The following is a visitor-submitted question or story. For more, you can submit your own sleep story here, or browse the collection of experiences and questions other visitors have shared here.

My Son's Sleep Problem Sent Him To The Hospital

by Danielle
(Queens )

My 7 year old son talks, screams, and sits up in his sleep. Last week in the middle of the night he fell into the wood frame on his bed and was rushed to the hospital. His teeth were so impacted they had to do surgery to pull them down, one tooth was shattered and they had to pull fragments out of his gums. He got many stitches to his lip, and he broke the bone that holds the teeth in place.


All of this from just sleeping the way he does. I am so worried something like this will happen again. How can i help him sleep more peaceful and make sure this will never happen again? I already took his bed apart and put his mattress on the floor so he wouldn't have such a high fall. Any suggestions?

Comments for My Son's Sleep Problem Sent Him To The Hospital

Click here to add your own comments

May 10, 2012
 My daughter talks and laughs and plays half asleep
by: Danielle

Aloha Danielle,

Thats my name too... the same thing with my daught she just falls half asleep and still is acting out her thought sna d tries to walk and move and rock and she falls off the bed and furniture. I am sorry to hear about your sonj haveing to go to the hospital. I have know I dea what causes this.
Oct 03, 2012
 Thanks SleepyDad
by: melissa

I appreciate your advice about how to proceed with getting care for my child based on the lessons you've learned, and it seems some of them the hard way. My son has always had "large tonsils" but we don't need to do anything about them....or that is what we are routinely told. Reading your story, I am wondering if having them removed might help us with sleep and might be worth checking into.
Dec 08, 2014
 Interviews NEW
by: John

Interviews With Sleep Specialists: Insights Into the Worlds of Sleep Medicine & Sleep Busines
Jul 17, 2015
 Helper NEW
by: Epileptic

Sounds like your son might be having Lucid dreams. Where he is hallucinating in his dreams. I started having them when I was 23, now I'm 30 and taking Zoloft to help stop those years ago. My epileptologist prescribed Zoloft to me. I would have them nearly every night for months until I finally saw my doctor again. They are realistic dreams where you usually wake up heart racing and very scared. I've had epilepsy for 20 years now, since I was 10 years old. Hope this helps.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Experiences With Sleep Disorders In Children.



Enjoy this page? Please help us pay it forward to others who would find it valuable by Liking, Sharing, Tweeting, Stumbling, and/or Voting below.

About This Site

Welcome! This site is continuously being created by students of Dr. William C. Dement's Sleep And Dreams course at Stanford University.

We made this site as a call to action for people all over the world to live healthier, happier, safer, and more productive lives by learning about their own sleep. We have faith that reading the information provided on this site will motivate you to be smart about your sleep deprivation and strategic about your alertness in order to live life to your fullest, most energetic potential.

In fact, we challenge you to do so! What do you say, are you up for the challenge?

A Note On Visitor-Submitted Questions:

Publishing sleep stories and questions from our visitors is meant to create a forum for open and proactive dialogue about an extremely important portion of our lives (one that occupies 1/3 of it and affects the other 2/3) that isn't talked about enough. It is not meant to substitute a trip to the doctor or the advice of a specialist. It's good to talk; it is not good to avoid consulting someone who's profession it is to help you with this kind of stuff.

If you are in any way concerned about your sleep health, don't wait for an answer on here, and don't necessarily rely on them. See a sleep specialist in your area as soon as possible.

More Questions:

Ask | Answer

The Stanford Sleep Book

Stanford Sleep Book Picture

Dr. Dement's pioneering textbook has been the core text for Sleep and Dreams since 1980, but it has just recently been made available to the wider public for the first time.

In it you'll find a more detailed account of the most important things you need to know about sleep, alertness, dreams, and sleep disorders. Studies, statistics, plus plenty of Dr. Dement's classic anecdotes painting the history of sleep medicine.

Preface | Intro | Contents | Get A Copy

More Sleep Resources

The Zeo

Track Your Own Sleep With Zeo

A revolution in personal sleep tracking, the Zeo is a wireless headband that transmits your brainwaves in realtime to a dock (pictured here) or your smartphone. The result? You can wake up and see exactly what stages of sleep you were in during the night! Unprecedented personalized sleep knowledge.

Sleep Paralysis: A Dreamer's Guide

Sleep Paralysis Treatment Book

Ever woken up paralyzed? A surprising number of us have, believe it or not. But few know the actual causes of this phenomenon, and fewer still how to exert control over it. Dream researcher and sleep paralysis expert Ryan Hurd shares breakthrough insights into how to do just that.

Important Disclaimer

Please Note:

The information found on this page and throughout this site is intended for general information purposes only. While it may prove useful and empowering, it is NOT intended as a substitute for the expertise and judgments of healthcare practitioners.

For more info, see our
Terms of Use.