My 7 week old son just recently started crying in his sleep. It doesn't last very long and he either stays asleep, or opens his eyes for a little bit and then goes back to sleep. Usually he only did this when he napped in his swing, but tonight after he had been asleep for like 20 minutes he did it again. He opened his eyes and I thought I would have to go in his room and soothe him back to sleep. But as I watched him on the monitor and trying to determine the seriousness of his crying, he stopped and fell back asleep. Is this normal? Does it mean anything? Am I just being a crazy first time mom and worrying about too much?
Completely normal! Both my sons did it; you might also catch him laughing in his sleep (so cute!). I think that their developing brains are just 'practicing' and crying in his sleep does not mean any distress. He might surprise himself is he wakes himself up, but you'll know when it's a 'real' cry.
Yep completely normal. My (now 12 mos old) son, like all babies, did that but I went to him after about 10 seconds, (not exaggerating) and never gave him the opportunity to go back to sleep on his own, because I didn't want him to ever cry (took things I read too literally). So, of course he became extremely dependent and at 4 months, we had to do the Ferber method (graduated method approach) to teach him to sleep independently. It worked in a couple of nights (mostly better by the second night) but with our second baby I will wait a few more seconds to be sure they are really waking up! Lol.
He could be having dreams. Pray over him and watch him, you can go in an say sh.... I find this works for our grandkids most of the time. Also pray over your kids, and your family. God Bless, B.
I would just like to agree with the other mothers so far. If your baby is just waking briefly and letting out a little bit of crying, he's just fine. And you definitely want to let him get back to sleep on his own. Made that mistake with my first, who never learned to go back to sleep until he was almost 3 y.o. I'm not a fan of 'crying it out,' but babies will cry a little bit in their sleep. I let my second whimper and go back to sleep on her own and she is a great sleeper (and has been) at 18 months. Enjoy your baby!
It is very normal for babies to cry in their sleep. It is a lot more distressing on you as the mom.
As long as he's soothing himself back into a slumber, I wouldn't be worried about it. It certainly wouldn't hurt to ask your pediatrician at your next well-baby visit.
If he stops crying and falls back asleep, that's a great thing! A baby being able to self-soothe is your biggest gift as a new mom. A hungry, aggitated baby will not soothe themselves, and as you're already aware, they will continue to cry until they get what they need.
Good luck and enjoy every moment of being a new mom.
This is very normal, W., and part of the "sleep cycles" in infants. They go into what is called a REM sleep, or light sleep, quite often. It entails movement (body and facial movements, eyes opening and fluttering), noises, etc., but they will usually go back into a deeper sleep within a few minutes. If he wakes up and begins to really cry, then something else is going on.
