Why do babies sweat?

Many newborn babies have a characteristic, which is that they love to sweat. Speaking of sweating, many people may think it is normal, but the baby is still so young and in such a fragile stage, is it really okay for them to sweat like this? For this reason, many parents have consulted doctors, and the doctors have also given relevant explanations about the symptom of babies loving to sweat. Let’s take a look at the reasons why babies sweat a lot.

Generally speaking, babies sweat more than adults.

Sweat is secreted by the sweat glands in the skin, which are one of the important structures of the human skin for regulating body temperature. Children have active metabolism and a lot of activity, especially infants and young children, whose skin contains more water and has more microvessels on the surface of the skin, so more water evaporates from the skin. Besides, children have poor self-regulation ability for cold and heat, and they like to sweat even at night, which is normal.

My baby sweats a lot, is this normal or abnormal?

Excessive secretion of sweat glands in babies is called hyperhidrosis. There are two main reasons for baby's excessive sweating: physiological excessive sweating and pathological excessive sweating.

Normal reasons

It is mostly normal for babies to sweat excessively, which is medically called physiological hyperhidrosis. For example, the hot weather in summer causes children to sweat excessively; infants and young children sweat on their heads and necks when they just fall asleep, but the sweat decreases after they fall asleep; babies sweat a lot after playing, running and jumping, but are generally in good condition; in winter, babies wear too many clothes, the quilts are too thick at night, and the indoor air-conditioning temperature is too high, causing babies to overheat and sweat a lot. Some babies sweat only on the head and forehead, commonly known as "steamer head". This is also physiological sweating and parents do not need to worry.

Abnormal reasons

Babies sweat too much due to certain diseases, which manifests as sweating a lot when they are quiet or after falling asleep at night. The sweat can wet the pillow and clothes, which is called "pathological sweating." Such as active rickets in infants and young children, active tuberculosis in children, hypoglycemia in children, excessive dose of antipyretics and mental factors, such as excessive excitement and fear. Some babies have endocrine diseases (such as hyperthyroidism, etc.), which can also cause pathological sweating. In addition to excessive sweating, each disease also has many other disease manifestations. Parents need to take their baby to the hospital for further examinations.

How to take care of babies who sweat a lot

●If a mother finds that her baby sweats a lot, she should first look for the cause of the sweating. If it is physiological excessive sweating, the mother does not need to worry too much. Just eliminate the external factors that cause the baby's excessive sweating. In hot summer, you need to open the windows frequently and use electric fans or air conditioners if possible. Be careful not to let the wind blow directly on the baby, especially when the baby is asleep, because the pores of the skin are open and there is sweat on the body, and the baby may catch a cold easily if blown directly by the wind.

●Pay attention to your baby’s clothing and blanket. We recommend that babies wear one more piece of clothing than adults so as to train their resistance from an early age. Some mothers feel that their children's hands are cold in winter, so they try to add more clothes for their children. They wear several sweaters, cotton jackets and cotton pants, and cover their children with several quilts at night. You should know that if you dress or cover your baby too much, the baby will sweat a lot and his clothes will get wet with sweat. If you don't change them in time, the baby will use his body temperature to dry the wet clothes, which will make him catch cold easily and cause cold, fever and cough. Babies who sweat excessively may become dehydrated due to excessive water loss in their bodies.

●Parents need to replenish their babies with water in time, and it is best to feed them light salt water, because babies sweat just like adults. In addition to losing water, they also lose a certain amount of electrolytes such as sodium, chloride, and potassium. Feeding your baby with light salt water can replenish water and salts such as sodium and chloride, maintain the electrolyte balance in the body, and avoid dehydration and collapse.

The above are the reasons why babies love to sweat. I believe that most parents already have a deep understanding of this situation. Next time when their baby sweats, they can deal with this situation calmly. They no longer have to watch their baby sweat and feel anxious but helpless. But the baby is so young that sweating is always a little bad for the body. Therefore, we must help the baby clean the body in time so that the baby can have a clean summer.