Baby having nightmares!?

[aimee-lou]

Strange question this....can babies have nightmares?

Last night, Earl went to bed as normal. I was expecting an unsettled night as he'd had a sleepy day. At about midnight, hubby and I were just drifting off and we heard a scream....a proper scream....so I ran in to check on him.

He was still fast asleep but crying. I moved him slightly in his cot and he screamed again but at no point was he awake. I picked him up and hw was flailing about but never opened his eyes. I decided to check his nappy just in case and he finally woke up midway through the change. He had been crying and whimpering the whole time.

I gave him a bottle to settle him and tucked him back into bed and he was asleep within seconds so I went back to bed.

At about 2.30 the same scream so I went to check on him but this time didn't touch him. He kept stopping starting crying for about 30 minutes, then fell back quiet again, waking up for his normal night feed at 4am.....totally normal this time. I didn't sleep this whole time so I'm knackered today!

He quite regularly lets out little cries or squeals in his sleep and is a fidget, but this was totally different and quite scary as obviously I couldn't soothe him while he was asleep, even when he was in my arms.

Has anyone else had this? He's woken up as normal at 7.30 and has been fine all morning....currentlt having his afternoon nap.

Any help anyone could give would be great.

 

[Scally]

i think they do have nightmares, my LO does little squeaks, screams and squeals etc in her sleep. Earl sounds like he had some bad ones last night. Wouldnt u want to just get in their mind for 5 minutes to see what they see.

 

[aimee-lou]

Yes I would really love to know what he's thinking most of the time....he has this permanent puzzled expression lol

I wondered whether he was having some growing pains that were making him uncomfortable too....but surely he would have woken up? He had such a sleepy day it smacks of growth spurt so maybe that would unsettle him enough to disturb his sleep.

 

[Scally]

Ahhh bless him, hope he sleeps better tonight, hope u do too!

 

[aimee-lou]

Thanks

 

[x-MummyToBe-x]

My daughter does that sometimes makes me want to just pick her up & cuddle her! lol she also laughs in her dreams and smiles its so cutee i love it x

 

[steph1505]

I dont know if they do have nightmares but Brandon does the same as what Earl done last nite! Sometimes, its just little whimpers, other times its full blown tears! Like you's said, I just wish I could get inside his head! x x x

 

[Kte]

Awh poor Earl

Chloe sometimes cries for a moment then stops but I haven't come across her doing this yet.

 

[Abz1982]

Well, someone once said to me that birth is the most traumatic thing we go through, so no wonder they have nightmares for a while.

Emma still suddenly screams at things in her sleep.

 

[bloodbinds]

Whoa, that's crazy! I wonder what they have nightmares about? I mean, their view of the world is so small at this age you wonder what they might have seen or heard that made them so scared that they had a nightmare about it :-/ oh dear! Lol.

 

[minip2p]

We had exactly the same last night, crying every few hours in his sleep checked on him and he was fine, woke up fine this morning, went to nursery as normal and then when he was picked up they said they didn't think he was very well as he had been screaming (well why didn't they phone and mention it to pre-warn us ?), as MIO picks him up she noticed that his cheeks were red, his ear was red and had been leaking wax.

By this time it is too late to get a doctors appointment, so OH is taking him to see a nurse and see what they say, hopefully they will give him something to clear it up assuming he has picked up an ear infection.

 

[faille]

Violet's screamed really loudly in her sleep before, we literally jumped out of bed, scared the hell out of us..Never heard anything like it before or since!

She still cries a lot in her sleep tho.

 

[minip2p]

We had exactly the same last night, crying every few hours in his sleep checked on him and he was fine, woke up fine this morning, went to nursery as normal and then when he was picked up they said they didn't think he was very well as he had been screaming (well why didn't they phone and mention it to pre-warn us ?), as MIO picks him up she noticed that his cheeks were red, his ear was red and had been leaking wax.

By this time it is too late to get a doctors appointment, so OH is taking him to see a nurse and see what they say, hopefully they will give him something to clear it up assuming he has picked up an ear infection.

Went to the quacks yesterday, he was running a temp and has got an infection in his glands which has given him an ear infection as well, so in our case the crying in his sleep was a sign of being in pain, but the brave little soldier that he is got through until the afternoon.