We’re all pretty familiar with the phenomenon of talking in your sleep and even walking in your sleep…but crying in your sleep? For babies, crying while sleeping is a normal and expected behavior! But questions remain: Why do babies cry in their sleep? What do you do if your baby cries in their sleep? And is Baby crying in their sleep something to worry about? Here, all the answers you’re looking for!
Why do babies cry in their sleep?
Suddenly hearing your sweet sleeping baby cry out from their bassinet is jarring and sometimes worrisome. There are several common reasons that your baby might cry during sleep.
Babies cry in their sleep because of short sleep cycles.
Newborn babies spend about half their sleeping hours in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. REM sleep is also dubbed “active sleep”—and for good reason! During REM, babies twitch and jerk, their tiny mouths move, their closed eyes flutter…and they can whimper and cry, too. And because newborns cycle back to active sleep about every 45 to 50 minutes, crying in their sleep can occur throughout their ZZZs. All of this is 100% normal and nothing to worry about!
Babies cry in their sleep because they’re hungry.
Babies have tiny tummies, and they grow rapidly, so they get hungry a lot...including throughout the night. Breastfed newborns wake to feed about every 2 to 3 hours and formula-fed babies do so roughly every 3 to 4 hours. And since crying is your little one’s only form of communication, that’s how they let you know they need a bite to eat. (Unsure if feeding is the answer? Here, signs your baby is hungry.)