Reasons for a newborn baby crying in his sleep. Baby cries in his sleep

Motherhood is the best time in a woman's life. When your baby is nearby, time stops, you forget about everything, you just want to see his smile and hear his happy laughter. Any mother is happy when her child is happy. Many problems in childhood are solved simply by hugging the mother. The topic of this article is children crying in their sleep. Why do children cry when they sleep, how to deal with it.

Why does a child cry in his sleep?

Probably every child has screamed in their sleep at some point. Why is this happening? What scares a child during sleep?

Everyone knows that children under one year old have their own sleep patterns. And during the first year of life, this regime will change regularly. Getting smaller. Until the sleep pattern becomes stable, the child will not learn to distinguish between day and night; whining in sleep, without waking up, will be a constant night companion. But if the cry is loud, constant and without interruption from sleep, then this is a reason to pay attention to the baby’s health.

The main causes of night crying in children:

Physiological - wet diaper, numb leg, dry nose, want to eat.
Overexcitation, you should not deliberately try to exhaust the child before bedtime, the nervous system is quickly excited, but calms down slowly. And instead of a tired child, you can get overexcited and refuse to sleep at all.
A lot of information. For example, during the day the baby visited a new place for him, saw a bunch of strangers, and at night his brain tries to sort out the information received.
Instincts. All children subconsciously want to be near their mother, to have close physical contact. Even in their sleep they notice that their mother is gone.
Bad dream. Yes, babies dream too.
. Pain in the stomach or head, annoying diaper rash on the butt, etc.

Be sure to consult with your pediatrician to rule out possible health problems for your baby.

The child wakes up and cries

If you suddenly wake up at night from a loud and prolonged cry of a child, you need to calm him down immediately. To do this, pick it up, rock it, kiss it. Let him know that mom is nearby and there is nothing more to be afraid of. As a rule, children immediately calm down when they feel their mother’s warmth. Provided that there are no problems in the form of a sore tummy.

If the child does not calm down, does not recognize his parents, arches and pushes away his mother’s hands, then the phenomenon of night terror may be occurring. This process is natural and is associated with age-related changes in the child’s brain. This is how the baby’s consciousness matures. This will go away on its own as soon as the child’s brain is strong enough.

The essence of this phenomenon is that the child experiences a sudden awakening at night. The baby is no longer sleeping so soundly, but has not woken up yet. And the fragile brain reacts to such stress with emissions of negative emotions. A mixture of rage and panic.

At such moments, older children may talk and even walk around the room. But there is no adequate reaction to parents or their words. And the best thing you can do is do nothing. Strange as it may sound, it is impossible to help here, but it is easy to scare him more.

As soon as the baby can coherently answer what scared him, or the next morning, help him cope with his fear. The words “it was just a dream” have no effect on him yet. He needs to open the door and drive away what scared him so much.

A child cries in his sleep - what to do?

Carry out all the necessary examinations and make sure that the baby is not bothered by pain.
Set a clear schedule, put your baby to bed and wake you up at the same time.
Be sure to perform water procedures using relaxing agents before bed. For example, lavender.
Ensure normal temperature conditions in your child's bedroom. If the air is too dry and the temperature is too low or high, you will not be comfortable sleeping there.
An hour before bedtime, switch to calm ones that induce sleep. Read a book, sing a song.
Do not sort things out in the family in front of the baby. They feel everything and suffer.
Make sure your baby is fed and not overfed.
Children sleep best next to their mother. If it is not possible to take your baby with you, place the crib close to your sleeping place and remove the bars from one side.
Try not turning off the lights in the bedroom completely. Leave a small, dim night light.

The best thing a mother can do for her child is to love him with endless maternal love. But remember that everything is good in moderation.

Most parents perceive a child’s crying as absolutely normal, because it is just a way to convey information about some of the baby’s needs to adults. Although in most cases the reason for crying is on the surface, there are also situations when it is problematic to guess the child’s wishes expressed in this way. If a child cries in his sleep, and does this regularly, some parents are capable of truly panicking - what if the little one is faced with a serious problem and needs the help of doctors?

