It takes looking after a baby on your own to realize that the phrase “sleeping like a baby” is not actually true. They will make twists and turns inside the crib and will wake up every three to four hours. Some babies will cry in the middle of the night but will still be asleep.
Motherhood will have you working through the day with the two brain cells left and wondering how to soothe a crying but sleeping baby is not something you want to do at the midnight. You do not want to let my baby cry but who wants to take him to the arms and wake him up? Read this article to know why babies cry in their sleep and how to soothe them.
CONTENT
1. Why do the babies cry in their sleep?
2. How to soothe a crying but still an asleep baby?
3. Sleep patterns of the babies
4. Is my baby having a nightmare?
5. When to be concerned and call a doctor?
1. Why do the babies cry in their sleep?
Newborns will cry and grunt during sleep and it is very normal in healthy babies. Babies also go through different stages of the sleep cycle as we do. Their immature bodies are still growing and do not fully adapt to switch through the various stages of the sleep cycle. So they will just cry with their eyes still closed or might even wake up.
Further, crying is the only way that a baby can communicate and they will cry when they feel the slightest inconvenience or a change. If the baby is not ill and does not show any signs of pain, crying in sleep is not a concern.
2. How to soothe a crying but still an asleep baby?
When you hear the baby crying, you want to go and cuddle him even it is in the middle of the night and you are tired. But most of the time the babies who cry while asleep soothe themselves without the help of an adult. Crying is not a sign that they need to be taken to arms and soothed or fed. The babies will cry as they switch from the NREM stage of sleep to the REM stage.
The ability to identify the different types of your baby’s cries will cut off the times that you will have to get out of the bed and run to the crib at midnight. If your baby needs his diaper changed or is hungry, he will keep crying and will not fall back to sleep in a short time.
When a baby has discomfort like a wet diaper or hunger, the cries will be loud and will escalate quickly. When a baby cries in his sleep while switching the stages in the sleep cycle, their cries will be weak and will not last for more than two minutes. You can try to soothe him only if the crying continues for more than two minutes.
If the baby is crying and still asleep, you can soothe him by gently rubbing his back or tummy. You can also hush or talk softly to the baby. These steps will help to switch through the sleep cycle comfortably without waking up.
You can also breastfeed your baby if that comforts him and helps him to fall back asleep. There is a risk of the baby fully waking up if you are going to feed him. Some babies eat in the semiconscious state of sleep and fall asleep again without trouble. You will have to experiment and learn the patterns of your baby.
Teething will also cause the babies to cry in their sleep. But teething pain will mostly wake up the baby than crying in his sleep. If the pain of teething is disrupting your baby’s sleep, consult your pediatrician.
When your baby is up for a reason like a diaper change, do it without making loud noises or turning on the bright lights. Although the baby is up, he will still be sleepy and you do not want to take that away from him. When you make the baby comfortable again with no disturbance to his drowsiness, he will better understand the concept that the night is for sleep.
3. Sleep patterns of the babies
The babies will have sleep patterns that will be different from one to another. When their growing, the sleep cycles will also change with them. Normally, a newborn will sleep for 16-20 hours a day. But they will sleep these hours as a lot of naps which are two or three hours long. The newborns are required to be fed once every two hours to gain weight as expected in the first few weeks so they will have to be woken up if they do not wake up naturally by themselves.
After the first few weeks, they will be able to sleep for longer stretches like four hours naps and nine hours of night sleep. The night sleep will involve few wake-ups for a feed or a diaper change but this will also improve with the age.
When the stages of a baby’s sleep cycle are considered, they will spend half or more of their sleep in the REM stage than the stage of deep sleep. REM is called the active stage of sleep where there will be a lot of moving and dreaming. Following are the signs that your baby is in the REM stage.
- The baby moves his arms and legs.
- You can see the side-to-side eye movements under the closed eyelids of the baby.
- The baby will breathe irregularly. He might stop breathing completely for 5 to 10 seconds and will be back normal with a rapid blast.
A baby’s sleep cycle will last for 50 – 60 minutes and is shorter compared to a sleep cycle of an adult which is about 90 minutes. So the cries and moves during sleep are common and frequent in babies.
4. Is my baby having a nightmare?
There is no definite age known where the babies will start to have nightmares. With age, the babies develop the skills to express themselves in many ways. Then crying while asleep can be a sign that they are having a nightmare or night terror. If your toddler or the older baby cry in his sleep while moving in bed and making sounds, he may be having night terrors.
Nightmares will occur during light sleep or in the REM stage. On contrary, night terrors will occur when a child becomes disturbed during the deep stage of sleep. Toddlers are most likely to cry from night terrors early in the night.
Night terrors are comparatively rare and usually occur in children aged between 4 and 12 years old. But people have reported possible night terrors in babies who are around 18 months old which is very uncommon. Night terrors may be more likely to occur when a baby is sick or sleep-deprived.
5. When to be concerned and call a doctor?
Following are few signs that you should consult your pediatrician about crying in sleep and other sleep issues.
- The baby shows signs of pain during sleep
- The baby’s sleeping pattern is suddenly changed
- The baby or the parents experience problems in managing their daytime routine due to sleep interruptions at night.
