Infant having nightmares?

Question

My 9 week old has started crying in her sleep. It happens very suddenly and she goes from being completely quiet to screaming like she’s scared. The only way I can get her to stop crying is to pick her up, but she doesn’t ever seem to be awake during all of this. The first time it happened was 3 nights ago and it has happened multiple times each night since, usually later at night but tonight it started less than one hour after we put her down for the night. Has anyone else experienced this? I tried to research nightmares in infants and I’m finding conflicting information, most sites say they don’t begin until 2 years.

Answer

Totally normal. Both my girls did that. I always joked they were having nightmares about being evicted from the belly 😂

Answer

Mine does that too. But I don't need to pick him up. He just screams really bad a bit, and when I go to him, he already has stopped, grunts and smiles a bit and sleeps on... Don't know what it is...

Answer

Both of my kids did that when they were newborns too. Scared the heck out of me since I was sleeping but they usually went back to sleep like 2 minutes later with the little post-cry hiccups. They stopped completely after a couple months maybe.

Answer

Infants don’t have nightmares is what my doctor says, it’s just what they do. Sometimes a cuddle or a warm hand touching will make it stop. Plus babies are just noisy in general when they sleep

Answer

I have also read that babies dont get nightmares until they are 2. Have you talked to your pediatrician? Could be the moro reflex where they suddenly feel like they are falling (and often flail their arms and legs), mayne acid reflux flaring up or your baby just realizes you arent holding them anymore.