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My 3 yo Son Talks All Night and Thrashes Around In His Bed

by Melissa
(Fayetteville, NC)

My 3.5 yo son has had difficulty falling asleep since birth. As he learned to talk (he speaks at the level of a 6yo) his nightime sleep grew increasingly "dramatic". I could not sleep with a monitor because I would be kept awake by the constant talking and was unable to determine if he was actually awake, or just dreaming.


Every single time I responded to him as though he was really calling me in, we would have a 5-10 minute interaction (usually involving going to the bathroom) and I would barely have the door closed before he'd be in the same place in his dream as when I arrived in his room! My sense of these experiences is that he was actually sleeping to some degree when I came to him and in the morning, he has yet to ever remember any of our nightime interactions.

My biggest concern with all of this, is that NO ONE can sleep in the same room with him, and at times, even across the hall from him. He talks incessently, thrashes around his bed and appears distressed EVERY night....and even the hardest sleepers find sleeping in a room with him next to impossible. THIS tells me that something is beyond uncommon and is actually a condition we need to treat....but I don't know where to go or how to begin. If you, or any of your readers have any advice for me, I would be very, very grateful. Thank you.

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