient and the way she interacted with him and some of the others was I felt one source of the problem. Then at home we changed our schedules back so that we would not be as testy in the evening and sure enough after making a few changes it worked. He stopped sleepwalking. It was amazing. Now I know in today’s world sometimes it is not that easy to change some things. But if you can determine where the stress is coming from maybe you can talk with him or work with him in order to help him deal with his stress. Sometimes it I feel that even if you change nothing just talking with him might be enough to stop it. Whatever you do though, NEVER wake them up UNLESS it is absolutely necessary. Just follow behind him and kind of guide him. If he talks to you answer him as you normally would. I wish you the best of luck and if you should have any more questions please drop me an email.