Why does a child cry in a dream in 1. Why does a baby cry in a dream: a disease or a norm

Small children and crying are such identical concepts that no one has any doubts: a newborn child born into the world will definitely cry. This is understandable, because through tears and screams, the baby can communicate his wishes and inconveniences in the only way available to him.

If the baby cries during the day, then determining the cause is relatively simple, because besides this, he gives some other signs. But what if it’s dark outside the window, you lay down and tuned in to a sound sleep, but you are suddenly awakened by the crying of a baby. Why does the child cry in his sleep and does not wake up? We will solve this riddle in the article.

Seasoned parents know that babies sleep differently than adults and older children. The whole point is in the daily biorhythms of the child. His internal clock, which is responsible for the “sleep-wakefulness” cycle, has not yet been perfected, and the process of their establishment is accompanied by various failures, thus the crumbs’ body seems to select its individual time through experiments.

Children under the age of one year unconsciously change the length and frequency of their sleep several times. For example, a baby aged 0 to 1 month sleeps 20-22 hours a day. The growing baby begins to sleep less and less, until about a year old he has one 2-hour sleep during the day and 8-9 hours at night.

As for crying in a dream, until sleep is established, night whimpering will be his frequent companion. In most cases, it is short-term and does not greatly affect the calmness of the child and his household. But if the crying is quite strong, frequent, constant and incomprehensible, and the newborn baby cries without waking up, then it's time to think about the hidden reasons for this phenomenon. It is possible that the problem will be easily fixed.

Hidden reasons

If you have an urgent question why a baby is crying in a dream, then you need to do something and the sooner the better. What can cause bouts of night crying that a newborn baby torments himself and his parents with?

Physiological causes: inconvenience due to wet or dirty diapers, sweaty back due to hot air in the room, a reflex desire to eat, a stiff pen, dry mucous in the nose that interferes with breathing, etc.
Fatigue. Many parents deliberately exhaust the child with active entertainment and walks before bedtime, hoping that he will fall asleep, as they say, without hind legs. The effect of such enterprise is exactly the opposite of expectations - instead of sleeping, the baby rebels, but he himself is not to blame for this, because this happens at the level of consciousness. The reason is the content of cortisol, a stress hormone that accumulates during heavy loads in order to keep the body in working condition.
Too much information. If a newborn baby experienced a lot of hitherto unknown impressions during the day, his brain will try all night to process and sort out the information received from the outside. While the tired body of the child is trying to sleep, his overexcited brain is actively working, and this is a serious obstacle to proper rest.
Instinctive attraction to mother. The desire to be near the mother of the baby is always strong - both day and night. Let's say you euthanized the baby in your arms and transferred to the crib. It seems to you that he is fast asleep and will not feel your departure. But this is a big misconception, because even sleeping children feel everything. As soon as he misses his mother's warmth, he will immediately try to whimper through his sleep.
dreams. Maybe it will surprise someone, but a newborn baby is also able to dream. They are formed on the basis of his knowledge of the world around him. Since the nervous system, as well as the brain of the child, is not yet mature enough, his dreams are chaotic and thus can frighten the baby. That's why he can cry without waking up.
Negative impressions during the day. Quarrels between parents, accompanied by swearing; irritation of the mother, even hidden; long trips; loud noises heard on the street - all this provokes stressful tension, from which the child cries in his sleep.
Disease. Beginning malaise is a fairly common reason for crying. Perhaps the baby begins to have a fever or is worried about colic or teeth, and he involuntarily reports this with that cry. With the exclusion of these reasons, there are problems with the nervous system of the baby, which only a neurologist can diagnose.

There are many reasons and not all of them require intervention.

Sometimes it is enough to wait 1-2 minutes until the baby cries and he calms down.

Ways to prevent crying in your sleep

In some cases, recurrence of attacks of night crying can be avoided by doing the following before going to bed:

Remember the three basic needs of the crumbs: affection, food and cleanliness. If a newborn cries at night, try to check before going to bed if everything is normal with the satisfaction of these needs.
Establish bedtime rituals, such as bathing - feeding - reading (song) - sleeping. This will help you get ready for your next vacation.
Forget about active games before laying down - from them there is only one proven harm.
Provide your baby with fresh, humidified, cool air in his room. Equally important is clean, pleasant to the body underwear.
Try not to allow a tense situation in the family - your baby suffers first of all from this.
Decide on a daily routine as soon as possible, because its absence can cause crying in a dream.
Don't overfeed your baby before bed. Even adults have nightmares from overeating, especially children.
Think about your attitude to co-sleeping, because it has been proven that children sleep more soundly next to their mother.
Do not turn off the light near the baby's crib - leave a dim nightlight.

