Well… kind of, but not really. Since babies experience a great deal of REM (rapid-eye movement) sleep just like adults, they go through the exact same brain cycle that is typically spent dreaming. Though babies’ brains are far less developed than adults, and scientific research has yet to reach a full consensus, it’s generally believed their time spent in REM sleep is put to a whole different kind of use. Read on to find out more about a baby’s experience in a dreamlike state!
How do babies dream?
A significant portion (about 50%) of a baby’s sleep is spent in REM, including that of newborns. As such, you’d assume there’s plenty of time for them to have dreams. But there’s actually an entirely different reason REM sleep is important for them: it’s an important tool for brain development. More specifically, a baby develops its capacity for language and other cognitive skills, and their brain starts building neural pathways and synapses while in this kind of sleep.
Babies don’t technically have dreams yet, since their brains aren’t developmentally advanced enough to be capable of them. For toddlers, dreams are more like photographs rather than the more cinematic experience of older humans. Only from about age five onward do children start having what we typically consider to be dreams, and those dreams start becoming more visually fleshed out around age eight.
What do they dream about?
Nothing—or at least, not until they’ve reached a certain age, often considered to be around two years. It’s only then that they start seeing images whilst asleep, even if such an experience is nowhere near as visual or complex until they’re a few years older. Despite this, some babies may experience specific sensations while asleep, such as a close-up of their parent’s face, or being breastfed. Otherwise, they have neither enough life experience nor developmental milestones to effectively put together visuals and language in the form of a dream.
Curious about why we forget our dreams? Dive in and find out
Are they mostly dreams or nightmares?
Can babies have nightmares? No, not really. Because brain development is at such an early stage, they cannot truly experience any form of dreaming. However, sometimes babies can experience twitching in their sleep, which is not usually a sign of nightmares, or anything to be alarmed by. In fact, it’s probably a result of the baby’s ongoing brain development during REM sleep (particularly as their motor skills are still being learned), and is also a reflex many babies outgrow by six months of age. If a young child does experience nightmares, it’s often because of stressors and/or trauma in their everyday life, since they don’t yet fully understand the concept of fear.
