Many babies sweat a lot while sleeping, which is called night sweats. Most parents worry about whether their child is sick. So, why do babies sweat so much while sleeping? There are many reasons why a child sweats a lot at night, both physiological and pathological. Let's analyze and understand together.
There are many reasons why a child sweats a lot while sleeping, both physiological and pathological. Night sweats in children are not necessarily pathological; the majority of them are physiological. This is because children have more moisture in their skin, abundant capillaries, active metabolism, and immature autonomic nervous system, making them prone to sweating during activities. If a child is too active before sleep, it can increase the body's heat production. Also, shortly after eating, increased gastrointestinal motility and gastric secretions can lead to increased sweating. These factors can cause a child to sweat more after sleeping, especially within 2 hours of sweating. Pathological night sweats are commonly seen in rickets, mainly in children under 3 years old, and mainly occur in the first half of the night due to low blood calcium levels. Children with tuberculosis also experience night sweats throughout the night. These children may also have symptoms such as low-grade fever, weight loss or failure to gain weight, loss of appetite, and changes in mood.
Physiological Sweating
This type of sweating is caused by factors such as hot weather, high room temperature, excessive clothing, or heavy blankets. Some parents like to feed their children a bottle of milk before bedtime. The child falls asleep quietly after being fed, but this coincides with the heat production stage after feeding, resulting in excessive sweating. This type of sweating is due to the body's regulation of body temperature and often occurs more when the child has just fallen asleep, gradually decreasing afterward. This is completely normal because children have a high metabolic rate during childhood, higher skin moisture content, more microvascular distribution, and immature autonomic nervous system, leading to more sweating.
Pathological Sweating
Weak children often sweat in patches on the head, chest, and back during daytime activities or after falling asleep at night. This is often caused by improper feeding or poor digestion and absorption leading to malnutrition. In terms of care, attention should be paid to adjusting feeding methods, promoting the child's appetite, increasing protein, fat, and sugar intake, and, if necessary, using traditional Chinese medicine to regulate the spleen and stomach.
Children with night sweats often have a higher risk of catching a cold, but very few of them are actually physically weak. Most of them kick off their blankets while sweating during their dreams, leading to colds due to exposure to cold air. This should be distinguished from weak children with cold symptoms. Some children with night sweats do not have internal accumulation of heat, but instead have symptoms of excessive sweating, easy colds, coughs, and sensitivity to coldness even with slight exercise. For such children, it is not advisable to blindly use tonics. Instead, regulating the spleen and stomach may be more suitable.
For normal children, even if they sweat excessively, parents do not need to be overly concerned because children have well-developed sweat glands. Sweating is usually more common on the head and face but will alleviate within one or two hours after sleep. At this time, use a dry towel to wipe away sweat in a timely manner. Change the child's clothes frequently to prevent catching a cold due to excessive sweating. Make sure to bathe the child regularly and expose bedding or sleeping bags to the sun regularly to keep them dry, while also performing disinfection to kill bacteria.
