Crying while asleep

[danlynclark]

My 11 week old DS has recently started crying in his sleep during every nap.  It used to be a rare thing, maybe once a week.  But it has gotten worse.  It is not a little REM-sleep whimper.  He cries a cry that he doesn't even do when he is awake.  It is the saddest cry I have heard and it breaks my heart.  The other day, he was so upset, he was crying very sadly and he could not wake up to stop crying.  I had to wake him up and he wouldn't even nurse.  I had to walk him around just to calm him down enough to nurse him.

Any thoughts on this?
Lyn

[chell]

Hi, I'm trying to find out some information for you. He seems too young for nightmares or night terrors. Is this problem still happening? Can you give a bit more detail about the cry, any body movements, how far into the nap it happens? etc...

[samijoe]

i agree...i need more info here.

if you could post your routine, that might help us all out?


sami

[lifeisgood]

Your issue is similar to the question I was going to post.  My son has had nightmares (or night terrors I'm not really sure which one) starting at 3 months.  He had 1 at 3 months, 2 around 6 months, and one last night at 8 months.  

He cries almost hysterically and it's not a cry he does during the day time or any other time.  It also seems to happen within 2 hours of him going to bed.  When we pick him up he's still sleeping and crying and is obviously distressed.  We have to say his name really loud and work at waking him up so he will stop and calm down.  Once he's awake he calms down fairly quickly and falls back to sleep without a problem and will be fine the rest of the night.  Last night he was even kicking his legs while he was dreaming.

I truly believe it's a nightmare they're going through and I never thought LO's could experience them at such a young age.  From what I could find (and there's not much in regards to babies this young) is that it may be associated with a growth spurt or if something different happened that day to throw them off.  My DS doesn't have them when things are off a bit so I'm wondering if it's a growth spurt with him.

We do our best to wake him up and then soothe him.  I've never fed him when this happens and he usually calms down with rocking and gently talking to him, then once we put him in the crib he's out like a light.  Know that you're not alone and I understand how hard it is, I think it's harder on us than it is on them.  I don't have the heart to leave him be and see if he comes out of it on his own but it may be worth a try.

I hope it goes away for you soon.

Cindy

[lifeisgood]

I talked with my daycare yesterday and we think he had a nightmare during one of his naps a few days ago while at daycare.  He's never had one during a nap while at home but none the less it's happened.  Daycare just rocked and cuddled him until he stopped crying so he eventually woke up on his own.

[danlynclark]

Thanks ladies.  It hasnt happened in a few days, but it happened today.  The weird thing is, I KNOW when its going to happen....

We're on a pretty loose EASY around here, but DS never goes longer than 2 hours awake. 
On an average day we start @ 730.  He will eat every 2.5-3 hours.  Its off lately because of a growth spurt.  His naps range from 45 minutes-1.5 hours.  If he has had poor naps, I will let him sleep for 2 hours max to catch up.  Bedtime is between 730 and 800 PM.  His awake time used to be 45 minutes, but I realized I was confusing bored cues as tired cues.  He goes to sleep much easier after a 1.5 awake time.

Okay so how do I know its going to happen?  It seems to happen most often when hes in a deep sleep (ie. sweating in his sleep). About 5-10 minutes before it happens, he makes this almost gasp noise, with sound.  I cant explain it really.  Almost like sucking in air through your throat.....its SO hard to describe.  Then about 5 or 10 minutes later the cries start.  They are such SAD cries. IT also only happens if he sleeps past an hour or so.

I don't know what to attribute it to.  He does have reflux and today I think its acting up a little.  His morning nap was only 40 minutes, so maybe it has to do with being overtired?

I can't help but worry about my baby.  He makes the same gasping noise after eating.

Lyn

[Isabella's Mummy (Lilab4)]

This happened with Isabella a few months back, maybe October?? It stopped after a few weeks so we put it down to teething, we used to wake her to stop it, but sometimes she kept crying once awake. It was a horrible cry, like she was frightened. Then we found giving her abottle while she was still asleep worked, as we didn't really want to be doing that we tried a dummy and it worked. Isabella didn't do it during her naps though. She would normally do it at around midnight.