Find the cause of your baby laughing while sleeping

Sleeping laughter is a very common condition in infants. Grandparents thought that was when the baby was taught by the midwife. And science has shown that babies laugh when sleeping is due to natural reactions and a way for babies to process information.

Does your baby often smile while sleeping? At first, you think the baby is awake, but check to see that the baby is still asleep. Why do babies laugh when they sleep? Join aFamilyToday Health to learn about baby's sleep cycle to know why babies laugh when they sleep.

Why do babies laugh when they sleep?

First of all, you should know that even adults can laugh while sleeping. If you stay up late, you will sometimes find that your partner is smiling while sleeping. It is not clear why this is happening, but there are a few theories about this:

1. Natural reflex

Infants dream a lot from the time they are still in the womb. After birth, the baby continues to dream. Sometimes, laughing is just a natural reflex in your baby's REM cycle (particularly during active sleep). During this sleep, the baby will have unconscious movements, such as laughing while sleeping.

Note: There are also cases where the baby has seizures leading to uncontrolled laughter. Each session can last about 10-20 seconds, starting when the baby is about 10 months old. If your baby often experiences this, take him to the doctor.

2. Your baby is processing information

During the first few months of life, babies are going through a continuous learning process, from learning to open their eyes, smile, cry, to find ways to move parts of their bodies. So your baby always has to process new information.

Exposure to light and sound in many different settings can overwhelm your baby. Therefore, only when going to bed does the baby have time to process this information and express it by crying or laughing.

Note:  You should not wake up while your baby is sleeping as this can disrupt your baby's sleep.

Babies laugh when they sleep, learning about their sleep cycle together

Each sleep cycle lasts about 90 minutes, including 5 stages. The first 4 stages are fast non-rapid eye movement (NREM). In the fifth stage, the new eye moves quickly (REM). The fast-moving eye cycle consists of 4 phases:

Stage 1:  This is when you start going to sleep, so sleep is relatively shallow. This phase lasts for a very short time, breathing slows down, muscles begin to relax, and brain waves slow down.

Stage 2: This phase accounts for about 50% of sleep time. At this point, the eye does not move and brain activity becomes slower.

Stages 3 and 4:  At this stage, you have fallen into deep sleep. The body was completely rested, body temperature, heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure all dropped to the lowest level. Brain waves are also slow waves at this time.

Stage 5: REM sleep typically occurs between 1.5 and 2 hours during normal sleep. When your sleep reaches REM stage, eyes will move rapidly, continuously having dreams. When your breathing is irregular, your heart rate and blood pressure will be the same as when you are awake. However, your body is temporarily paralyzed so that you won't act like what you saw in your dream.

Sleeping laughter often occurs when an infant falls into REM sleep, but it can also occur at other stages. Also, it can sometimes be due to insomnia or a sleep disorder. Baby's REM sleep is usually shorter and lasts only 30-50 minutes compared to adults. The time of this stage of sleep will increase gradually as the baby gets older.

Note: Every child is different. So keep in mind that some babies and young children fall asleep very quickly, while others do not fall asleep with a cycle of only about 20 minutes, before falling into deep sleep.