When I was in college, I saw the movie Paranormal Activity with my fiancé (now DH). Mind you, I’ve always loved a good scare and own the entire Saw series. That movie scared me so badly I did not sleep for weeks.

Contributing factors to my fear:

  1. The first night I saw it, after watching two comedies immediately after, I dosed off and my fiancé pulled my leg out from under the covers and started to pull me off the couch (scene from the movie, absolutely terrifying) (why did I still marry him?!)
  2. My roommates found out about this fear and told me they were going to come into my room and stand over my bed for hours every night. I slept with my door locked, a chair up against the door and a BB gun next to my bed for two months. I wish I was exaggerating.

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It’s scarier when you’re watching it alright?!

So when I say that ghosts/demons/general night time creepiness scares the living s%!+ out of me, I mean it.

Naturally you can understand my horror when while traveling recently, my LO developed a sleep talking, crawling and walking habit. This is worse than a habit. It’s happening about every other night and generally starts around 4 am. It goes on for about 45 minutes until I can’t take it anymore and go get her and bring her into my bed. It’s not fussing or crying. It’s baby gibberish along with her favorite word “uh oh!”  We are also not limited to talking. Occasionally she’ll get up, shuffle a few laps around the crib and then face plant back down, completely asleep. Yea. It’s freaking terrifying to wake up to.

Crap Google told me:

  1. Up to 40% of children will have a sleep walking/talking episode at least once.
  2. It typically happens after they develop a new skill such as walking or talking.
  3. Generally it will happen in the first two hrs of their sleep during REM sleep.
  4. This can be hereditary.
  5. There’s nothing you can really do about it.
  6. You shouldn’t tell them about it because it could create a sleep anxiety.

Thanks Google. You’ve helped me not at all. My DH is a notorious sleep walker/talker also. Awesome.

I’ve decided that it happens more often when she has not taken good naps that day (so true that good naps = good night time sleep) or has had a lot of out-of-routine activity.

Moral of the story, my video monitor has turned into my own personal Paranormal Activity hell. Going to drink some sleepytime tea and pray for a night lacking another episode of Adventures With Asleep Callie…

-Chelsea

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