The first time being a mother, the most movements of a child make us worry. Many people have panic when they see the baby sleeping, but the eyes are still open. It looks a bit "weird", but it's a non-worrying phenomenon, mom!
Don't be alarmed when your baby sleeps with eyes open
Because according to medicine, the phenomenon of babies sleeping with their eyes open is completely harmless and not a disease at all. Mom might think it's unusual behavior, but in fact, many babies sleep very well with their eyes open. This phenomenon is common in children in the early stages of life, especially at the age of 12-18 months.
Open-eye sleep is relatively common in many infants
There are still no studies that can accurately explain why babies sleep with their eyes open. Some pediatricians believe that this phenomenon occurs during REM sleep. Normally, we experience two different types of sleep, namely fast eye movement or dream - REM sleep and non - REM sleep.
It is possible that infant REM sleep is usually longer than that of adults and it covers about 50% of the total sleep time, in addition to rapid eye movement, babies will experience more sleep without their eyes closed.
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When should mom be worried?
If you find that the baby's eyes open when sleeping makes you scared, when the baby has fallen deep asleep, mother gently use your hand to close the baby's eyelids until the eyes are completely closed. Do not worry or stress too much but rest assured that it is a relatively common behavior in many children.
However, mothers should also talk to their doctor if the baby sleeps with eyes open for many hours or so often when the baby is over 18 months old. Because in some cases, babies can have a birth defect in the back of the eye that makes it impossible to close their eyes normally. Sometimes the cause of this phenomenon is genetic.
One more case is very rare and only occurs with large ones, which can be a sign of unhealthy conditions such as damage to the facial nerve, thyroid problems or certain tumors. At this point, it is necessary to talk to medical professionals to better understand and to have appropriate treatment.
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