It's completely normal for your baby to have a nightmare from time to time - even a few times a week. If your baby has nightmares every night, it may be time to consult your pediatrician. That said, you may also want to consider the substance of their dreams.
Newborns and young babies may grunt, cry, or scream in their sleep. Very young children's bodies have not yet mastered the challenges of a regular sleep cycle, so it is common for them to wake frequently or make strange sounds in their sleep. For very young babies, crying is their main form of communication.
Dreaming can be intense during the second half of the night when your baby is in a deep sleep and already in the state of rapid eye movement (REM). This dreaming coupled with crying and fear is called a nightmare. Babies may have trouble falling back to sleep after it.
Nightmares can cause your toddler to wake up upset and frightened. Less commonly, toddlers 18 months and up can have night terrors. During night terrors, kids don't wake up (they're in the deepest stages of sleep) but may be screaming, breathing rapidly, sweating, and thrashing around.
Night terrors can be brief, but some may last 45–90 minutes. Afterward, a baby may show no signs of remembering the terror. They may be calm or return to sleeping peacefully. If a baby seems afraid after fully waking up, the issue might be something else, such as something scary in the room or a memory of a nightmare.
Some babies, however, may scream in agony, as if they are in horrible pain. In some cases, these babies actually ARE in terrible pain. Some babies may also be experiencing discomfort due to oversensitivity of their nervous system to stimuli, including sounds, light, digestion, or even touch.
They might be too hot or cold, have a wet diaper, or be in pain from teething or growth spurts. All these issues are common reasons your little one is waking up.
Sleeping or Waking Up
Shaky and twitchy movements are also likely to occur when a baby is falling asleep or waking up. What you are seeing is likely a benign condition known as sleep myoclonus, also known as nocturnal myoclonus, and it usually occurs at the moment of dropping off to sleep.
It turns out that infants and babies don't start having vivid dreams until around the age of two. Only when their brains develop well past this stage, will babies start having dreams and nightmares.
Baby cries in sleep: Key takeaways
Soft crying at night during newborn sleep is often just a sign of healthy REM sleep patterns. Milestones like teething can often lead to sleep regressions and nighttime crying. Nightmares can start as early as 12 months with night terrors coming a little later.
Like nightmares, terrors can be accompanied by crying and screaming, but can also include fighting off parents and in extreme cases even getting out of bed and fleeing. Night terrors are products of a natural transition from light to deep sleep states, so they're likelier to occur early in the evening.
Night terrors usually happen in kids between 4 and 12 years old, but have been reported in babies as young as 18 months.
Babies typically have their first nightmare between 1.5 and 2-years-old, though some can have nightmares as early as 6 months.
4-month sleep regression
Before your baby slept deeply, but after turning 4 months, they will now cycle between light and deep sleep. And till they get used to switching cycles, they will wake up in the middle of the night, or even naps, crying inconsolably. But as long as you stick to your schedule, it should pass.
If your baby cries for you, experts suggest that you let her cry for a short interval of between two minutes and 10 minutes, before going to comfort her. You can gently pat and reassure her while she's still in her cot or pick her up and put her down again.
Conclusion. Shuddering attacks are shivering movements of the head and upper extremities that typically last several seconds and can occur at high frequency. Normal neurologic examination findings and normal EEG tracing distinguish this condition from epileptic syndromes.
Shaken baby syndrome does not result from gentle bouncing, playful swinging or tossing the child in the air, or jogging with the child. It also is very unlikely to occur from accidents such as falling off chairs or down stairs, or accidentally being dropped from a caregiver's arms.
Random or roving eye movements, eyelid blinking or fluttering, eyes rolling up, eye opening, staring. Sucking, smacking, chewing and protruding tongue. Unusual bicycling or pedalling movements of the legs. Thrashing or struggling movements.
Different milestones, however normal and even exciting to reach, can disrupt her sleep. Ailments like teething and ear infections are also common culprits, as is waking up out of hunger. And lastly, her inability to soothe herself back to sleep can be the very thing causing her to wail in her sleep.
If your baby cries out in their sleep, they might just be letting you know they're passing from one stage to the next. Often, they will simply settle back down again, but sometimes the change makes them wake up.
For example, if a baby is in pain: they may cry or whimper and be unable to settle. they may be tense, with clenched fists and may keep their arms and legs close to their chest. they may be fidgety, agitated or have an disturbed wake / sleep schedule.
It's OK to let your baby cry if the baby doesn't seem sick and you've tried everything to soothe your baby. You can try to leave your baby alone in a safe place, such as a crib, for about 10 to 15 minutes. Many babies need to cry before they can fall asleep. And they'll nod off faster if you leave them to cry.