Every young mother always has a lot of worries. And the best reward for many is to rest when the baby is sleeping. But what if the child starts in a dream? The causes and solutions to such a problem will be considered in the article.
Physiology of sleep
A full sleep is necessary for a growing organism. Therefore, it is very important to observe the correct mode of rest and wakefulness.
All newborn babies in the first months of life go through the period of adaptation and try to adapt to environmental conditions after being in the mother’s womb. It is important to understand when the baby is sleeping, vital processes occur in his body:
- The production of hormones responsible for cell growth occurs. Especially important is a full sleep for children under the age of one year.
- The brain processes all the information that came in during the day. During wakefulness, the baby gains experience, develops and improves its skills, and during sleep, the knowledge is "sorted".
- Recovery of forces. During rest, the digestive system stops, blood flow slows down, and the sensory organs become dull.
Children often wake up at night. The fact is that babies cannot sleep soundly like adults. The rest of the newborn has several cycles, in which superficial rather than deep sleep predominates. As they mature, the cyclical phases of sleep will change and become almost the same as in adults. Therefore, up to a year is considered the norm when a newborn child starts in a dream.
Causes
Komarovsky believes that there are a lot of reasons that cause the baby to shudder in a dream. Most often, such a reaction of the baby during sleep is explained by harmless phenomena:
- The baby has a dream. You probably noticed that in a dream we can fall, jump over obstacles and so on. In such cases, the muscles contract involuntarily, and this leads to trembling.
- Change of cycles. Upon transition from superficial sleep to deep muscles, before completely transitioning to a state of relaxation, they may contract.
- A lot of impressions and emotions. After intense events during the day, it can be very difficult for babies to calm down, so they can start to shudder during sleep.
- Teeth are cut. In most babies, this process is quite painful, so during sleep, children are characterized by trembling in case of sudden pain in the gums.
- The natural work of the body. During urination or bowel movements in a dream, children tend to startle from the discomfort that has arisen.
- Colic. As you know, in babies under the age of 6 months, the digestive system is not yet fully formed, respectively, gaziki can cause pain. Moreover, colic bothers babies most often at night. The baby can push the legs as close to the tummy as possible, trying to find the most comfortable body position.
- External irritants. It is perfectly normal when the baby shivers from extraneous sounds or loud conversations of family members. The baby’s sleep is rather sensitive, therefore it tends to react very actively to everything that happens around him.
The reasons discussed above are normal and should not cause anxiety in parents.
When should I see a doctor?
If a child starts up in his sleep and wakes up more than 8–9 times a night, then parents need to contact a pediatrician to find out the reasons for this condition of the newborn. In addition, loud crying, loss of appetite, poor health of the baby are considered to be alarming symptoms.
Urgently visit a specialist if your child:
- Cries for a long time after waking up. Neither maternal breasts nor motion sickness in the arms can calm him.
- The baby periodically flinches in complete silence, in the absence of sounds and light stimuli.
- If the startles of the newborn resemble trembling from the cold, then, most likely, the crumbs have cramps. This phenomenon can be caused not only by high temperature, but also by other serious reasons that require medical intervention.
Recommendations of pediatricians
Is the child a year old, startled quite often in his sleep? You can try to avoid such phenomena by observing the following tips:
- Try to eliminate stress and emotional overload for the child during the day. This is especially true in the evening, when the baby is preparing for a night's sleep.
- Lightly stroke the baby. This will help him relax, feel your care and closeness, and also prepare the baby’s body for a night's rest.
- An atmosphere of calm should reign in the children's room. The moderate light of the night lamp and the “white noise” can create ideal conditions for sleep.
- If the child is very restless, then in the evening you should bathe him in the bath with the addition of pharmacy herbs. It is better to choose the composition after consulting with a pediatrician to exclude the possible occurrence of allergic reactions.
- Try not to overfeed your child before going to bed, but he should not remain hungry. Prefer yogurt, kefir or cottage cheese for late dinner.
- Newborn pajamas should be made of natural fabrics that allow you to "breathe" the skin of the baby.
If your child starts 2-3 times a night, then try not to wake him, otherwise he will not get enough sleep and lose a good rest. It is better to simply go to the crib and gently stroke the baby, he will feel the warmth of your hands and will soon calm down.
"White noise"
If the child trembles violently in his sleep, then most likely he is frightened by the extraneous noise that may come from the neighbors through the wall. Therefore, it is believed that rest in complete silence does not have a very positive effect on a baby's full sleep.
“White noise” is a background sound with an evenly distributed volume. You can choose music with birdsong, surf, murmur of a river or waterfall, and so on. The choice depends on the adults, but remember that such noise should have a positive effect on parents.
How does white noise work?
- If a month-old baby shudders in a dream, then this method will help him calm down. Moreover, the “white noise” has a positive effect not only on the falling asleep of children, but also on the sleep of adults.
- It helps to “mask” external sources of sound, which serve as an irritant for a good rest of the baby.
- It can be used for sleeping in the daytime and at night.
Rituals
As mentioned above, if a child trembles in a dream, then the causes of this phenomenon can be diverse. Most of them do not require the help of a specialist and can easily be adjusted at home.
Rituals help to easily transition from active wakefulness to sleep. The use of such techniques is advisable when the baby is 6 weeks old.
You must choose a ritual yourself. Consider several popular options:
- Reading a fairy tale.
- Massage or relaxing exercises for newborns.
- Lullaby.
- Choose a toy with which the baby will sleep.
- Joint choice of sleepwear for pajamas.
How does it work?
Proper preparation for bed is necessary in order to avoid the problems associated with the fact that the child starts in a dream. The causes of this phenomenon are often associated with fear of the unknown. The baby in a dream may feel unprotected. Therefore, it is so important to accustom the baby to consistent and repetitive procedures. Falling asleep and waking up, the baby will be aware of what is happening, and not be in a state of constant stress from new and unpredictable events and actions taking place around him.
Moreover, such a schedule makes life easier for parents and replaces the “battle for sleep” with a calm and harmonious process of preparing for a vacation.
Advice of pediatricians and psychologists
- Exclude all active games before going to bed. You can take a walk before bedtime or read a book.
- Follow the sequence of daily activities when laying the baby to sleep. For example: first bathing, then light massage, feeding and lullaby.
- Before going to bed, ventilate the room in which the baby is sleeping.
- Children under the age of 4-5 months can be swaddled if you are a supporter of this technique. This helps from waking up during sleep due to shaking hands or feet.
- If a newborn is tormented by colic, then you can put a warm diaper on his tummy (heat it with an iron).
So we figured out the topic related to what to do when the child starts in a dream, and considered the causes of the problem.
Remember that the nervous system of the baby is still imperfect, so it is natural for him to tremble in a dream. But if you notice disturbing symptoms, then immediately consult a pediatric specialist.