For this reason, the question of possible reasons for crying in a dream is of great interest to young families, but we will try to answer whether it is worth worrying about in this situation.

Baby sleep specifics

Most often, it is children under one year old who cry in their sleep, and if a similar problem is observed in older children, then they can often express in words the reason for what is happening. That is why we will not consider preschool children, but will concentrate on infants.

Here you need to immediately clarify that if a child under one year old shudders in his sleep, groans, jerks his legs, arches, or even sobs, then there is actually nothing strange or bad about it.

The fact is that babies spend most of their rest in the so-called “rapid eye movement” phase, which is also typical for adults, but only at the moment of falling asleep and immediately before gradual awakening.

This difference from the adult norm is caused by the rapid development of the child’s brain, as a result of which the nervous system actually never rests. It is in this phase of sleep that a person sees dreams, so it is not surprising that parents can observe a visible reaction to what is happening in the form of:

“Running” pupils with eyes closed;
Active movements of the limbs;
triggered sucking reflex;
Grimacing;
Various sounds, including crying.

Such phenomena are called “physiological night crying,” and according to doctors, they do not indicate the presence of any irritant.

In some cases, such an irritant may actually be a dream, in which the baby may find himself in uncomfortable or even frightening conditions - in such a situation, even a much older child talks in his sleep, screams and cries. In general, crying is a common way to release emotional stress, so the baby’s tears in his sleep, if he does not wake up and quickly calms down, should not cause concern.

Psychologists also believe that with the help of physiological crying, children instinctively check the situation around them - is the mother ready to come to the rescue if something happens? That is why, by rocking a baby who has not yet woken up in time, you can make sure that he continues to sleep.

Experts do not advise calming the baby too actively, because he himself is not going to wake up yet, and zealous rocking can easily interrupt his sleep; in this case, it will be enough to rock him lightly or even just quietly hum something - the little one will subconsciously understand that everything is in order and will fall asleep again.

If the child does not observe any reaction, his brain signals insecurity, and then the baby wakes up and begins to scream much louder in order to attract the attention of adults.

Approximately by the end of the first year of life, this reflex of “scanning” space should disappear.

Too many emotions

In the first months of life, the baby does not have a sufficiently developed psyche for what is happening around him to evoke any strong emotions - in fact, he reacts only to discomfort. However, at the age of 3-4 months, a strong emotional shift occurs, which is the first serious step towards the psychological maturation of the individual.

This may not seem obvious to adults, but at this stage the child is already beginning to actively perceive the world around him and try to remember or understand it. The emotions accumulated during the day, even positive ones, do not allow the child to fall asleep quickly, excite him and disturb him, which leads to poor quality of sleep, including crying.

At this stage, parents should move away from strictly following the schedule, and to a greater extent focus on the current needs of children. So, if the child slept poorly the previous time, the next period of wakefulness must be shortened. If this is not done, the child's stress will build up again due to lack of sleep, which will lead to further sleep deprivation, resulting in a vicious cycle.

To prevent emotional reasons from interfering with your child’s sleep and provoking him to cry in his sleep, follow a few simple rules:

It is unacceptable to take away part of the baby’s time allotted for sleep to lull him to sleep. To ensure he falls asleep on time, start putting him to bed early. Do not wait for the moment when the child begins to clearly demonstrate signs of fatigue - this is already an indicator of excessive fatigue.
Vivid emotions, even positive ones, are not recommended at all for babies under one year old. This statement is especially true in the afternoon, otherwise you can lose too much time on lulling.
TV is very harmful for young children precisely because of the large number of emotions. Even calm cartoons provide a lot of different information, cheer up with a lot of bright colors, and in general they do not seem as simple and accessible to a baby as they do to an adult, so they can cause poor sleep and crying at night.

