My son is 16 months old, and has started crying out in his sleep. We will hear him crying, go upstairs, and he is asleep (like he is having a bad dream). He is a trauma-free, happy little boy and it is odd that he is doing this. Has anyone else experienced this before? I can't imagine what he would be having a bad dream about!?
Thank you all for your responses. My husband talks in his sleep (and runs), so that is probably what is going on.
A.
He probably is having a bad dream. They dream different then us! He could dream about something that he saw on TV or the vacuum or something that you know might scare him.
My daughter is 22 months old now and she is still experiences that every once in awhile. It's normal...it could be something as simple as a night terror, or it could be his teeth and a little pain in a tooth. Especially if he's teething, I used to put a small bit of orajel on Riley's teeth before bed when I knew they were breaking through. That slowed down the outbursts. Hope that helps.
Hi A.,
I'm also a 39 year old first time mom of a 22 month old toddler. Our daughter started doing the exact same thing at about 18 months. She would cry out in her sleep, but not be awake. As her verbal skills have grown we now hear her talking in her sleep and we occationally undersand some of what she is saying. Last night at about midnight she was shouting "No, No, No..." I went to the monitor and listened a little longer. It turned out she was talking to Thomas the Tank Engine in her sleep. Our daughter has a highly active imagination that seems to come out in her dreams as well as during the day. I would not be surprised if you son does something similar as he grows more verbal.
We have had night terrors as well, but talking and yelling in her sleep happens more often. I have noticed that her dreams seem to relate to the last thing she was talking to us abpout before we put her to bed. The Thomas dream happened after she spent the last part of the evening watching The Polar Express. She also has been crying in her sleep when I have checked on her at times. I have talked to other mothers who have had simmilar experinces, so this seems to be a normal part of a toddlers development. Hope this helps.
Best Wishes,
J.
Yes I have experienced this with my son. He is 24 months old. Sometimes he cries other times he'll yell out mama or dadda in the middle of the night.We jump out of bed to go see what is the matter and when we go into his room he's fast asleep. I think baby's dream just like we do.
I'm experiencing the same thing with my 22-month-old daughter, and she's even getting out of bed and trying to get in bed with us. We're just comforting her, changing her diaper if needed, and she goes right back to sleep. I've heard her giggling in her sleep, too, so all the dreams aren't bad. They are learning fear at this stage of development, so I guess they'd naturally have some bad dreams. It's good to be prepared for night terrors just in case that starts; my 8-year-old has had those - I had no idea how to deal with that at first, but since learning to just keep her from hurting herself until she quiets down has helped make the episodes shorter and less frequent.
I agree with Jennifer. We have a 15 month old who does the same. I ended up have to turn off the monitors because it was waking my husband and I up all night and we'd wake up cranky, where the baby was up and raring to go. We are fortunate to have a room close enough that when she really cries I can still hear here. I wouldn't worry, it seems to be pretty common.
