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Any experience/knowledge about 2-3 month olds having nightmares?

enigmaticjjenigmaticjj member
in June 2015 Moms
I'm wondering if any of you have had experience (or knowledge) with young babies having nightmares?  How long would/does it take for them to stop crying as you try to console them?

Here's why I'm asking... My LO will be 12 weeks tomorrow and a couple days ago she started taking Hemangeol (a beta blocker used to resolve infant hemangioma's).  One of the side effects are nightmares (although from what I read no one knows for certain that babies this young can have nightmares, but since they are believed to have dreams, they may likely be able to have nightmares too).  She woke up today from a nap with a normal amount of fussiness and stopped fussing when I picked her up.  A few minutes later when I set her down in her play gym (she didn't need a diaper change yet and had just fed before her short nap) she began full out crying.  I picked her up right away and tried to nurse her to see if that would help, but she wouldn't nurse and was inconsolable (she had never before been inconsolable).  She began to be her normal self about 45 minutes later.  During that time I called the doctor as I was worried she was in some sort of pain (I didn't find anything physically that would have been irritating her) but they thought it was just a nightmare.

She's my first child and outside of her I really don't have baby experience, but it just seemed like a really long time for her to be in such an extreme state of crying.  So I'm hoping to get some feedback from those of you who may know more (especially if we'll be having more nightmare experiences with this new drug).

I searched the board for "nightmares" but didn't find a previous related discussion.
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Re: Any experience/knowledge about 2-3 month olds having nightmares?

  • MaliKaelaMaliKaela member
    Oh wow, baby nightmares never even crossed my mind. That has to be really hard on you. I have no knowledge... hopefully someone else will. But i'm sorry you are dealing with this. At least LO won't remember.
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  • HayesRN13HayesRN13 member
    Nightmares in babies... Probably not per research.. but can't prove
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  • ksimo6ksimo6 member
    My daughter has night terrors but they didn't start until afte she turned one. I spoke to my doctor about it and she have me some info and assured me that it's normal. It sucks, so hang in there!
    • Married 6/1/2012
    • BFP #1 - 11/17/2012 -  MC 12/10/2012
    • BFP #2 - 2/12/2013 - EDD 10/17/2013 - DD Born 10/10/2013
    • BFP #3 - 1/29/2014 - Ectopic pregnancy discovered 1/31/2014
    • BFP #4 - 9/28/2014 - EDD 6/4/2015 - DS Born 5/31/2015


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  • enigmaticjjenigmaticjj member
    MaliKaela.  No clue what a baby so young could have a nightmare about since they aren't developed enough yet to have an imagination.  Hopefully it was a one time thing and I just jumped the gun with my worrying.
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  • marinamarinamarinamarina member
    Try increasing skin to skin time during the day and evening. Also try infant massage after a bath. And ask about switching medication. Where's her mark? Do you really need to be on a bb this young? Can you stop and try when older? Is the hemeangioma removal purely for cosmetic reasons?
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  • meganarnold84@gmail.commeganarnold84@gmail.com member
    edited September 2015
    I've never posted before but have been lurking since October so I haven't introduced myself yet. I just wanted to share my experience.
    I'm so sorry that your LO is having nightmares! Poor thing!
    My little girl is on Propranolol for her hemangioma in her throat. The side effect they warned us about is drowsiness but I haven't noticed it. I feel so terrible for my LO though. She has had stridor for 3 weeks (loud and labored breathing). We took her to her pediatrician who said it was a head cold... Luckily I had insisted on a referral to a specialist about her other hemangiomas. The specialist walked into the room and immediately knew what was wrong and set up a procedure to check her airway. They had to keep her over night in the hospital to monitor her blood pressure and oxygen levels. Luckily everything is going well and her stridor is much quieter. If possible maybe speak to your pediatrician about Propranolol.

    Forgot to say my LO is 16 weeks. I've also emailed theknot folks about my username and I cannot update my avatar...
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  • enigmaticjjenigmaticjj member
    @marinamarina, more skin to skin and infant massage are good ideas, thank you.  Steroids used to be used to resolve these birthmarks prior to this drug being approved.  Her birthmark is pretty large, but thankfully isn't on her head/face and currently doesn't pose danger (not sure how that can change though depending on how it grows).  It's on her upper arm, but takes up most the length of her upper arm (I learned it grows in proportion, so as in adult it would take up that same amount of space on her arm).  It's growth is on the surface and internal.  The dermatologist said a few times that she was very glad we were getting it looked at early.  Outside of any potential harm, I'm hoping to minimize potential self-esteem issues.  So far since that one possible nightmare, she's woken up from all her subsequent naps with no issues, so that's good.