As for nightmares, their existence has not been proven before the age of one year. Older children may cry because of them, but this is usually a one-time occurrence rather than a recurring one. If a child complains of regularly having terrible dreams with a repeating plot, it makes sense to contact a psychologist.

Unsuitable microclimate

Since babies, as we have already said, sleep much more lightly than adults, it is not surprising that in general they are much more demanding of indoor conditions. What makes the situation even worse is that a child under one year of age has little influence on the situation - after all, he cannot cover himself when it’s cold, or open up when it’s hot. The child may not wake up, but feel discomfort and cry in his sleep, which will worsen the quality of rest and can lead to complete awakening.

To avoid such situations, parents should pay great attention to creating truly comfortable conditions in the nursery and their constant support. Ideal comfort as understood by a baby looks like this:

Temperature is about 18-22 degrees. It all depends on the individual qualities of the baby, as well as on the number and thickness of the diapers in which he is wrapped. The argument “a couple of bones don’t break” doesn’t work here at all! If your baby is uncomfortable falling asleep, he will cry in his sleep regularly.
Humidity – within 40-60%. Too dry air causes the mucous membranes of the upper respiratory tract to dry out and evaporates too much fluid from the baby’s body; we want him to sleep soundly, especially since he cannot drink on his own and will cry. In our latitudes, the air is usually dry, and this problem can be solved with the help of a humidifier. Too humid air is not typical for our country.
No dust. When dust gets into the baby's nose, it clogs the airways and interferes with the normal enrichment of the body with oxygen, although the child's brain, actively developing even in sleep, urgently needs it. Since the onset occurs gradually, dust is one of the most common causes of crying in sleep without waking up. To eliminate dust, ventilate the room and carry out regular wet cleaning, and also minimize the number of books, carpets, upholstered furniture and toys in the nursery.
Fresh air. A growing body needs oxygen critically, so ventilation is almost a prerequisite before bedtime. If climate conditions or pollen allergies make this unacceptable, consider sophisticated modern air conditioning systems that can solve this problem.

How to solve the problem of hunger and thirst?

Babies want to eat much more often than adults, so the desire to eat in the middle of the night, even to the point of crying, is quite normal for them, but a person of any age can want to drink at night. However, after such awakenings, the child will have to be put to sleep again each time, which does not allow either the mother or the child to get enough sleep, so we have to come up with ways to reduce the number of such awakenings.

In the first months of life, it will not be possible to completely avoid night feedings - you will still have to wake up, but you can reduce the number of nighttime worries if you feed your baby more intensively during the day. If it is not recommended for an adult to eat before bed, then for an infant such a procedure is not only possible, but also useful, since it will ensure stable sleep.

We have already mentioned how poor quality rest can cause constant crying at night, so in the evening you should eat a hearty meal, after all, a child of this age still does not eat anything that is difficult to digest.

At the same time, experts recommend intensifying the infant’s nutrition not so much with quantity (whether the actual weight of food at one meal or the number of meals per day), but with quality. For those children who are fed baby food, the situation is clear - you just need to pay attention to higher-calorie foods.

As for babies feeding on mother's milk, there is a very important point that not everyone knows about: the fact is that when a baby is applied to the breast, the so-called foremilk. It has a relatively low nutritional value, but in terms of volume the baby does not need much - he feels that his tummy is full and refuses to drink further, but the nutrients received with foremilk do not last long. As a result, the baby, who seemed full, very quickly wants to eat again, and therefore cries in his sleep.

If the baby obviously consumes little milk at a time, it should be expressed first so that he receives only the most high-calorie product.

During night feedings, infants should be offered water only in hot weather, but if the baby is artificially fed, then water must accompany each feeding session.

Teeth

Very often, the cause of night crying is a phenomenon characteristic of all babies without exception - teething. These children have a very difficult time, since they constantly feel itching and pain in their mouth.

