This post is not about my dreams and wishes. Its about dreams that happen during the REM cycle of sleep- specifically those that happen in kid's REM cycle.
I have always imagined that kids dreamed but never given it much thought. At Cole's birthday party though, my friend Kelli and her mom started discussing whether they thought kids dreamed in human words or not. I don't know. Lately though, this has been on my mind a lot. What do they dream in, baby talk or real words? And they do not seem to have had too many life experiences, so what are they really dreaming about. Why do I wonder all of this? Because I think my kid is having bad dreams. And it makes me sad.
Let me explain. Laney has always been a good sleeper. And she is usually rather pleasant when she gets up. She babbles and plays until we come and rescue her from her bed. On occasion, if we take too long to get in there, she will fake cry to get us to come quicker. Recently though, we have had some strange occurrences.
It first happened about a month ago. Laney was napping and after about 45 minutes she was screaming. I quickly went to see what was wrong because it was so abnormal. I picked her up with her blanket, rocked her, and tried to calm her down. It took a few minutes and she finally seemed okay. I brought her out to the family room with me and she wouldn't leave my lap (another strange occurrence, normally she wants nothing to do with us if her toys are around.)
Three times this week, the same thing has happened but it has been at night time. Erich or I have gone in, rocked her for a minute until she calmed down, and then put her back in bed. She has gone back to sleep and that was then end of it. It is so sad to me to see her so upset. (Let me backtrack for a minute, when she has awoken at night before because of illness or hunger, it is a different cry and a slow-waking. Not what we have experienced this week.)
So what is she having such bad dreams about? My sister suggested maybe some stranger anxiety was causing it. But she has never seemed to have stranger anxiety. Erich is convinced that in this bad dream her favorite toy is stuck in a corner and she can't get it out and we aren't there to help. Seems like a crazy dream to be causing so much crying out of Miss Laney. I don't know. Are you any of you dream-experts that can solve this mystery for me.
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About Me
- Mandy
- I am Mandy. I am married to Erich. We have 3 kids- Laney, Allie, and Nixon. Erich likes to give them weird nickanmaes like Baby Pooper, Bebe, and Unit. I am a school teacher who prefers playing mom to grading papers. Life is good. We are happy.
5 comments:
definitely not a dream expert...but Brad and I were just talking last night about this same thing. we think Cole is waking up (almost every evening...until midnight) this week from bad dreams. different cry than when he's in pain or uncomfortable. who knows. but I think they dream in words. I think that they think in words...because they understand words now.
I have bad dreams every night. or just really weird ones. maybe it's hereditary.
It definitely sounds like Laney is having bad dreams. Olivia went through a phase of doing almost the same thing. She would wake up screaming and wouldn't go back to bed until I went in there and told her she was ok. It was weird. I finally figured it must be bad dreams. It doesn't happen every night anymore, but it's always obvious now when it does! Sad, huh.
Addy is going through the same thing right now Mandy. I have contemplated bad dreams too and perhaps they are but, I also think developmentally children at this age are going through attachment pahses and so if she is scared that you are gone and not coming back she might cry out. At least thats what I think is happening with Addy. I think it is just a phase for now and it will pass. Let me know if you find anything that helps. I am pretty much doing what I can to sooth Addy and help her feel securly attached, even though she doesn't show signs of stranger anxiety or attachment problems during the day. Also, I think at this age they are taking so many things in are getting more easily frustarted by communication or lack there of that it can cause some anxiety in them...just a theory. good luck!!!
I know my brother-in-law's son has what they call night terrors, but I don't think those typically occur until they are a toddler. Could she be teething or have really bad gas of some kind? Do they happen after she eats a particular food? On the dream subject I doubt they dream in words, I'd say they'd just dream about toys and food and their moms, maybe about heaven.
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