It is not so easy to find out why a child burst into tears in a dream, but it is worth doing. Finding out exactly what causes your baby to cry and taking appropriate actions before going to bed, you yourself will be able to fall asleep peacefully.

You should not panic if the child cries during sleep, this does not mean at all that he is ill or mental disorders are to blame. But to find out why this happens, of course, is necessary.

We list the most common causes of baby crying in a dream.

Nervous excitement

And this phenomenon can be observed often. For example, during the day you took the baby to the circus, in the evening guests came to you (it was noisy, crowded), and before going to bed he watched more than one episode of his favorite cartoon. And if such a string of events is normal for an adult, then The mind of the child is simply not ready for this.

Just imagine: everything familiar to you, the baby perceives in a completely different way. Dozens of discoveries per day, a sea of impressions, a quick change in the external picture - what should a baby's brain be like so as not to react to such events in any way?

The kid can not only be capricious in a dream, the child can also cry before going to bed, even fall into a tantrum. So why does a child cry a lot before and during sleep?

Analyze if something similar happens in your life? Do your guests stay up late, do your “little tail” get a lot of impressions per day?

And the most important- is the usual one not knocked down?

Remember, for a child, a certain routine is the key to healthy development.

Feeling lonely

Why does the baby cry at night? Not at all a rare cause, especially for children under three years old. And if the mother is already used to sleeping with the baby from infancy, it will not be easy for him to wean.

Even sleeping in the same room is best completed before the child is one year old. Otherwise, growing up, the child will be extremely painful for the fact that he sleeps in his room alone.

And you can't blame the kid: this is not his whim, but your omission. How can the situation be corrected? Only reasonable, gradual actions:

Pay more attention to the child during the day so that he does not need him so much at night
Alternate “evening mom” with “evening dad” so that the baby does not feel painful about changing his usual face (otherwise, you won’t even be able to think about spending the night with grandparents until 4-5 years old)
Assign a toy that will be “for the elder”, right in front of the child, ask the bear to sleep with Masha today
Don't solve a problem in one day say, everything, from now on you sleep alone
Light toys, children's sconces, colored bright stickers on the wall will slightly distract the baby from sad thoughts in the dark
from a lullaby or a bedtime story can't refuse but try not to lie down next to the baby, but sit by the bed, stroking the baby on the head

I had a terrible dream

Did you think kids don't dream yet? Of course they do, and how. And not a single kid is immune from this, only he is more afraid of a terrible dream than an adult.

Yes, and to understand immediately that all this was imagining, it seemed, could not. Only the calm face of mom and dad, gentle strokes, quiet kind voice return the child to the usual state of comfort and security.

Again, make sure that the baby is not emotionally overstrained during the day. After all, such an overexcitation will main reason nightmares. By the way.

No need to wake the baby if he whimpered in his sleep! See if the pacifier has fallen out, if the baby has opened, just stroke the child. He can sleep peacefully right there.

1-3 year old baby crying in his sleep

Older babies can also cry in their sleep.

A healthy child begins to cry in his sleep when hyperexcitability. Often this is a consequence of parents' mistakes, when all active games and watching cartoons fall on the time before bedtime.

On the contrary, an hour before bedtime you need to do something calm: sculpting, drawing, reading books. Let all this be accompanied by musical accompaniment: quiet, calm melodies will be a good background.

If, with the proper daily routine, the child still cries a lot in his sleep, while he is not sick, there is a reason contact a neurologist. Children's fears, experienced fright can haunt the baby at night.

Perhaps, without special drugs can not do.

Preschooler crying in his sleep

A preschool child can already complain of both fever and pain in the throat (ear, nose, etc.), so it is easy to recognize the disease in this case. Why, then, can a child cry in his sleep? This may be due to:

high loads (kindergarten, circles, large social circle)
experiences (quarrels in the family)
terrible dreams (he does not talk about some of his fears and anxieties, but silently endures them, which results in nightmares)
experienced stress (punished by parents, offended in the garden, frightened by a dog)

Child psychologist consultation is quite appropriate in such cases: it will help parents find out the true causes of children's crying in a dream, determine the further way to solve the problem.

Of course, it is impossible to hope for “outgrow” and “shout to calm down”. Remember that many fears are complexes comes from childhood. Help your child who is not yet able to cope with difficult situations.

