Evidence quality 4.0/5
Eight-dimension review score against the quality rubric . Each dimension scored 1–5.
- D1 Source grounding
- 4/5
- D2 Source authority
- 4/5
- D3 Arithmetic
- 5/5
- D4 Uncertainty
- 4/5
- D5 Scope
- 4/5
- D6 Prose
- 4/5
- D7 Perception honesty
- 4/5
- D8 Caveat completeness
- 3/5
Sleepwalking in children is common enough that it barely counts as unusual. In a prospective Quebec cohort of 1,940 children followed from infancy, about 29% sleepwalked at least once between ages 2½ and 13 (a figure reported in the journal’s press release), and the share doing so in a single year peaked at 13.4% at age 10 (Petit et al. 2015). A meta-analysis pooling 51 studies puts the 12-month figure for children at 5.0%, against 1.5% for adults (Stallman and Kohler 2016); the gap between the two sources may reflect, at least in part, differences in how the question was asked. What nobody has measured is the number this page’s question is actually about: how often a sleepwalking child gets hurt. No study located reports injuries per sleepwalking child or per episode, which is why no probability is published here.
The closest thing to data comes from adults and older teenagers. An emergency department in Bern searched roughly 620,000 admissions over about 15 years and found 11 sleepwalking-related injuries, falls the leading mechanism, four of them admitted to hospital and none fatal (Sauter et al. 2016). That is about one in every 56,000 visits, which sounds reassuring but is not a rate per sleepwalker: the department sees nobody under 16, has no count of how many sleepwalkers live in its catchment, and only finds cases where someone wrote “sleepwalking” in the chart. The fear itself is built from a small number of vivid images (the stair top, the unlatched gate, the open window) that pediatric guidance repeats when it advises gates and locked windows. Guidance of that kind signals a plausible hazard, not a measured frequency.
Where the missing number would differ between households is easier to describe than to size. The chance of sleepwalking at all climbs with family history, from 22.5% of children with no sleepwalking parent to 47.4% with one and 61.5% with two (Petit et al. 2015). Stairs, bunk beds and reachable windows plausibly matter to injury risk, but no study has compared injury rates across those settings for sleepwalkers. For stair and window falls in general, regardless of whether the child was awake, see Toddler stair fall and Child window fall; neither separates sleepwalking falls from ordinary ones.
Related tidbits
About 3 in 10 children (per the journal's press release) in a Quebec cohort of 1,940 sleepwalked at least once between ages 2½ and 13. How often a sleepwalking child gets hurt, on the stairs or anywhere else, has never been measured.
Claim ledger
Every number below is what each source reported, with the verbatim quote we relied on and how we arrived at our figure. Click any link to verify directly.
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[1] JAMA Pediatrics (Petit et al. 2015; 169(7):653-658) — Childhood Sleepwalking and Sleep Terrors: A Longitudinal Study of Prevalence and Familial Aggregation
Childhood Sleepwalking and Sleep Terrors: A Longitudinal Study of Prevalence and Familial Aggregation- Statistic
Prospective Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development cohort, N=1,940 children followed 1999-2011: sleepwalking prevalence peaked at 13.4% (95% CI 11.3%-15.5%) at age 10; childhood sleepwalking prevalence was 22.5% with no parental history, 47.4% with one sleepwalking parent, and 61.5% with two- Excerpt
“"The peak of prevalence was observed at 1½ years for sleep terrors (34.4% of children; 95% CI, 32.3%-36.5%) and at age 10 years for sleepwalking (13.4%; 95% CI, 11.3%-15.5%)." ... "The prevalence of childhood sleepwalking increases with the degree of parental history of sleepwalking: 22.5% (95% CI, 19.2%-25.8%) for children without a parental history of sleepwalking, 47.4% (95% CI, 38.9%-55.9%) for children who had 1 parent with a history of sleepwalking, and 61.5% (95% CI, 42.8%-80.2%) for children whose mother and father had a history of sleepwalking." [Abstract text; PubMed and JAMA Network were not directly reachable in-session, so the wording was confirmed via exact-phrase search of the indexed abstract] ”
- Source data from
- 2015-07-01
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Calculation
- Used only as context for exposure: how many children sleepwalk at all. The 13.4% peak at age 10 is a point prevalence in that year; the 22.5% / 47.4% / 61.5% figures are cumulative childhood prevalence stratified by parental history. No injury outcome is reported, so nothing is converted to a native or normalized probability. The parental-history gradient is described in prose rather than as personal_factor_multipliers because this entry carries no_reliable_estimate and the gradient shifts the chance of sleepwalking, not the chance of injury given sleepwalking.
