Can a 12 week old have nightmares?

[lobsters]

My DD seems to have developed a new habit of waking up with an almighty scream sometimes. It's quite a blood curdling scream and seems to come out of no where. It's happened when she's asleep on my lap and when in her cot. I can't figure out what's happened. Sometimes she's fine afterwards and other times it's followed by a good cry. Otherwise she's not a bad sleeper for someone of her age.

Hi Lobsters. Would really recommend you borrow/buy a book called The Wonder Weeks by Hetty Vanderijt and Frans Plooij. It tells you all the development stages of a baby and how it affects them. Week 12 is the third major development leap when a baby figures out that things can move (rather than just be stationary objects!). This can make them quite upset as they get used to a new world and it can make them clingy and upset and sleep badly. So maybe DD isn't having nightmares but she's just a little scared of what's going on.

The book i mentioned isn't cheap (about £20 I think) but it's the only baby book I've bought that doesn't tell me what to do - it just explains why my baby might be cranky/not eating/clingy etc and suggests ways to help baby cope.

That books sounds brillant. There is definitely something going on, I'm also getting the impression she's a little scared of the dark now, when it never used to be an issue. And she's just become a telly addict as I think the moving lights are a draw