Do babies dream?

By Laura Yates on May 14, 09 10:08 PM

No. Of course they don't dream. And even if they did 'dream', all the dreams would consist of would be ambiguous colours, patterns and shapes, with perhaps the odd Telly Tubby thrown in for good measure.

There certainly would be no complex thought processes; no sequences of imagined events or plot-lines. I doubt The Kid is old enough to have a well ordered conscious thought, let alone continuous streams of unconscious imaginings that rise to the surface of his mind as he sleeps.

He certainly wouldn't create a 'frightening' scenario in his mind, not least because I've never actually known him to be frightened when he's awake.

That was until 3am this morning. I was awoken by a very sudden, shrill, shriek of terror eminating from the little bedroom.

I dashed in to find The Kid sobbing his heart out. It took ten minutes worth of cuddles and coo-ing till he fell back to sleep.

Okay, so maybe babies DO have dreams. Maybe they are capable of these unconscious imaginings - but if that's the case, what is it that they dream of?

Family outings? Food? An endless array of Cbeebies characters? Do they imagine they're In the Night Garden, being jostled about in the Ninky Nonk, or are they listening to one of the animals in 64 Zoo Lane?

I should imagine The Kid dreams of boobs and finally out-witting next door's new kitten, managing to catch it before it darts behind the shed.

And what about the nightmare? What on earth has an 18 month old child got to be frightened of? If I had to hazard a guess, I'd go for the vaccuum. It's the only thing round here that he seems to have any kind of healthy apprehension about. That said, I'm not overly keen on the thing myself. It makes lots of noise and is synonymous with hard work - which may also be why I'm a bit dubious about my nan sometimes.

Hmm... Who knows. Maybe he wasn't dreaming at all, bad or otherwise. Maybe he'd just bumped his head on the cot bars. Maybe the world of dreams is some months off just yet. Until then he's just going to have to try that little bit harder to out-smart next door's cat.