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[2] JAMA Pediatrics press release via EurekAlert! (AAAS) — Kids likely to sleepwalk if parents have history of nocturnal strolls
Kids likely to sleepwalk if parents have history of nocturnal strolls- Statistic
Overall childhood prevalence of sleepwalking, ages 2½ to 13, was 29.1% in the Quebec cohort- Excerpt
“"The overall childhood prevalence of sleepwalking (ages 2½ to 13 years) was 29.1 percent." ”
- Source data from
- 2015-05-04
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Calculation
- The journal's own press release for Petit et al. (2015), cited because it states the cumulative 2½-to-13 figure in one line. The 29.1% could not be found in the indexed abstract text via search, so it rests on this release rather than the peer-reviewed abstract; the abstract's parental-history strata (22.5% to 61.5%) are consistent with it. Rounded to "about 29%" / "about 3 in 10" in the quick answer and prose. Exposure context only; no injury figure.
- Independence
- Not independent of Petit et al. (2015); it summarizes the same study.
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[3] PLOS ONE (Stallman & Kohler 2016) — Prevalence of Sleepwalking: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Prevalence of Sleepwalking: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis- Statistic
Meta-analysis of 51 studies (N=100,490): lifetime sleepwalking prevalence 6.9% (95% CI 4.6%-10.3%); 12-month prevalence 5.0% (95% CI 3.8%-6.5%) in children versus 1.5% (95% CI 1.0%-2.3%) in adults- Excerpt
“"The estimated lifetime prevalence of sleepwalking was 6.9% (95% CI 4.6%-10.3%). The current prevalence rate of sleepwalking within the last 12 months was significantly higher in children [5.0% (95% CI 3.8%-6.5%)] than adults [1.5% (95% CI 1.0%-2.3%)]." [Abstract text; PLOS and PMC were not directly reachable in-session, so the wording was confirmed via search of the indexed abstract; dash and bracket punctuation may differ slightly from the published typography] ”
- Source data from
- 2016-11-10
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Calculation
- Supplies the pooled 12-month figure: roughly 1 in 20 children sleepwalk in a given year. The pooled lifetime figure (6.9%, mixed ages) is far below the Quebec cohort's 29.1% because most pooled studies used single retrospective questions rather than repeated prospective parent reports (an interpretation, not a finding of either paper), which suggests sleepwalking counts are sensitive to method. Exposure context only; no injury figure.
- Independence
- Independent research group and methodology (pooled cross-sectional studies) from the Quebec cohort.
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[4] Western Journal of Emergency Medicine (Sauter et al. 2016; 17(6):709-712) — Somnambulism: Emergency Department Admissions Due to Sleepwalking-Related Trauma
Somnambulism: Emergency Department Admissions Due to Sleepwalking-Related Trauma- Statistic
11 sleepwalking-related trauma presentations among about 620,000 ED admissions at Inselspital, Bern, 2000-2015; falls were the leading mechanism; 4 of 11 (36.4%) were hospitalized; no deaths; adult department treating patients aged 16 and over (two of the 11 were 16)- Excerpt
“"Of 620,000 screened ED admissions, 11 were associated with trauma and sleepwalking." ... "Although sleepwalking seems benign in the majority of cases and most of the few injured patients will not require hospitalization, major injuries are possible." [First sentence from the abstract; second from the full-text Conclusion (the abstract reads "did not require"). Both checked against the Europe PMC full text, 2026-09-27] ”
- Source data from
- 2016-11-01
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Calculation
- The only systematic count of sleepwalking injuries located. It cannot anchor a pediatric estimate: the adult department treats patients aged 16 and over, there is no denominator of sleepwalkers in the catchment, and cases were found by chart search, which misses injuries not recorded as sleepwalking-related. 11 / 620,000 is a share of ED visits (about 1 in 56,000), not a probability per sleepwalker, and is shown for scale only. This is the reason for no_reliable_estimate.
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[5] Nemours KidsHealth — Sleepwalking (for Parents)
Sleepwalking (for Parents)- Statistic
Pediatric safety guidance for sleepwalking children: gates at bedroom door and/or stair top; locked windows and doors- Excerpt
“"Install safety gates outside your child's room and/or at the top of any stairs." ... "Lock the windows and doors in your child's bedroom and throughout your home in case your young sleepwalker wanders." [kidshealth.org was not directly reachable in-session; wording confirmed via exact-phrase search of the indexed page] ”
- Source data from
- 2026-09-26
- Accessed
- 2026-09-26
- Calculation
- Establishes that stairs and windows are the hazards pediatric guidance singles out. Guidance, not evidence of frequency: it gives no injury rate and no data on how much gates or locks reduce injury among sleepwalkers. source_date set to access date because the page shows a rolling review date.