Do babies dream?

4 min read

Do babies dream in the womb? most of the 40 weeks (or 280 days) of gestation the baby goes to sleep. They are about 18 hours of sleep a day, with only eight hours awake, when you feel it move more, kick and put that little foot between your ribs.

Do babies dream? – Mothers And Babies – WebMediums

With so much sleep, it would be reasonable to think that babies dream in mom's womb.

At the same time, one asks: What do they dream of? How do they dream? if dreams are expressions of our experiences and need external references to happen.

How could someone who is still in full organ and tissue formation and who knows nothing about the outside world dream?

Do babies dream in the womb?

The answer is yes. Studies that used ultrasound images, ultrasound and electrocardiogram exams identified that, between the 32nd and the 36th week of pregnancy, the fetuses have rapid eye movements, which indicate that they are in the active sleep cycle or rEM sleep (Rapid Eyes Movement), which is when we dream

The fetus spends 80% of its sleep time in the REM phase, so you can dream a lot.

In premature babies, REM sleep was already identified at week 28 of gestation, suggesting that this sleep cycle could also occur in intrauterine life.

Using real-time ultrasonography, it has been proven that the evolutionary changes of sleep that occur in the fetus are compatible with those seen in babies premature babies born at the same gestational age.

However, since they have different external and environmental influences, the behavior of fetuses and premature babies during sleep is also different.

What do babies dream of in intrauterine life?

You can not know with certainty what babies dream when they are in their mothers' womb, since their neurons and synapses are still in formation.

Also, it is not possible to measure your brain waves. However, it is believed that, like all of us, they dream of the experiences and sensations experienced throughout the day, in the moments when they have been awake.

The end of pregnancy is the period in which there are more connections between neurons and synapses are more intense.

For it to happen, you need encouragement, so the more you talk to your baby, tell stories, put music for him to listen to, the more you will contribute to the development of his brain even in the womb.

And what are the experiences of the baby in the womb?

It may not look like it, but life in the womb is quite hectic and many are the experiences that the baby can have to form their dreams.

Sucking the finger, urinating, swallowing and expelling the amniotic fluid (training your digestive system), play with the umbilical cord, hiccup, somersault and rotate around your own body (before the space is too tight), yawn and even show your tongue.

At two months of gestation, the fetus is aware of the outside world through hormonal stimuli. The nerves are beginning to reach his hands and feet and he has the first sensations of touch.

At three months of gestation, she is already able to feel the contact with her mother and realizes the chemical changes such as stress, euphoria and anxiety.

At four months, the brain of the fetus begins to decipher their senses. A good part of their cells already transmit nerve impulses, such as those of touch and hearing. There are already nerves in almost all of her body and the baby is able to feel pleasure with the massage that Mama makes in her belly.

At six months of pregnancy almost all the senses of the fetus work. She cries and almost smiles. You can smell the taste and smell of the amniotic fluid.

The first visual stimuli that your brain receives allow you to distinguish light from dark, if you put a light source in your belly, like a flashlight, your baby will be able to perceive the difference in brightness.

The hearing is already developed and is able to hear the sounds of the outside world, recognizes the mother's voice and begins to get used to the sound of the tongue.

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