Of course, even in such a situation, the child still needs to sleep, so it is possible to lull him to sleep, but at moments when the pain intensifies, he may scream, begins to cry sharply and wakes up. The problem is especially aggravated if the baby is currently cutting not just one tooth, but several at once.

In the first weeks of life, crying is almost the only way a baby can communicate to his parents about his needs. In most cases, the mother is able to understand the reason for the tears, but when the infant cries in her sleep, the adult family members begin to seriously worry and do not understand what to do. The nighttime cries of one-year-old and older babies are no less disturbing. Let's figure out why a child's sleep may be accompanied by crying.

Crying for a newborn baby is practically the only way to communicate to the family about its needs.

Features of newborn sleep

The sleep structure of a newborn differs from that of an adult. Almost half of your rest time is spent in the REM (rapid eye movement) phase. This period is accompanied by dreams, as well as:

active movement of the pupils under closed eyelids;
moving arms and legs;
reproduction of the sucking reflex;
change of facial expressions (grimacing);
various sounds - a newborn cries in his sleep, whines, sobs.

The predominance of the “fast” phase in infancy is due to intensive brain growth and rapid development of higher nervous activity. If the baby periodically cries at night for a short period of time and does not wake up, then this is a variant of the norm.

Doctors call this phenomenon “physiological night crying” and believe that it helps the child relieve tension caused by emotions and impressions received during the day.

Another function of “physiological crying” is “scanning” space. By making sounds, the newborn checks whether he is safe and whether his parents will come to his aid. If the cry remains unanswered, the baby may wake up and throw a tantrum.

It is important for a crying child to be aware of his safety - he subconsciously checks whether his mother will come to calm and protect him

At the age of 3-4 months, all healthy babies have the Moro reflex, which consists of automatically raising their arms in response to a stimulus. Sudden movement can wake up a child. You can solve the problem with swaddling. There is a technique of loosely wrapping a diaper, which allows you not to hamper motor skills and at the same time provides complete rest.

How to respond to “physiological crying”?

You should not be too active in consoling the child at the moment of “physiological crying.” It is enough to simply sing something to him in a gentle voice or stroke him. In some cases, after a few seconds of whining, children calm down on their own. Intense rocking in your arms or in a crib, or loud speech can completely wake up your baby.

The correct reaction to “sleepy” crying also carries an educational load. The child must learn to self-soothe and accept his night loneliness. If you pick him up at the slightest sign of distress, he will demand mom and dad's attention every night.

Approximately 60-70% of children learn to calm down on their own closer to the age of one year. However, the mother must know how to calm the baby if necessary.

Development crises

In the first year of life, a child goes through a huge path of physical and mental development. In some periods, changes are felt especially sharply; they are usually called crises (see also:). They are characterized by a significant increase in the load on the nervous system and can cause crying at night.

It is important to protect the baby’s psyche from overload:

observe intervals between sleep and wakefulness;
at the slightest sign of fatigue, give him the opportunity to rest;
avoid emotional overexcitation.

It should be taken into account that at 12-14 weeks the sleep pattern (structure) changes. The transition to an “adult” model leads to a deterioration in its quality or “4-month regression”. The child may burst into tears at night, wake up from this and not calm down for a long time.

During this period, it is worth teaching him to fall asleep on his own. One way is to perform actions that calm the baby, but do not bring him to sleep. It is necessary that before going to bed the baby is calm and not excited, then it will be easier for him to plunge into the arms of Morpheus.

Emotional overstimulation can also become an obstacle to a child’s healthy night’s sleep.

Sleep cycles and phases

Changes lead to the appearance of the “shallow sleep” phase, which begins immediately after falling asleep and lasts 5-20 minutes. Then the baby falls into a deep sleep. At the moment of transition, the child partially awakens. At first, this provokes crying, then he learns to overcome this period without tears.

In addition, hysteria during phase changes may be associated with emotional overexcitation or accumulated fatigue. To prevent this, you should put your baby to bed on time. If he nevertheless wakes up and cannot calm down, the next period of wakefulness should be shortened.

