Reasons why children sweat at night

If children always sweat easily when sleeping at night, many parents don't care about this phenomenon at all, and think it is normal for children. However, in reality, such symptoms may cause serious troubles to children's bodies. Such sweating may also be caused by diseases. If children are not treated in time, it is likely to affect their development. So what is the reason for children to sweat when sleeping at night?

It is common for babies to sweat during sleep, and it is not always a symptom of weakness or illness. Many parents believe that their children’s constant sweating is due to their weak constitution. In fact, a considerable number of children suffer from physiological hyperhidrosis. Physiological hyperhidrosis is more common in the head and neck, often occurring within half an hour after falling asleep, and sweating stops in about an hour.

Infants and young children have an active metabolism and are active and lively. Some of them cannot rest even after going to bed at night, so they may sweat on their heads after falling asleep. The so-called physiological hyperhidrosis refers to sweating during sleep when the child is well-developed, healthy, and has no disease. Parents are often accustomed to deciding the best environmental temperature for their children based on their own subjective feelings, and like to cover their babies with more blankets and keep them tightly covered. Because children's brain and nervous system are not yet fully developed and they are in the growth and development period, their body metabolism is very active. Coupled with the stimulation of overheating, they can only regulate normal body temperature by sweating to evaporate the heat in the body.

Pathological sweating occurs when the child is in a quiet state, such as sweating caused by rickets, which manifests as obvious sweating on the child's head in the first half of the night after falling asleep. Because the pillow is irritated by sweat, babies often shake their heads and rub against the pillow when they sleep, resulting in sparse hair and loss of hair on the pillow, forming typical annular hair loss on the pillow, which is medically known as "occipital baldness". It is an early manifestation of rickets in infants. As long as vitamin D and calcium are supplemented in time, rickets can be controlled and sweating will stop by itself.

If a child sweats not only in the first half of the night but also in the second half of the night and before dawn, it is usually a sign of illness, the most common of which is tuberculosis. Tuberculosis also has other symptoms, such as low fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, flushed cheeks, etc. Children with tuberculosis tend to sweat easily during daytime activities, which is called spontaneous sweating, and sweating at night is called night sweats. In addition to the symptoms of night sweats, there are also symptoms such as fever, weight loss, cough, etc. Blood tests show an increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate. If you suspect your child is infected with tuberculosis, a lung X-ray or a tuberculin test should be done for timely diagnosis and treatment.

If a child likes to sweat when sleeping at night, it cannot be ruled out that it is caused by these reasons. If it is really caused by these reasons, then the child must be treated according to the child's actual situation. Sweating has physiological and pathological factors. If the child has pathological factors, the child must be examined, blood tests must be done, and a Chinese medicine syndrome differentiation examination must be performed if necessary.