A baby or small child in a dream is counted as auspicious in most folk lists, especially a child who is laughing and playing: it is read as a new start, happiness at home, or a stalled matter coming right. That is what tradition believes, not a forecast of your life. The Hindi search is sapne mein chhota bachcha dekhna.
The child in Indian folk belief
In an Indian home a child is not only a new family member but, in the common saying, a form of God. Bal Krishna, Laddu Gopal and the child Hanuman are worshipped in countless houses; sohar songs are sung at a birth, and the chhathi and naming ceremony bring the whole neighbourhood together. So a sweet, smiling child in a dream has mostly been read as a good thing.
The Puranas sort dreams broadly into auspicious and inauspicious, but the detailed readings — a laughing child, a crying one, a boy or a girl — come from later folk lists, and those lists do not fully agree. In many places a baby girl is read as Lakshmi arriving; elsewhere a boy is tied to progress.
Variations
| What you saw | Folk reading |
|---|---|
| A laughing, playing child | Joy; a wish being fulfilled |
| A newborn | The start of a new task or phase |
| A crying child | A small worry or unfinished business |
| Holding a baby | A new responsibility you will manage |
| A baby girl | Lakshmi at home, comfort and plenty |
| Feeding a baby | Slowly nurturing some work or plan |
| Searching for a lost child | Worry about something slipping away |
What psychology says
The continuity hypothesis in dream research holds that dreams carry on the concerns of waking life. A baby in a dream often stands for something new and fragile — a new job, a new relationship, a plan that still needs care. Parents of small children have these dreams often, simply because their attention is there all day. A crying child can also be your own tiredness, or the part of you that wants looking after. When marriage or children are being discussed at home, the dream is entirely natural.
Worth keeping in mind
A dream of a child asks for no puja or remedy. If it was a sweet dream, enjoy it. If the child was crying, just ask what task — or which person, yourself included — has been asking for your attention lately.
Read next
See pregnancy in a dream, Krishna in a dream and crying in a dream, or the full list of dream meanings.