The changing stages (phases) of sleep form a cycle. For an adult it lasts about 1.5 hours, and for a small child – 40 minutes. The duration increases as you get older.

The cycles are delimited by short-term awakenings, which the baby needs to assess the environment and his condition. A baby can cry if something doesn’t suit him - for example, the room is too hot or he feels hungry. You can calm him down by satisfying his needs. In the future, it is worth taking care in advance to eliminate provoking factors.

Emotional overload

In many cases, after 6 months, the child cries in his sleep due to emotional overstimulation. The reasons for this are an improperly organized daily routine and an excitable nature. An overtired and irritated baby cannot sleep normally, which increases tension in the nervous system. The accumulated “charge” prevents the baby from resting peacefully at night - even after falling asleep, he often wakes up and cries a lot.

do not allow the baby to “over-walk” - start putting him to bed a little earlier than he begins to be capricious from fatigue;
limit strong emotions, including positive ones, in the afternoon;
Minimize the amount of time allotted for watching TV; in the evening it is better to avoid it altogether.

Children older than one year may wake up crying at night due to nightmares or fears. You should find out the cause of the problem and help the baby get rid of it. You can read about corrective techniques on the global network.

An older child may have nightmares associated with fragments of daytime emotions and fears. It is necessary to clarify the situation and try to stabilize it with the help of corrective therapy

Physical factors

Why does a child cry in his sleep? Children of different ages can cry and scream under the influence of various external and internal negative factors. The first group includes:

incorrect microclimate conditions in the room - inconsistency of temperature, humidity and air purity with standard indicators;
bright lights and loud sounds.

physiological needs - hunger, thirst;
discomfort associated with uncomfortable clothing, wet diapers;
various painful conditions - teething, weather sensitivity.

Microclimate in the room

Hot, dry air in a child's room will not give the baby the opportunity to get a good night's sleep. He will often wake up and cry from irritation and fatigue. The famous pediatrician Komarovsky gives the following advice:

Maintain the temperature at 18-22ºС and humidity at 40-60%. To do this, you need to install regulators on the batteries and purchase.
Minimize dust content. Ventilation, wet cleaning, and avoidance of dust collectors in the room (books, upholstered furniture, plush toys, carpets) will help with this.
Leave the window open all night. It is worth closing it only if the frost outside is about 15-18 ºС.

Airing the room is a must before going to bed. It is undesirable only if the baby is diagnosed with an allergy to pollen from outdoor plants. In such a situation, a split system will help, that is, a device that is equipped with the functions of cooling, humidification and air purification.

To maintain the humidity in the room at the proper level, it is advisable to purchase a humidifier

Hunger and thirst

If a newborn is hungry or thirsty, he first whines or makes other sounds, and then, not getting what he wants, begins to cry. In the first months of life, eating at night is a natural need for a baby, especially if he is fed with mother's milk. You can reduce the frequency of feedings by increasing the amount of food consumed during the day. It is especially important to ensure that your baby eats a large meal before bed.

Do not overfeed the baby, exceed the standard amounts of formula, or increase the frequency of meals. When breastfeeding, which is often done on demand, you need to monitor how thoroughly the baby sucks milk from one breast. Immediately after application, foremilk is released, which contains few nutrients. If the baby receives only this, he does not get enough. Artificial babies, as well as all babies in the heat when crying at night, should be offered not only food, but also water.

Unpleasant sensations during teething are another reason why a child cries in his sleep. The hardest time is for those kids who develop not just one, but 2-4 teeth at a time. Children experience pain and itching in the mouth, which prevents them from eating normally and causes them to cry out in their sleep.

The period of teething is quite difficult for a baby, since the gums ache all the time. This may cause your baby to have trouble sleeping.

