Nightmares?

Indah - posted on 12/15/2009

What a relieve that my baby is not the only one. Actually, I was about to post a new question about this because just last night, she woke up twice screaming so loud and took me and hubby about 10mins to stop her crying. We tried lots of things last night.Pacifier, rocking, whispering etc but none is working until I turn on the lights to check whether she got hurt. I guess she was still sleeping when she is crying because as soon as I turn on the light, she woke up and stop screaming and crying. My baby is almost 6mths by the way.It was so scary and I am pretty sleepy right now but happy to know that it happened to other baby too. Thanks guys for sharing.

Sarah - posted on 12/11/2009

At 6 months old, your baby could be going through a bit of a growth spurt and learning how to do something new. When they do this, some of them learn how to "practice" while sleeping causing them to wake up screaming. This is usually with rolling over, and even sitting up and crawling. I'd suggest watching her for awhile to see.
It could also be teething. For some reason, those stupid things decide to move at night. I don't know WHY, but it is so annoying :) Could try a little tylenol before bed to see if this could be the cause.
Good luck!!

Amber - posted on 12/10/2009

My son just turned 6 months, and once he hit 5 months he was no longer on his regular sleep schedule - he was sleeping 9 pm till 8 am... no wake ups for feedings or anything1... after the 5 month mark that went flying out the window. He fights sleeping till about midnight till 2 pm. anywhere in that time range... then will sleep for about 2-3 hours and start crying in his sleep, then get so upset he wakes himself up and continues crying. So Ill make a bottle, lay him down and hes good for a nother 2 hours or so, sometimes sooner. his naps are now no longer than an hour and only takes about 2 of them during the day. his sleep schedule is so screwed up now i dont even know where to begin and its stressing not only him but me and his father too. i wish there were pre bed time tricks to make these "night terrors" or crying episodes stop or some way to assist them through sleep. ;(

Krystle - posted on 12/08/2009

My 5.5 month old boy does the same thing. I'm sure they have nightmares too. Babies spend more time in REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, which is the stage when we dream, then adults do.

Roseanna - posted on 12/08/2009

yea night terrors. My son started those when he stared to teeth. Every now and again he still crys at night yes still sleeping. I have to get up and wake him just to make sure. One night I didnt turn on the light and he stopped crying. I ran to the and flipped it and ran back to where he was laying. I thought he stopped breathing. I dont think Ive ever picked him up so fast in his life span. I cried knowing he was still breathing and sleeping just fine. The rest of that night he slept on my chest.

Stefanie - posted on 12/07/2009

Wow, so weird my little one just started the nightmare thing. At night sometimes she wakes up 3 times a night and some nights she sleeps right threw. But if I just wake up and give her the soother she calms down almost as quick as she started crying! And I've only noticed the night screaming since she had her vaccination maybe that has somthing to do with it maybe it's a side affect I dont know but it only seems like since then shes had this! I could be tottaly wrong but hey were all here to share our thoughts and stories!!

Kerri - posted on 12/07/2009

My first daughter would do things like that when she was a baby. She would sream out before she was old enough to talk and when she actually started talking she would talk in her sleep and if we woke her she would seem scared or sometimes not seem to realize who was actually talking to her. Her doctor said she was having "night terrors" which he said is like a form of sleep walking that babies get. He said they usually grow out of it but she is now 12 and she still talks in her sleep and has a couple of times actually "sleep walked."

Claire - posted on 12/07/2009

my daughter has had nightmares since she was 2 months not oten just once and a while. it could be a shape she saw during the day once your baby knows your there 2 sooth her baby will be fine. when it happens 2 my daughter i stoke her face she goes back 2 a nice sleep in seconds.

Sarah - posted on 12/06/2009

my son is 6 mo today and tonight made the second time that he has done the same thing. He will be in a deep sleep then all of a suden SCREAM....like scary scream...I pick him up and he is still asleep. It takes us a while to get him calmed down. He finally goes back to sleep. He is also teething! So glad it' s happening to other parents becuase it was on my "talk to dr list" for this months appt!

Sarona - posted on 12/05/2009

Hi! My son is 5mths old and he was a peaceful sleeper but now he has the sudden odd moments of crying/screaming during a deep sleep. My husband and I believe its nightmares. U get to know your child so u eventually realise the different cries. When it happens, my son has this unusual cry then falls back to sleep sometimes he's sobbing while still asleep. I have to pat his leg or back to soothe him again or if he gets worse then I'll pick him up for a few mins then place him back into his cot and let him hear me talking/whispering to him helps him sleep peacefully. With the mirror, its a superstitious thing, but in my culture(Samoan descent) we must always cover mirrors, especially when sleeping. I don't know why but I have always been taught that. Something about mirrors?? lol well hope she's ok now and not having as much bad dreams.

Cassie - posted on 12/03/2009

My daughter wasn't even two weeks old and she started to scream and when i picked her up, she went back to sleep. Now that my daughter is six months old she still have those screaming fits. I did everything for her so she will go back to sleep but the only way for her to go back to sleep was in my arms. Even to this day she will scream in her sleep and all I do is either sing or talk to her, and tell her that it is going to be okay and that mommy was there to protect her. I do believe that they do have dreams or even have nightmares.

Vanessa - posted on 12/01/2009

Yes my son is 5 1/2 months old and he has nightmares every morning i put him bak to sleep...he wakes up for a botttle around 5 or 6 am and after i feed him that and he goes bak to sleep he always has a nightmare he will cry in his sleep and if he wakes up in the middle of it he screams and crys n i have to pik him up and rock him bak to sleep hoping that the nightmare dont come back!

EMILY - posted on 11/30/2009

Yes my son has done this a few times over the last month..he will be 6 months old in a week. Its really scarey when it happens and does seem like a nightmare..hes never awake when i go in to see him. I did wonder if it is something to do with teething as he is teething quite badly..????

Rachel - posted on 11/29/2009

Well at least it is good to know that Eve is not the only one. Thanks ladies.

Kelcie - posted on 11/28/2009

I don't know if they really are having nightmares, but some times it sure does seem like it!!! My daughter is the same age and there has been a couple of time when she has woken up from a nap or in the middle of the night and go straight into screaming histarically for no reason. A few of times, when I got to her, she hadn't even opened her eyes yet, but was completely frantic. I don't think she was even all the way awake yet. After she just wants to be snuggled very close and doesn't want to be put done. Sure seems to me like she had a bad dream and is scared. I wonder what they could possibly be dreaming about that would cause that reaction???

Brandy - posted on 11/28/2009

My Baby girl has done that three or four times. She'll be sound asleep and then she will just start screaming! It scares us every time. One time it took us about 10 minutes to get her to stop crying. I don't think she was completely awake though. I kept trying to get her to look at my face so she would calm down. It was so scary. I thought at first that she was hurt, but then she went back to sleep once we got her calmed down. I haven't heard of any other babies doing that though. I thought she was the only one. Its good to know that she's not.

Nira - posted on 11/28/2009

i don't know about nightmares but the other night i heard my baby girl laughing and thought she'd woken up but when we went in she was sound asleep with a big smile on her face. so i guess she was dreaming. she's only 5 months old and i'm guessing if you can have good dreams you can have bad ones too...