    @meganarnold84@gmail.com, that's so scary!  I don't want to even imagine what you went through (and going through) with her airway scare and being at the hospital.  From what I understand, Propranolol and Hemangeol are the same, it's just Hemangeol is what the brand name is called.  The drowsiness side effect to watch out for I believe is related to making sure their blood sugar doesn't get too low.  The low blood sugar signs are the things the doctor focused on with us, as far as making sure to contact them if it happens.  But keeping their bellies full should prevent that from ever happening.  Not sure what all your doctor told you, but mine was saying that this new drug has been very good for these birthmarks, since previously the only other real option was steroids.  I hope you see very good results asap for your LO.  How long have you been using it?
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  • meganarnold84@gmail.commeganarnold84@gmail.com member
    @enigmaticjj I didn't realize that was the brand name of our meds :-) yes they did warn us about the blood sugar. Our LO is a great eater so she always has a full tummy lol! They were pleased that it hasn't impacted her weight gain. Though I think this is the reason breast feeding didn't work for us...
    The specialist was telling me about the drug being new for this use and man am I thankful that we can avoid steroids!
    I'm happy to read that your LO hasn't had another nightmare! I'm sorry that it's on her arm! I can't believe how large they can be.
    I have crazy mommy guilt for not questioning our pediatrician... She should have questioned her breathing since she has several birthmarks all over and they did an ultrasound at 4 weeks to see if there were any in her liver. We have since changed her to a new doctor. Seeing her upset was heartbreaking. Luckily she is fine and usually a very happy girl.
    She's only been on it for a few days but we are seeing results.
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  • enigmaticjjenigmaticjj member
    @meganarnold84@gmail.com, that's a relief she's a good eater.  We're still getting settled with a more set schedule on which times of the day/night we're giving her a dose, so depending on the time of the day, she doesn't always eat as much as I'd like (like she's distracted or ate a lot not too long before).  So it just takes some extra time to get her to eat during that dose.

    As a new mom I'm realizing how it's so easy for us to get mom guilt and how there are so many things that can bring it on.  But of course rationally thinking it's all in hindsight.  You should have been able to trust your doctor.  But regardless of remembering that hindsight is 20/20, etc, I'm sure I'd still have mom guilt too.  I began to have some mom guilt myself thinking that we should have taken her to a dermatologist sooner (we waited until the pedi referred us when it was apparent it grew a lot, but prior to that the pedi mentioned at each appointment the possibility of maybe wanting to see a dermatologist).  For me I was able to push the guilt aside (for the most part) by thinking of how difficult/stressful it would have been to juggle these doses when we were still trying to get a handle on her weight gain and eating enough.

    That's awesome that you're starting to see some results!  That's something that I think will help me get through the inconvenience of the doses...watching for visible results.
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  • AlyLynn07AlyLynn07 member
    I work in a pediatric ENT office that also specializes in hemangiomas. We have a lot of babies on propranolol to shrink or at least minimize their growth. In response to concerns about an infant being on this medication, there are definitely risks and benefits to any medication. These hemangiomas grow most rapidly in the first 9-12 month of life. And although hemangiomas fade and shrink as they get older, it's all relative to the size they grew to. Treatment often is cosmetic (unless you have an airway issue like @meganarnold84@gmail.com), but keep in mind that these deep-red or bluish masses can become very large. I have seen huge ones on lips, eyelids, and covering almost the entire chest of a LO. There is also a risk that these vascular lesions grow so fast that they outgrow their blood supply, ulcerate, and bleed, which is very painful for baby. I say this not to scare anyone, but to offer reassurance in your decision to use propranolol. I hope you feel that your little ones are being treated appropriately and that you see some results!
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  • enigmaticjjenigmaticjj member
    @AlyLynn07, thank you so very much.  That does help give me reassurance.  I knew I'd feel mom guilt regardless of what I did...guilt of not taking advantage of the Rx and guilt if something bad happened if we did do the Rx.  But potential risks of it's growth make me feel like the right decision is using the Rx.  And I do feel like my LO is being treated well by the doctors/nurses.  We're on the 5th day of using it and her mark feels almost flat again already.
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  • mishmardhionomishmardhiono member
    Could you look into salts & oils? I think they say Lavendar oil has an ability to stop nightmares.. I'm not sure if it's true or if it would apply in this case though
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  • enigmaticjjenigmaticjj member
    @mishmardhiono, it's worth a try, for the suggestion.  Worst case it'll just smell nice.  :)
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  • meganarnold84@gmail.commeganarnold84@gmail.com member
    edited September 2015
    @enigmaticjj thank you for putting the guilt into perspective. We got it taken care of and she didn't seem to bothered by it because she's always been a happy giggly girl. I hope you are starting to see results! I know now we are seeing the marks on her lip and chest flatten a bit. Her breathing is better as well. She's still sleeping through the night quietly again :-)

    Wow @AlyLynn07! That's scary! I can't imagine poor babies going through that. Thanks for that information. The specialist was telling me how large they can get. I'm thankful that the other two raised hemangiomas are relatively small. My LO has several port stained birthmarks and the 3 strawberry marks.
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