A sure sign that whims are associated with teething is that the baby tries to chew clothes, toys, etc. You can alleviate his condition with the help of cooled silicone teethers, as well as special pain-relieving gels recommended by your doctor.

Meteosensitivity

Weather sensitivity is a painful reaction of the body to changing weather conditions. Today, not only adults, but also children suffer from it. The risk group includes children who have undergone difficult births, cesarean sections, intrauterine diseases, and those suffering from increased intracranial pressure. The following can lead to poor health of the baby, accompanied by whims and restless sleep:

increased solar activity;
strong wind;
changes in atmospheric pressure;
a sharp transition from sunny to cloudy weather;
showers, thunderstorms, snowfalls and other natural phenomena.

Doctors cannot accurately name the causes of weather dependence. If a child sleeps poorly and often screams when the weather changes, you should consult a neurologist.

Every mother is familiar with baby crying at night, and often its cause is difficult to determine. We will try to tell you why a child cries in his sleep and what parents should do in different situations.

Newborn babies

Babies cry in their sleep when they feel the slightest discomfort: a wet diaper, cold or heat, tummy pain or hunger. So the crying of a baby cannot be ignored; you definitely need to approach the child.

Intestinal colic. Newborn babies often experience tummy pain. At the same time, they strain their legs, jerk them, and the babies pass gas. For such a case, you can purchase special drops or get by with dill water and tea with the addition of fennel. And be sure to stroke the baby’s tummy clockwise - mother’s affection always helps ().
Lack of mother nearby. Usually newborn babies fall asleep either in their mother's arms or next to her. When a child stops feeling his mother's presence, he begins to cry in his sleep. In this situation, just take the baby into your arms until he falls asleep again. Or you can teach your baby to fall asleep on his own. To do this, be patient for 3 days (this is the period that allows you to retrain the baby). When your baby wakes up and starts crying, just be patient and let him fall asleep on his own. Although this method causes a lot of controversy. An article about
Teeth. At 4-5 months, any mother encounters the problem of teething. So, promptly purchase pain relief gel from the pharmacy and smear your baby’s gums before bed. Both your doctor and your pharmacist will help you choose the right gel. Article about the period
Hunger. Immediately after birth, babies should establish a feeding routine. If you feed your baby according to his demand, then gradually he will get used to sleeping at night for about 5 hours and not waking up. But if you have made the decision to feed your baby on a “schedule,” then be prepared for nighttime crying and feeding demands.
Hot or cold room. Another reason why a child may cry in his sleep is a hot, stuffy or, conversely, cold room. Ventilate your baby’s room more often and maintain its temperature at 20-22 degrees.

A child cries in his sleep:

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Children after one year

The question is why do children cry in their sleep? aged one year and older , deeper. Children after two years begin to have nightmares. The reason may be not only various experiences, but also banal overeating, disruption of the daily routine, or too active pastime before going to bed.

Nightmares can be caused by eating a heavy or heavy dinner. Let your baby's last meal be 2 hours before bedtime, but not later. Food should be light. A daily routine will help you avoid sleep problems. If a child goes to bed at the same time, then his body does not have to experience stress and the likelihood of nightmares is minimal. With rare exceptions (trips, guests), the time when the baby goes to bed should not deviate by more than an hour.
To set your child up for rest, come up with a traditional bedtime activity. This could be reading a book or an evening walk. The main thing is that the activity is calm and the child associates it with getting ready for bed. Active games before bed lead to overstimulation. Not only does it become difficult for the child to fall asleep, but his psyche may react too aggressively to such fun.
One of the common reasons why children may cry in their sleep is playing computer games and watching TV. Nightmares can be caused not only by games and films with elements of violence, but also by harmless cartoons. Therefore, reduce your child's exposure to computers and TV, especially before bed.
Emotional turmoil may haunt your baby. This could be a conflict with peers, arguing in the family, anxiety before a test, fear during the day, resentment. If you notice that something is bothering your baby, then try to cheer him up before going to bed. Speak kind words to your baby and support him.
Nightmares can be caused by a fear of the dark. If your baby is afraid to sleep without light, then let him fall asleep with a night light. This will help the child feel protected and avoid unnecessary fears before bed.

