We often say that we slept like a baby to infer that we had a restful night’s sleep but can we truly assume that babies rest comfortably through the night? Can we assume that baby sleep is soothing and calming? Since babies are new to this world and have very few experiences and limited cognitive abilities, is it safe to presume that little interrupts their calm sleep?

As we watch our babies sleep we notice that they seem to twitch and show eye movements that would appear to correspond to dream activity in older children and adults. Could this mean that babies are somehow able to dream even though they have very few adventures and events to unfold in their minds?

Baby dreams have been the focus of much psychoanalytic investigation. Researchers have concluded that babies are able to fall into this REM (Rapid Eye Movement) level of sleep which is knowingly associated with dreaming activity in adults, but they do not all agree that these movements depict the same mental actions. Many simply state a logical assumption that if the movements (REM) are there when a baby sleeps then the conclusion must be that a baby dreams.

Others are not so convinced. David Foulkes, a renowned psychologist considered an expert in pediatric dreaming wrote “if an organism gives evidence that it can proceed in reality, then we are prone to imagine that it can dream one as well.”

Yes we may be prone to believe that babies have the capacity to dream, but can we actually believe that they have the ability to do so. Is it possible that babies are somehow able to dream even though they have very few adventures to expand upon and play out in their minds?

Dreams are quite figuratively extensions of our lives, our interactions, and daily activities; they are conceived through our emotions and exchanges with those persons around us. Many believe that without this framework of social interactions and personal involvements babies are incapable of actually dreaming.

Extensive research has given some neuroscientists evidence to believe that children do not dream as small babies. Instead they theorize that children don’t begin to dream until the age of four or five, an age when they have the ability to create pictures in their minds which could allow them to formulate pictures or expressions in dreams.

Even at this young age children are still very influenced by the people and stimulus around them, it is often not until a child reaches school age that they begin forming their own ideas and notions about their unique involvement in their surroundings.

So we must ask the question again, do babies dream? If we believe so then we must ask what they dream about. Since they have so few experiences, do they dream about binkies, bottles, and bath time?

Many neuroscientists relate that this developing personal awareness is what sets the stage for the child’s ability to dream. If this is the case then it would seem that babies do not dream instead these actions while sleeping may simply be part of their rapid growth and give credence to the importance of providing quality sleep time for our developing babies.

Do you believe your baby is able to dream?