Dreams and Rapid Eye Movement
During REM sleep the brain is very active, the body is still, and the eyes move about quickly. This is dreaming. Dreams seem to be a type of information and event distribution process within our brains. They incorporate information, and "make new connections in our brains". As adults, only about 20% of sleep is spent dreaming.
Infant Dreams
In 1966 Roffwarg and associates began a study intending to discover what newborn sleep waves looked like. It was initially believed that infants don't dream at all. When they began studying the sleep waves in newborn babies they made an astounding discovery. Not only do newborns have dream as early as in their first day, but they dream more during their first 2 weeks than at any other point in life.
Babies begin sleeping as early as 4 weeks of gestational age (Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology, 1975; 38:175). REM sleep waves have been observed at as early as 28 weeks, and REM sleep waves accompanied by the eye movements of dreams have been observed at 30 weeks. (Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine in the Child, WB Saunders, 1995). In the uterus, babies are likely dreaming about the muted light they see, and the sounds they hear. After birth, perhaps they are dreaming of their new sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and even textures. They may even dream about the trauma of birth.
These studies have been repeated several times, supporting and extending the existing knowledge. It is now known that infants aged 3 to 5 months dream more than 6 to 12 month olds. An 18 month old will dream almost twice as much as a 3 year old, and "by age 3, the amount of time spent dreaming per night is in about the same range as that of young adults." This is also the age when most children start making remarks about their dreams.
We as adults "may dream more during the day than we do at night". As previously mentioned, "when we sleep, we only dream about 20% of the time". When we aren't dreaming, our brains are resting. "Growing evidence suggests that we have real dreams all day long, but these daytime dreams aren't noticed because of the "loudness" of our senses and conscious thinking."
Do Babies Have Nightmares?
Though not enjoyable, nightmares are needed to address difficult events and/or emotions for adults. They also incorporate these feelings or experiences into our minds in constructively. Nightmares may also occur in infancy to help babies deal with stressful events such as recieving injections, being circumcised, feeling alone, hungry, and possible even birth. Traumatic events in life have been known to cause a predictable progression of sequential nightmares in adults and young children, so who is to say that babies don't have nightmares as well?
We know from older children have nightmares commonly following surgery, having teeth pulled, or car accidents. Knowing how much young babies dream and how often they wake up crying, it is illogical that all of their dreams are happy ones. Birth for a baby is undoubtedly a traumatic experience. All of a sudden they are cold, it is bright, all of the comforting noises from inside are gone, and the once muffled voices and sounds from the outside world are loud and sharp.
When adults and young children have nightmares they first have dreams that relive the event. Then, they dreams that relive only the initial emotion felt at the time of the event, but using a variety of situations. Lastly dreams that merge only certain parts of the event into other parts of life occur. Nightmares are believed most common between 3 and 5 years of age, which also happens to be the peak age for fears.
Perhaps the next night your baby wakes several times for reasons unknown and seems inconsolable, the answer is in their dreams.
Have you ever thought that your baby might be dreaming? What made you think this?
4 comments:
thats interesting... ive been reading on the news too how babies form memories...
That is interesting. I've always thought Jackson has nightmares sometimes, he'll just start crying in his sleep, then settle down again. It's so sad!
Something neat about what babies remember, I learned yesterday that young kids, like under 2, only remember 3 weeks at a time.
We have a 2-month old girl and we've been seeing evidence of dreaming since the 2nd or 3rd week after birth. Shifting facial expressions, smiles, frowns, sighs, whimpers, giggles, cries, REM - all of these indicate much more than the supposed 'wind in a baby's stomach' so we are personally convinced that babies dream soon after birth, if not before. You don't need a scientist or medical professional to tell your if baby is dreaming or not.
My daughter is 12 days old just had her second pku test done this morning and tonight she is waking up screaming and crying in her sleep...kinda makes sense
Post a Comment