Sound children's sleep is a fundamental part of the healthy development of the child. Often, young parents in the first year of a baby's life are faced with problems sleeping at night. The baby can go on crying and screaming for the most elementary reasons, whether it be hunger, abdominal cramps or a full diaper. But there are times when mothers and fathers notice that the child cries in his sleep and does not wake up. What to do in such a situation, how to understand and eliminate the cause of crying in a baby? Let's try to figure it out.

Crying during sleep: possible causes

If parents began to worry about this behavior of a child in a dream, then this was probably not an isolated case. But there is no need to sound the alarm in advance. If a baby cries in a dream, you can find a completely understandable reason for this.

Children under the age of one.

In infants, the causes of crying can be caused by the most harmless factors. If parents carefully monitor the baby, then the picture of the appearance of crying will clear up very quickly. So why do babies cry in their sleep:

colic/gas in the abdomen- Babies 3-4 months old have digestive problems due to swallowing air when feeding. Bloating causes discomfort in the baby, which he will certainly declare by crying or moaning in a dream;
teething- Babies aged 6, 7, 8 and 9 months may experience pain in the mouth. It's all about swollen and itchy gums. Not all teething is easy, inflamed gums itch a lot. Because of these unpleasant symptoms, the baby cries in a dream without waking up;
separate sleep- some babies feel uncomfortable if their mother is not around 24 hours a day, including in a dream. Even if the mother taught the newborn to sleep separately from the first days, at the age of 10-11 months the child may cry and toss and turn due to the lack of maternal intimacy in a dream.

Children 1-3 years old.

In older babies, the above causes of anxiety and crying at night may appear, but with a rarer frequency. However, at this age, other factors appear that can provoke disturbing sleep:

disruption of the day- the sleep of a child of 1-1.5 years old can suddenly become restless if there is a failure in the usual daily routine. Unexpected guests, an unscheduled trip, or you are just celebrating the New Year - the body of a child who is 2 or 3 years old will react with a mini-stress;
big meal before bed- in an overfed baby, the stomach will be forced to work all night. During the night digestion of food, discomfort may occur, and the child will cry in his sleep.

Children 4+ years old.

Even out of infancy, children can cry in their sleep. If you notice crying in your child, who is already 4 years old or 5 years old, look for the following reasons:

fear of the dark- at this age, children have the first fears that can cause nightmares and bad dreams. At the age of 5, a child screams in a dream after watching gloomy cartoons, films, so it is necessary to protect the still fragile psyche of the baby from them;
active evening games- before going to bed, there is absolutely no need to excite the children's nervous system. A very tired child cries in a dream without waking up. There should be no tossing above the head, dancing and jumping after 19.00.

Crying in a dream. Opinion of Dr. Komarovsky

According to E.O. Komarovsky, the most likely cause of crying in infants, if it occurs several times a night, is the increased tone of the nervous system. At five or six months old babies, active growth of bones and milk teeth begins. Calcium supplied with food may not be enough, and in this case, increased nervous excitability occurs. The solution to the problem will be the intake of calcium gluconate in order to fill the need of the child's body for calcium.

The child screams in a dream - what to do

The sudden cry of a baby in a dream can seriously scare parents. But, according to the observations of pediatricians, such cases are not at all uncommon. A child may cry at night for reasons:

- increased nervous excitability;

- after suffering stress or an event that excited him during the day;

- many hours of computer games or games with gadgets.

If the child periodically cries out at night, parents should seek the advice of a neurologist to determine the cause of the night's sleep disturbance.

How to make your baby sleep better

When a child cries in a dream at night, the anxiety of young parents is understandable. Something disturbs the baby, but he continues to sleep. In such situations, you can try the following options:

Don't wake up a whimpering baby. See if there are visible reasons for crying: a dropped pacifier, a wet diaper, and if possible eliminate them;

- sometimes the baby cries at night if it is open. A blanket, a plaid give small children a feeling of comfort and security. Try to cover a crying baby, and in case of constant disclosure, get a sleeping bag and the baby’s sleep will become less disturbing;

- if in terms of comfort the child is doing well, and he cries a lot in his sleep, then stroke him gently on the back and console him in a whisper. A few minutes, and the child will further plunge into a restful sleep.

Healthy, sound sleep is the best way to relieve stress. When a person sleeps well, they say about him that he sleeps like a baby. However, not all babies sleep soundly. Often, young parents have to spend sleepless nights with their baby, who cries in his sleep. In this article, we will look at the main causes of children crying at night and figure out what to do in such situations.