Many babies may cry in their sleep, and most often there is no serious cause for concern. Try to protect your child from negative emotions, support your baby, and don’t be afraid to show your care and love. Be friends with your baby, watch him and sleep peacefully!

Some babies, hungry while sleeping, immediately begin to scream demandingly when waking up, not wanting to wait a second. At the same time, they turn their heads to the sides in search of the coveted mother’s breast or a bottle of formula. Or maybe they just discovered that mom wasn't around. By the way, older children may also cry for this reason: if you then leave, he may be frightened when he discovers your absence.

Such attacks can occur during the period of weaning, and this becomes more problematic the older the child is.

As for children in the first year of life, there is a very interesting theory (by the way, scientifically proven) that they can dream about childbirth. It is believed that these are not the most joyful dreams: the baby again experiences fear of the unknown. And therefore it follows.

Another theory assumes that babies see the other world or a parallel world, their gaze or imagination (so to speak) is accessible to something more than an adult, their connection with higher powers remains strong and open for up to three years.

And Christian believers are also confident: anxiety and crying after awakening are observed in unbaptized children. It is better to perform this ritual immediately after the birth of the child so that he receives the protection of heavenly forces.

The child wakes up and cries in pain

And before the age of 12 months, and especially after a year, it can be very painful. Against this background, children very often sleep restlessly and even wake up at night or simply cry in their sleep.

Even if your baby’s first teeth appear painlessly, you should not automatically cross this reason off the list of suspects. Because some teeth, in particular the incisors and chewing teeth, come out very hard and cause severe pain to the baby.

At the same time, the child bursts into tears, outright squeals, and there is no way to calm him down. Try giving him a painkiller before bed and check his reaction. There are other ways.

Crying from pain is accompanied by writhing, twisting of the legs, throwing around - the baby’s whole body tenses up, he can clench his fists and wave his arms. With a toothache, children often hit themselves on the head and pull their ears (in fact, the same with a headache).

A loving mother will certainly recognize a child’s cry because of pain: it reveals suffering, despair, and a cry for help. But anything can hurt - your ears, your throat, your head, your stomach, your teeth, and even your butt.

Neurological causes

Despite the widespread prevalence of the problem and the likelihood of a wide variety of causes for its occurrence, neurological disorders cannot be ruled out. It happens that during the examination a child is found to have an accumulation of fluid in the brain and even the formation of blood clots. Any neurological disorder may be accompanied by crying during or after sleep. If a diagnosis is established, the doctor will prescribe treatment for the child. But caution should also be exercised here: some neurologists prescribe drugs without particularly understanding the causes of the child’s condition. In addition, many of these drugs have serious side effects and can cause serious consequences.

Meanwhile, the child may simply not be able to cope with the emotional stress that he experiences during the day, and especially in the last hours before bed. Any episode that caused him a strong emotional shock (not only bad, but also good) can come back to haunt him at night in the form of crying. If a child experiences stress or upheaval during the day, then they are likely to make themselves known at night (or even during daytime sleep). Analyze what kind of relationships you have in your family, how you behave, what kind of psychological atmosphere reigns.

The children's nervous system is still immature, the psyche of babies is very vulnerable, and therefore 2-3 hours before going to bed it should not be disturbed: exclude active games, any strong emotions, watching TV and playing on the computer at this time. As night approaches, speak a half tone lower. Carry out evening rituals for going to bed: this could be taking a bath or shower, reading a book, singing a lullaby, etc. Develop a daily routine for your child so that he always goes to sleep during the day and at night at approximately the same time. Make sure there is cool, fresh, moist air in the room while you sleep.

