Heather Turgeon has another intriguing article on Babble that fits right in with this month's theme: The Science of Baby Dreams.
If you've ever wondered if your newborn was dreaming, the answer is yes. Babies actually spend more time dreaming (in REM state) than adults do. What might those dreams look like?
"A fetus might dream about the muffled sound of his mom's voice or the filtered light that makes its way in through her belly. A newborn might dream about the faces and shapes she's learning, writes Heather.
It's harder to say whether or not infants have nightmares, but possible says Heather.
"Babies do have the capacity to form memories in the early months, so even a three-month-old has experiences stored up, and there's no reason to think that the discomforts of babyhood (being cold or wet, Mom taking too long to heat the bottle) wouldn't be fair game for dreams."
Nightmares are more common around ages 2-3 when children start to realize there are real dangers and risks in the world.
We find it fascinating to think about what our baby might be dreaming about during her nap or at night. You can read the rest of the article here.
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I could often tell when my younger son, Will, was dreaming as an infant, because he would laugh out loud in his sleep. It was utterly charming, and I always wondered what in his limited experience he could possibly be dreaming about. :)
That pic is awesome yet sweet...
My little lady always smiled when she was dreaming way before she started smiling while awake and I would wonder what she was dreaming about.
I always get a kick out of the noises that my kid makes when she sleeps because it sounds so similar to the noises our dogs make. I just hope she's not dreaming of chasing rabbits on four legs because life will be awfully disappointing :)
I love to watch my son sleep, he laughs and smiles and it's so cute. He's 11 months and I'm sure he has nightmares because occasionally he will cry, frown or his little lip will quiver. He never does the lip quiver thing while awake, only when he's sleeping. He smiles and laughs a lot more often than he cries, though.
I love ohdeedoh, but with as many readers as you have that are obviously parents (some of which quite presumably being new parents) I am a bit disgusted by the fact that the photo chosen for this post depicts a baby in an unsafe sleeping position - one that studies have proven to increase a child's risk of dying from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).
As I am sure you are aware, babies belong on their backs, so why would a huge website whose reader demographic consists of parents with small children, send this wrong, and quite honestly, dangerous, message to its readers?
A response would be appreciated.
Wendi Lombard
wendilombard@gmail.com
Here's a response: Just because you hate yourself and life in general, that doesn't mean you have to spend your free time attempting to make others feel the same way. Hope that's appreciated!
Re: Wendi :::eye roll:::
- I received a nice message back from Janel at Ohdeedoh who advised she understood my concerns and would look into it further.
My message was raised out of concern after reading a recent study conducted by FirstCandle.org, the leading organization in SIDS research. Research shows that media that are inconsistent with health care messages can create confusion and misinformation about infant sleep safety and may inadvertently lead to unsafe practices. Only through collective efforts and shared awareness can we truly help to reduce the risk of SIDS, which is currently the number one killer of healthy infants between 1 month and 1 year of life.
As members of the media are critical to our ability to save babies’ lives, First Candle has advised that they will soon launch a Call to Action among print, electronic and broadcast media venues and their advertisers to create, select and use only images that depict babies (who appear to be 18 months of age or younger) in safe sleep positions and safe sleep environments.
As I am sure that Ohdeedoh would like to help in these efforts, I remain hopeful that consideration will be taken in the future when selecting images, as to no longer use ones that may reflect a child in an unsafe sleep position and/or environment.
Thanks, Wendi. I agree that the media often chooses images based on beauty or appeal, rather than on safe or natural practices, and it is incredibly naive to assume those images don't influence the consumers of those images.
For real, Wendy? Thanks, but we're not idiots.
I had nine months to learn about baby safety before my child was born - I don't think seeing a photo of a newborn sleeping on its stomach on a design website is going to undo all of that and take away my common sense.
Yikes.