In the clinic, I always meet several mothers who are troubled by the baby’s sweating problem:
My baby is easy to sweat, especially on the head. When he sleeps, he sweats profusely, like washing his head. Sometimes his back clothes and bed sheets will be wet. Is this calcium deficiency or body weakness? Do you need to supplement calcium and zinc from what?
I believe there are not many mothers who have similar doubts. Let’s talk about the problem of baby sweating.
Is the baby sweaty?
The vast majority of babies with simple sweat are normal. Baoma should not worry too much and do not need all kinds of supplements.
1. Baby’s Special Physiological Conditions
The baby is in the growth and development period, with vigorous metabolism, lively and active. It is normal to sweat a lot.
Newborn babies, especially premature infants, sweat gland development is not perfect, so sweat is rare in the first few weeks or months. With the perfection of sweat gland development and the increase of activity, baby sweat will also increase, especially after eating, jumping and frolicking.
For children under the age of eight, especially those under the age of three, sweating often occurs in the first few hours after sleep, which may be related to the imperfect development of the nervous system. As they grow older and develop well, the excessive sweating will gradually improve and disappear.
2. Food-induced thermal effects
During a period of time after eating, even in the quiet state of sleep, the body’s heat production will increase, causing sweating. Moreover, this phenomenon will be more obvious after eating high protein foods, such as milk and milk powder.
If the baby falls asleep after eating milk or after eating, the phenomenon of sweating after sleeping will be more obvious.
Is it normal for babies to sweat more? Don’t worry?
Of course not, the wrong habit of taking babies and some diseases will also lead to excessive sweat.
1. Wear and cover too much for the baby.
Most of the time, parents of the older generation are always worried that their children will get cold, so they wrap their children like zongzi. In fact, babies are more afraid of heat than cold.
When sleeping, wearing too much, covering too much or keeping too much warmth in clothes will easily lead to excessive sweat in the baby.
2. Diseases that may require [calcium supplement]
When the baby sweats more, many mothers will think of calcium deficiency and rickets. Yes, rickets babies will sweat more, but there will not be only one symptom of sweat more.
In addition to excessive sweat, rickets babies often suffer from night terrors, night cries, dysphoria, square skull, chest deformities, O-shaped legs or X-shaped legs and other symptoms.
If rickets is diagnosed, it may indeed require [calcium] supplement. However, most rickets are caused by vitamin D deficiency, which is mainly vitamin D, and calcium can be taken from milk, formula milk, bean products and other diets. Calcium supplements are generally not required unless the child has hypocalcemia, severe rickets or malnutrition.
3. Legend of [body weakness]
The concept of “body weakness” has been used up. Poor sleep is body weakness, emaciation is body weakness, frequent colds are body weakness, easy diarrhea is body weakness… In the end, we only know [body weakness], and we cannot further determine the cause of excessive sweat and provide accurate solutions.
However, babies suffering from hypoxic congenital heart disease and serious illness will be weaker and will sweat more at this time. However, the sweat caused by these reasons is often manifested as sweating all night long and sweating profusely with a little activity during the day.
It is not advisable to think that [the baby’s body is weak and needs to be supplemented] simply because of excessive sweat.
In addition to the above diseases, hypoglycemia, diabetes, tuberculosis, malaria, systemic lupus erythematosus, hyperthyroidism, lead poisoning, etc. may all lead to excessive sweat in babies. However, the excessive sweat caused by these diseases is not just excessive sweat, but usually there are other abnormalities.
Therefore, if the baby is found to be sweaty and has other abnormalities, the baby should be taken to the hospital in time.
Doing a good job in nursing is more important than making up for it.
Simple hyperhidrosis is usually normal and will not affect the normal growth and development of the baby. However, too much sweat may make the baby feel uncomfortable and bring some troubles to Baoma, so there are some small details that need to be paid attention to.
STEP 1 Don’t get too excited before going to bed
Baby’s nervous system development is not yet perfect. If you play too excited before going to bed, although the body has calmed down after falling asleep, but sympathetic nerve is still in an excited state, it is easy to sweat.
2. Pay attention to baby’s clothes and bedding
Babies should wear pure cotton clothes with good air permeability and strong water absorption. Babies with high sweat should often change to sweat-absorbing towels.
If the bed sheets and bedding are often wet, they should also be changed frequently to provide a comfortable sleep environment for the baby and reduce the breeding of mites.
3. Take a bath frequently and stay dry.
Sweat has certain irritation and peculiar smell, and accumulates in skin folds such as neck and armpit, which will make local skin moist and erosive and easy to secondary bacterial infection.
Therefore, sweaty babies need to bathe or wipe frequently to keep their skin clean and dry and avoid infection. Toilet powder is not recommended after bathing, improper use may cause sweat gland blockage.
Step 4 Ensure adequate water intake
Sweating is a natural physiological phenomenon and will not affect the growth and development of the baby. Sweating can help maintain normal body temperature and balance of water and salt metabolism.
Sweat contains a small amount of sodium chloride (salt). If the baby sweats more, the intake of water and salt can be appropriately increased.