Research shows that babies spend more than 60% of their time sleeping and in REM sleep. That means that they can dream a lot because adults only average at around 20% of time sleeping in their day and in the dreaming stage.
Research has shown that there is a connection between the brain developing and REM sleep and that is why the fetus spends such as huge amount of time sleeping when it is in the womb. When a baby is at 30 weeks in the mother’s womb, the fetus spends almost 24 hours in the REM state.
Babies and REM Sleeping
Babies that are premature will spend up to 80% of their sleep in REM sleep. When the babies get older and mature, they stop spending so much time in the REM stage and by the time that they are one year old, it drops all the way down to around 35%.
REM and Brain Development
This shows that REM sleep has to be important for the brain development of babies and dreaming can be considered a way that the mind works and exercises to get strong. When a baby gets older, he or she will be able to get brain stimulation by their environment and by the people they live with and will not need to spend as much time in REM sleep.
Toddlers and Babies
Research has shown that most babies will have dreams but will not have vivid dreams until they are around two years of age. This is when the brain will keep developing and this is a time where the babies might start to have nightmares.
It will be even later before a baby is able to retain their dreams and to let someone know exactly what they are dreaming about.
Final Thoughts
It is hard to really know what a baby dreams about since they are not able to tell us. They probably have dreams that are about the people that they see and where they live. When babies get older, they will have more sounds and images in their dreams.
The idea that babies’ dreams become more vivid as they age and their brains develop is quite compelling. It would be fascinating to understand the evolution of dream content as children grow and accumulate experiences.
I wonder how the dreams of babies compare to the dreams of adults, given their different stages of brain development and the limited stimuli infants are exposed to. It’s a field ripe for more exploration.
The fact that premature babies spend even more time in REM sleep seems to underscore its critical role in brain development. It would be useful to see more research on how variations in REM sleep impact cognitive development.
The connection between REM sleep and brain development in babies is a fascinating aspect of early human development. It raises intriguing questions about the nature and function of dreams in young minds.
It’s interesting to see how the proportion of REM sleep decreases as babies grow older, suggesting that the brain’s need for this kind of activity declines as it matures and interacts more with the outside world.