Newborn having nightmares

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bangbang

New Member
My newborn is 7 weeks old and have been crying out of the blue for several times in the middle of the night like she was startled. She didn't wake up fully and if we pat her and call her she will fall back to sleep.

Does any one of your babies behave like that? I feel so sorry for her waking up, crying and startled but it is also giving us endless sleepless nights because we have to wake up to pat her and comfort her.
 
pixie

pixie

Member
I don't really think it is nightmares that your newborn is going through. Imagine the baby has been in your womb for at least 38-40 weeks that is a long time. And now she is out of your womb, she has to adapt to many external changes and she is just 7 weeks old.

Did you wrap her up before putting her to sleep? Do you let her sleep in her cot or in the hammock? Do you put a beanbag on her chest? Do you sleep in an aircon room? Make sure that the temperature is around 24-25 deg C. All these help to comfort her......as like providing her a sense of security.
 
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bangbang

New Member
Thanks for your reply pixie. She's got her beanie, swaddle blanket, sleeps in an air con room around 25-26 degrees and sleeps in a cot. Nothing seems to work :(
 
breadgal

breadgal

Member
Guess it's normal.. For my 2 child oso like tat even in daytime.. Beside crying they will oso smile or giggle in their dreams..
 
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ftlad

Member
bangbang said:
My newborn is 7 weeks old and have been crying out of the blue for several times in the middle of the night like she was startled. She didn't wake up fully and if we pat her and call her she will fall back to sleep.

Does any one of your babies behave like that? I feel so sorry for her waking up, crying and startled but it is also giving us endless sleepless nights because we have to wake up to pat her and comfort her.
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My baby also seemed to hv bad dreams when she's newborn. Yeh hv to wake up and pat her to sleep.

Most importantly is to watch out tat she doesn't get frightened during the day or night.
 
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Alisa

Active Member
its normal, not matter how u swaddle, put bean bag on him, he will still get startled. Don worry, yr baby will out grown on this by 3-4mths old.
 
vonniesia

vonniesia

Member
My boy around 6weeks now, also having same problem. What we did is to let him sleep on the bed with us cos i realised he doesnt like to sleep alone in the cot and when on the bed, i can pat him whenever he is startled without having to get up and go to his cot. I also placed my palm on his body, on top of his bean bag, near his chest area while sleeping and he really got startled lesser. I think by doing this can make him feel that we are just beside him and theres nth he needs to be afraid of. I hope he will grow out of this stage soon though, if not it will be very tiring for me esp after i start gg back to work..
 
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Alisa

Active Member
vonniesia said:
My boy around 6weeks now, also having same problem. What we did is to let him sleep on the bed with us cos i realised he doesnt like to sleep alone in the cot and when on the bed, i can pat him whenever he is startled without having to get up and go to his cot. I also placed my palm on his body, on top of his bean bag, near his chest area while sleeping and he really got startled lesser. I think by doing this can make him feel that we are just beside him and theres nth he needs to be afraid of. I hope he will grow out of this stage soon though, if not it will be very tiring for me esp after i start gg back to work..
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u have to train him to sleep by himself when he is around 2-3mths if not he will be so used to having parents smell with him and if without, he will not sleep alone. Thats what happen to my SIL's.
 
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bangbang

New Member
vonniesia said:
My boy around 6weeks now, also having same problem. What we did is to let him sleep on the bed with us cos i realised he doesnt like to sleep alone in the cot and when on the bed, i can pat him whenever he is startled without having to get up and go to his cot. I also placed my palm on his body, on top of his bean bag, near his chest area while sleeping and he really got startled lesser. I think by doing this can make him feel that we are just beside him and theres nth he needs to be afraid of. I hope he will grow out of this stage soon though, if not it will be very tiring for me esp after i start gg back to work..
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But I don't think it's good to co-sleep with the babies..read so much about SIDS and co-sleeping. What I did in the end was to get the Swaddle Me Up wrap and it totally help them to fall asleep. But they still wake up in the middle of the night and cry out of the blue. Guess as most of you said, they will probably outgrow this stage eventually...praying it won't be long...
 
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bangbang

New Member
Alisa said:
u have to train him to sleep by himself when he is around 2-3mths if not he will be so used to having parents smell with him and if without, he will not sleep alone. Thats what happen to my SIL's.
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That will be tough esp when I have TWO babies that cry out of the blue in the middle of the night and makes lots of noises in their sleep. Without patting them, they will start waking up and cry. It'll be super tiring to run in and out of the rooms just to pat them whenever each of them cries... :(
 
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Alisa

Active Member
bangbang said:
That will be tough esp when I have TWO babies that cry out of the blue in the middle of the night and makes lots of noises in their sleep. Without patting them, they will start waking up and cry. It'll be super tiring to run in and out of the rooms just to pat them whenever each of them cries... :(
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not possible to bring the cot/playpen in yr room? since they are small, they can share a cot/playpen. its always tempting to co-sleep with them so that they will sleep longer and we can also sleep longer. I used to bf my son till he sleep and i also sleep beside him but my husband always scold me cuz there are cases where babies will choke on bm or i my squash him unknowingly... if really not choice then u will have to train them when they are bigger to sleep on their own ba.
 
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bangbang

New Member
Alisa said:
not possible to bring the cot/playpen in yr room? since they are small, they can share a cot/playpen. its always tempting to co-sleep with them so that they will sleep longer and we can also sleep longer. I used to bf my son till he sleep and i also sleep beside him but my husband always scold me cuz there are cases where babies will choke on bm or i my squash him unknowingly... if really not choice then u will have to train them when they are bigger to sleep on their own ba.
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My master BR is very small so it's not possible. My twins used to sleep in the same cot but when they reached 2 months old I have to separate them coz my boy cries very loud and would wake his sister up. Also my babies are pretty long so their feet are already touching the crib railing at 2.5 months.
 
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bangbang

New Member
Thanks Rachel :) It doesn't harm to add my DH is a workaholic who works from 8:30am to 10:00pm every weekday and goes to work on the weekends too. Not to mention those biz trips. I really feel like a single mom for these twins. I need to be strong for them!
 
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lyra

Member
bangbang said:
But I don't think it's good to co-sleep with the babies..read so much about SIDS and co-sleeping. What I did in the end was to get the Swaddle Me Up wrap and it totally help them to fall asleep. But they still wake up in the middle of the night and cry out of the blue. Guess as most of you said, they will probably outgrow this stage eventually...praying it won't be long...
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I did co sleeping and read up on attachment parenting (Dr Sears). It's not true that co sleeping is unsafe and will result in SIDS. Many research about this is flawed. There r the same incidences of SIDS for co sleeping baby and cot sleeping baby. And it was revealed that the flawed research was supported by cot making companies. We can figure out why! I was too tired from taking care of baby during the first 3 months so there is one incidence that I accidentally hit baby's head (not very hard) but I immediately woke up due to mother's instinct. After that, no such accidents. Hubby and I are very used to baby sleeping beside us so we got kind of a parents' instinct not to accidentally hit or squash baby. I used to put him in cot beside our bed but it gets so mah fan and I finally decided to just co sleep.
 
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