crying out in sleep?

The past few nights, my 4 month old girl has been crying out in the night, almost like a bad dream or something. Her eyes stay shut but she has to be consoled - back rub, pacifier, etc - to get her back to sleep. She's been a bit fussy during the day, too. Prior to this, she was a great sleeper, going through the night. Any experience with this?

 

My first thought: could she be teething? She could also be going through a growth spurt or working on a new milestone as well. Hope she will start sleeping better for you and be happier during the day!

 

That's what I was thinking too, sometimes it's incredibly overwhelming to be a baby and learning/doing all these new and exciting things. Something as simple as grasping a toy to us, is a huge milestone for a baby.

Their brains actually process all the information they've learned during the day, while they are sleeping. So it's not uncommon for them to fuss a bit when they are sleeping when they are sorting through the days events :hug:

 

We had this as well a couple of times when they were really little. It totally freaked me out. They would cry so hard and still be asleep. At one point I thought I was gonna have to take one to the ER. But they only did it once or twice and then it went away. I think they are just overstimulated from the day and their brains are just maturing.

 

I've seen my kids do that too. I'm not sure what happens, maybe bad dreams? But usually a pat on the back was enough to soothe them and it was generally a phase that didn't last too long. Hopefully she will be back to sleeping through soon! :hug:

 

My girls squawk in the night, but have slept through since just before 3 months. When one of them started waking up crying every night several times a night, I thought it was dreams -- only to find out it was an ear infection.

Later on I thought the same thing, only to find out it was teething.

It'd be so much easier if they could just tell us! :ibiggrin:

 

Mine do this, mostly DS ... he gets a pat on the tummy or a binkie and he's fine. We call it minimares. Nothing can be that scary at 6 months old so they're just mini nightmares.