A baby knows more than you think. They have vast imagination that is more than listening to mom’s favorite lullaby.
It is always fascinating for parents to gaze into the baby’s sparkling eyes. Behind the fascination is a question. That is wondering what could be in the mind of a baby. Would they be able to identify what they like to do the next day or their favorite food? It can be applied as a general trivia, for parents or not.
Cognitive development is a unique process happening to your child. Toddlers are born ready to learn. As a starting parent, you must be open-minded to what your child can do. Pay attention to your child’s capacity to learn because that is how they build their thought patterns. Eventually, these thought patterns will lead them to a specific interest. A comparison to other children’s progress is not recommendable. This is the stage where your child learns to build independence and identity in his/her own specific way.
Angela Arnephy published a book entitled “What Does My Baby Dream Of?” because of her same fascination as a parent to what could be her baby’s mind when sleeping. This could be more complicated to determine than observing the baby’s movement in a day. Sleep helps the baby’s brain grow and process information. According to studies, sleep helps us consolidate memory, which helps individuals integrate knowledge to actual experience (applicable to all ages). However, a baby’s world is limited at home. They may lack experience but babies have wilder imaginations.
Neuroscientists believe that for dreams to occur in babies, children must have the capacity to imagine things. In other words, they must be able to construct visually and spatially to experience dreaming the way we know it. That is why not until they can speak some words we can discover what they are dreaming about. Or, we can guess for the meantime on what they are dreaming about. You may not know exactly what your baby is dreaming of, but as you hear them make sounds such as grunts and sighs when sleeping, you should have an idea. Angela mentioned made this query on the book out of curiosity if the baby really dreams:
My baby moves her arms and legs in her sleep. Is she playing with a friend? I wonder who she’s playing with. What does my baby dream of?
There is also this study revealing why baby often laughs when sleeping. It is believed that when babies laugh in their sleep, it is often a reflex rather than a response to their dreams. In much research, it was observed that babies might twitch or smile during active sleep. This kind of sleep allows the baby to make involuntary movements. This contributes to the fact why sometimes a baby bursts out in laughter even in sleeping time.
Enjoy this stage of being parenthood. This is the time when your child still looks like an innocent angel sleeping at night beside you. Cherish this moment while they still want to hear your lullaby.
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