Why does the baby cry in his sleep?

Depending on age, the causes of night crying in children may vary. So, newborn babies are most often worried about pain in the tummy, already at an older age, one of the reasons for a child’s restless sleep can be a nightmare.

Causes in children under six months

Intestinal colic and bloating are common causes of crying in newborn babies. During the first three months, the baby's intestines are rebuilt, which can cause pain in the tummy. If your child cries loudly in his sleep (sometimes crying turns into a cry), tosses and turns and draws his legs, then most likely he is worried about colic.
Hunger can be one of the causes of night crying in a baby.
Unstable mode - newborn babies do not distinguish between day and night. They can perfectly sleep during the day and wake up at night. The wakeful period at first is about 90 minutes, already at 2-8 weeks of age it increases to several hours, and by 3 months some children can sleep peacefully all night. Remember that each child is individual, for some, a stable regime becomes by the age of 2.
Mother's absence. The presence of a mother nearby is necessary for a child, just like timely nutrition and hygiene procedures. If the baby woke up alone in the crib, he will immediately notify you with a loud cry.

Discomfort. He may cry in his sleep if he has peed or is just about to do so. Also, in the room where the baby sleeps, it may be too hot or cold.
Disease. A sick child has superficial, restless sleep. Nasopharyngeal congestion and temperature prevent children from sleeping at any age.

Children from 5 months to a year

Teething is the most likely cause of night crying in babies aged 5 months to a year. The child's gums begin to itch and hurt, the temperature may rise;
Experiences. Every day your child learns the world: going to visit, walking or something else can cause stress in the child.

Night crying in children 2–3 years of age and older

Psychological aspects. Children at this age are very sensitive to experiences, whether they are positive or negative. Around this age, children are accustomed to kindergartens, which causes a storm of emotions in kids. Their appetite may also worsen, and especially sensitive ones may even have a fever. If your child is already accustomed to kindergarten and still cries in his sleep, take a closer look at the microclimate in the family - perhaps his nightly crying is somehow connected with the fact that relatives are loudly sorting things out.
Fear. Fear can also provoke crying in children at this age. If your baby is afraid of the dark - leave him a nightlight turned on at night, perhaps he is afraid of some kind of picture or toy - remove it from the child's eyes. Nightmares can also be caused by banal overeating.

If the baby is afraid, then try not to leave him alone for a while - he needs your support and a sense of security

unusual situations

What to do if the child abruptly starts to cry, cries and arches or cries constantly? The reasons for this behavior of the baby can be different, it is obvious that he is in pain. This may be colic, high intracranial pressure, etc. Be sure to consult a doctor, he will prescribe the necessary treatment. You may need to undergo a series of examinations to clarify the reasons for this behavior of the child in a dream.

What measures to take?

Knowing the reason for your baby's night crying, you can try to solve this problem. If the cause of colic, then a light massage of the tummy (clockwise), a warm diaper on the tummy, dill water and special drops will help you cope with this problem and ensure a healthy sleep for the child. If the crumbs are teething, you need to consult a doctor and pick up a special gel that will anesthetize the gums. If some disease has become the cause of the crying of the child, you need to consult a doctor and urgently treat the baby. If the reason lies in the fear of the dark, leave a nightlight on at night.

The baby may cry because of some emotional upheaval, in which case try to calm him down: tell him how much you love him, how wonderful he is with you. It is very important to adjust the daily routine: if the child goes to bed at the same time, then it will be easier for him to fall asleep. It is not recommended to give the child a hearty dinner, the baby should eat no later than 2 hours before bedtime. You should not play gambling, outdoor games before going to bed - reading a book or an evening walk is best.

In our article, we analyzed the main causes of night crying in children of different ages. As a rule, parents have no serious reasons for concern. But, nevertheless, if the baby often cries at night, you can seek help from a doctor who will help you determine the exact cause and tell you how to solve this problem.

Until the child masters speech, crying is the only way to attract attention. The tears of an adult are grief and experience, the tears of a baby are a natural means of communication. Parents gradually get used to the fact that this phenomenon is normal and not at all scary, but they are lost if the baby starts abruptly. Why does this happen?

Sleep baby

Sleep is a special physiological state that performs two main functions: replenishing energy costs and consolidating what the baby has learned during the wakefulness period. Good sleep is both a condition for the development of a child and an indicator of his physical and mental health. Therefore, parents are very worried if the child’s rest is interrupted, and even more so if the baby cries in a dream.

