My 9 year old daughter talking in her sleep

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Shakhera
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Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2016 11:27 am
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by Shakhera on Mon Oct 14, 2019 1:48 pm

My 9 year old daughter talking in her sleep

Hi and good afternoon.
I have a 9yr old girl with asthma and excema. When she is ill she tends to have a rough night sleeping, i.e. coughing, itching etc.
However when she is well and fit, she tends to talk in her sleep. She has been doing this habit for the last year or so. I have heard a few names of her friends she mentions in her sleep while talking. I would like to please understand why is this happening and what is causing it. Is she having a dream every time?

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lisaartis
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Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2019 12:23 pm
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by lisaartis on Thu Oct 17, 2019 11:24 am

Re: My 9 year old daughter talking in her sleep

Hi Shakhera

Sleep talking is classed as a Parasomnia as it is abnormal behaviour that happens during sleep. However it is not something to worry about - nor should you be concerned over what she says!

It does tend to occur more in children and men and most children do grow out of the habit.

I know you wanted to know more about it so I can tell you that it occurs in deep sleep or when passing from one sleep stage to another. It is harmless however REM Sleep Disorder and night terrors are two sleep disorders where people can shout during sleep so if you feel the sleep talking is accompanied by other things such as kicking and thrashing then it’s important to seek further medical advice.

Sleep deprivation can be a factor in why we sleep talk so it may be worth looking at how much sleep your daughter is getting. Ideally she would be getting around 10-11 hours sleep a night. I know you mention she doesn't sleep well when she isn't well (this isn't uncommon) but you don't mention if this is something that happens frequently.

Make sure she sticks to a regular bedtime and wake time to help consistency and encourage better sleep. Stress and anxiety can also be a factor so she should spend an hour before bed relaxing by either reading, colouring, doing a jigsaw and make sure she avoids screen time eg TV, tablet, phone etc. If there is anything that is worrying her, talk it through, encourage her to write down her thoughts and google some relaxation exercises for children.

It may be also be worth keeping a sleep diary for a couple of weeks to see if there is any patterns when she does sleep talk.

Hope this helps.
Lisa Artis
Head of The Sleep Council

http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/on ... _artis.php

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