At an older age, children's fears become more and more relevant: when realized in nightmares, they often force the child to wake up in the middle of the night crying. Perhaps it should take some time? Believe me, you shouldn’t break a child’s psyche for the sake of discipline or principles.

It was also noticed that young children are very sensitive to pressure changes and changes in weather conditions, lunar phases - outbreaks of anxiety can be associated with these circumstances.

The child cries in his sleep and cannot wake up

Of course, whatever the reason for a child’s anxiety and crying, the very first help should be mother’s presence, love, care, affection, and understanding. Hug your baby, kiss him, try to calm him down, and don't leave him alone until he falls asleep again. If awakenings happen at the same time, then come to the child at this moment so that you can be there before he wakes up. Try to discuss the situation with your child: first, immediately at night, and if it doesn’t work out or the situation is not right (more on that below), then the next morning. Try to find out what is bothering him (if, of course, the baby is already talking). Children often complain of pain or admit that they had a bad dream.

Love and understanding are the simplest and most correct actions in the current situation, but, unfortunately, they are not always effective. Many parents complain that the child screams and cries in his sleep without waking up, and when trying to calm him down, he begins to become even more hysterical and pushes away.

Doctors have no plausible explanation for this phenomenon, and pediatricians also do not give specific recommendations. Meanwhile, sleep experts assess this situation quite calmly. Due to the imperfection of the nervous system among children, such cases are not uncommon, and even the norm. An adult's sleep consists of several phases, in which he either dozes superficially or sleeps deeply and soundly. For a child, the transition between these phases may be “erased”: many parents observe a picture when the baby seems to wake up, opens his eyes, may cry or puff, even mutter something or move (crawl, stand up), but at the same time it is clearly visible that he is in a dream. The child really hasn’t woken up, he doesn’t understand what’s happening to him, and therefore it’s useless to call on him and make any attempts to calm him down and put him to sleep. After several minutes of such excitement (usually an average of 15-20), the baby may wake up completely and then fall asleep again, or go to bed without fully regaining consciousness.

By the way, such “fits” usually occur in the first three hours of a child’s sleep, when he is at his strongest. And more often such episodes occur when a child is 3-4 years old (although not necessarily).

Perhaps this is a form of childhood sleepwalking, but it’s hard to confirm, and it doesn’t make it any easier for anyone.

Through trial and error, parents who find themselves in a problematic situation share their experiences. Some of them advise completely waking up the child if you are sure that he does not understand what is happening and is not aware of it. Then they offer to calm the crying child down and put him back to sleep, even if this means reading a story or watching cartoons.

Other mothers prefer not to take the child out of an incomprehensible state and not to invade the subconscious. You’ll just have to survive the “attack” and wait until the child falls asleep peacefully again, they assure. And experts completely agree with them.

It is very likely that if a child cries without waking up, he had a bad dream. But this already happens much later - several hours after falling asleep. And since the child’s psyche continues to develop for several years after birth, babies cannot always distinguish a dream from reality - and they get very scared. Children over 3 years of age usually have nightmares, and they can often remember their contents the next morning. A psychologist will help overcome night fears in a child if this is repeated regularly. Perhaps you yourself will find the reason for their appearance. But often there is no problem with nightmares: they simply reflect the events experienced by the child, distorted by a child’s wild imagination. And yet, you must show concern for children's fear: if a child wakes up in the middle of the night in fright from what he saw in a dream, then behave as if this were really happening, but you know how to solve the problem: for example, kick him out monster from the apartment and lock the door.

Don't worry: these types of nighttime seizures are not dangerous, as long as you are near your child at the time. As the child gets older, they will happen less and less often, and then, most likely, they will disappear altogether.

And we can’t help but mention in this context about the evil eye... Not all parents believe in such “things,” but the topic is very much discussed, and many mothers associate the incomprehensible, piercing cry of a child in a dream with this. It is unlikely that any child will be hindered or harmed by a mother’s sincere prayer. Regarding other methods of combating the evil eye of a child, this is no longer the topic of our article.