The norm of sleep for a child up to six months is from 18 to 14-16 hours a day. But in the first months of life, the baby can wake up every 3-4 hours, and there is no pathology in this: a stable day regimen has not developed, there is often a confusion of day and night.

The baby usually wakes up because of a feeling of hunger, discomfort, or simply showing a normal instinct. Therefore, mothers need to have patience and remember that sleep is a conditioned reflex activity, which means that developing a certain ritual of going to bed at night and observing the rule of three “T” (warm, dark and quiet) will help to cope with the problem.

Night sleep

At what age can a child sleep through the night without waking up? This is purely individual, but most babies by six months can not interrupt sleep at night for 10 hours. The child does not need to be rocked or put to sleep by force. He can easily cope with this task on his own if the parents catch the signs of drowsiness in time: the child yawns, covers or rubs his eyes, and fiddles with a toy. In the presence of fatigue, the period of falling asleep is normally up to 20 minutes. If you do not create conditions for sleep (bright light, noise, the presence of strangers), then this can provoke a situation when the baby cries in a dream.

The very process of falling asleep will be difficult, and the night's rest will be disturbed due to the overexcitation of the baby. To understand why this happens, you need to understand the basic phases of sleep.

Sleep phases

Science distinguishes two active and slow. They alternate with each other every sixty minutes. The activity cycle implies the work of thought processes, which is expressed in the following manifestations:

Smile on the baby's face.
Movement of the eyes under the eyelids or their brief opening.
Leg movement.

It was at this time that the baby cries in a dream without waking up. There is a processing by nerve cells of information received during wakefulness. Experiencing the events of the day, the baby continues to react to them. Crying can be a reaction to experienced fear, a feeling of loneliness, overexcitation.

During slow - deep - sleep, the child completely relaxes, restoring the expended strength, and growth hormone is produced in him.

To wake up or not?

Whining, silent crying and sobbing during the active phase of sleep is an absolute norm. The baby is able to see dreams that reflect the impressions of the past day. But children's tears may have another meaning - an instinctive desire to check whether he is safe, whether he will be abandoned by his mother. If there is no confirmation of this, the child can actually wake up and burst into tears for real. What should parents do if the baby starts crying in a dream?

The main reasons for crying

Why does a baby cry in a dream, if at the same time he wakes up? This means that he gives signals that should be deciphered, because he has no other way to attract attention to himself. Pediatricians identify about seven causes of baby tears. Dr. Komarovsky typifies them, highlighting three main ones:

How to recognize?

There are many reasons, but how to understand which one caused the baby's tears? There is only one way - the analysis of actions after which the crying stops. You should start by identifying the causes of discomfort. It often happens: during wakefulness, the child is distracted from what makes him uncomfortable. For example, a rubber band crashes. With a decrease in activity, discomfort comes to the fore and interferes with falling asleep. If the child calms down after being picked up, then instinct has worked. There is a lot of controversy about this: is it worth reacting if a baby cries in a dream because of fear of loneliness?

There are pediatricians who say that it is even useful for a child to cry a little: the lungs develop, the protein from tears, which has an antimicrobial effect, enters the nasopharynx. This develops the body's anti-infective defenses. Some parents call the baby a little manipulator and try to educate him, consciously not reacting to crying and not picking up. Is it correct?

Neurologists believe that the infant is not able to consciously manipulate the situation, and the answer lies elsewhere. Babies raised from birth in state institutions cry very rarely. There is simply no one to approach their calls. They close in on themselves and stop hoping. This leads to a developmental disorder - hospitalism. If the baby cries in a dream, you should not be afraid to spoil him. The need for affection and care is a vital need for a baby in the first year of life.

What should be of concern?

The nervous system of a child under one year old is often prone to diseases due to: pathology of pregnancy, difficult childbirth, intrauterine infections and injuries. Together with other symptoms, disturbed sleep may indicate neurological or somatic problems. Every three months, the neurologist examines the baby, monitoring his development. He should be interested in finding an answer to the question of why the baby cries in a dream in the following cases:

If this is accompanied by a persistent sleep disorder (disturbance of falling asleep, superficial or insufficient sleep).
If sharp, hysterical crying is repeated regularly.
If the parents themselves fail to identify its cause.

If the baby cries without waking up, the reason is in the peculiarities of children's sleep. If tears are associated with the transition to the wakefulness stage, then the child signals the presence of problems that require adult intervention to solve.