Ever wonder what’s going on behind those tiny closed eyelids when your baby is fast asleep? Are they dreaming about cuddles and milk, or maybe about the day they met their favorite stuffed animal? It’s one of those adorable mysteries of parenthood: do babies actually dream, and if so, what in the world could be going on in their little minds?
Let’s dive into the dreamy (or not-so-dreamy) world of baby sleep and find out what might be happening when your bundle of joy drifts off to dreamland.
Do babies dream?
AT first glance, answering this question is not easy, because we can’t really ask babies if they dream or not. But there are researches that talk about whether babies can dream or not.
Firstly, since adults mostly dream during the REM stage of their sleep cycle, and babies, especially new-borns spend 50 percent of their sleep cycle in REM, we can assume that they also dream.
However, because new-borns haven’t developed language or formed specific memories yet, their dreams are likely more abstract, based on sensations and emotions rather than fully formed stories. As they grow and their brains develop, their dreams will start to include images, people, and events from their experiences. But early on, it’s more like a blend of impressions and feelings, without the clear narrative structure that older children and adults experience in their dreams.
On the other hand, some scientists do question whether babies actually dream the way we think of dreams. Since babies don’t have language or a lot of life experiences, they’re not able to imagine the kinds of detailed stories or situations that adults can in their sleep. Instead, their brain might be using REM sleep as a way to grow and strengthen connections between brain cells.
“Most of what goes on in REM sleep in infants is not related to dreaming as we think of it. Infants’ brains are still developing, and the REM sleep they experience, is likely more about building brain circuits than producing dreams.”
Dr. David Foulkes , neuroscientist and sleep expert
So while it might look like they’re dreaming when their eyes are moving around, it could just be their brains working hard to develop. Some researchers believe that what we think of as “dreaming” may not even happen until later when babies have more experiences to process and remember. In short, while babies definitely sleep a lot and spend a lot of time in REM, it’s possible they’re not having dreams in the way we think of them, but rather, their brains are busy building and growing.
When do babies start having dreams?
there’s actually some debate about when babies start dreaming, and there are a few different ideas out there.
Some people think babies might start dreaming even before they’re born! Since fetuses have REM sleep in the later stages of pregnancy, it’s possible they’re already having some kind of dream-like activity. But these “dreams” would probably be really basic, just sensations or random patterns, not actual pictures or stories since their brains aren’t fully developed yet.
Another theory is that babies start dreaming soon after birth, as they begin to experience the world around them. These early dreams would still be super simple though, probably more like vague sensations than anything involving real people or events.
A lot of scientists think real, vivid dreams don’t kick in until a bit later, like around 2 or 3 years old. By then, kids have memories and language, so their dreams can start to include familiar faces, places, and situations from their daily life. So while babies do have REM sleep from really early on, whether they’re actually dreaming in the way we think of it is still up for debate. Most likely, early on it’s more about their brains developing than anything like the dreams adults have.
What do babies dream about?
When babies dream, it’s probably nothing like what adults dream about. Since they don’t have a lot of experiences or memories yet, their dreams are likely more about sensations and feelings.
For new-borns, it might be the feeling of being warm, being held, hearing soft sounds, or even feeling hungry. Their dreams probably don’t have actual stories or clear pictures like ours. Some even believe that infants only dream of the womb and their experience there.
As they get a little older and start recognizing things around them, their dreams might begin to include simple things, like their parents’ faces or shapes and colors they see every day. But even then, their dreams would still be pretty basic—more impressions than actual events or detailed images. So, overall, baby dreams are probably just a mix of sensations and feelings from their daily life, without the complex stuff we dream about as adults.
Can babies have nightmares?
It’s not easy to find out whether babies can experience nightmares or not. Babies frequently wake up during the night due to several reasons like hunger or discomfort.
However, it’s very unlikely for your little one to be experiencing nightmares in the way we understand them. Since they don’t have fully developed brains, emotions, or memories, it’s hard to imagine them having the kind of scary dreams we experience.
Nightmares are usually tied to things like fear, anxiety, or past experiences, and babies are still too young to process those complex emotions. That said, babies can wake up crying or upset, but this is usually due to discomfort, like hunger, needing a diaper change, or feeling overstimulated, but not from nightmares.
As they grow older and start to recognize and understand more about the world, they might begin to have real nightmares, typically starting around age 2 or 3, when they’re more aware of fear and danger. So while it might seem like they’re having bad dreams, it’s more likely something physical bothering them rather than a true nightmare.
