What is the reason why babies sweat a lot when sleeping? Common misunderstandings about babies' sleeping

It is natural for babies to sleep, but careful mothers have found that babies always sweat a lot when they sleep. Why is this? Is the baby sick? Common misunderstandings about baby sleep, have you fallen into these traps?

Reasons why babies sweat a lot when sleeping

The baby is in a stage of rapid growth and has an active metabolism. He needs to dissipate body heat through sweating. In addition, the baby's autonomic nervous system is not fully developed. When the baby just falls asleep, the sympathetic nerves will lose control of the brain, resulting in excessive sweating on the head, neck or back. This is a normal physiological phenomenon.

This kind of sweating often occurs within half an hour after the baby falls asleep, and the sweating parts are mostly concentrated on the head. Generally, it will slowly stop within 2 hours after falling asleep and gradually disappear with the age. This situation is medically called "physiological hyperhidrosis". In addition, if the room temperature is too high, the baby is over-warmed, or drinks high-calorie foods such as milk before going to bed, this will also dissipate heat through sweating, which is also physiological hyperhidrosis.

It is worth noting that if the baby sweats profusely while sleeping, or even sweats all night, and is accompanied by symptoms such as listlessness, loss of appetite, and restless sleep, this means that there is something wrong with the baby's body and it is pathological hyperhidrosis. At this time, parents should take the baby to the hospital for relevant examinations, and must not take the initiative to give the baby heat-clearing medicine or blindly supplement.

How can parents judge whether the baby's sweating is abnormal?

If a child sweats when entering deep sleep instead of when he or she first falls asleep, it is related to many factors, including: suffering from a certain disease, taking medication, or suffering from tuberculosis. If a child has tuberculosis, he or she will experience night sweats, but currently all children in my country have been vaccinated against tuberculosis, so the disease is rare in children. Basically, it is caused by older children with poorer physical constitutions who are infected by the outside world.

Some children sweat a lot because their sweat glands are well developed. Do these children have any disease problems? Medically speaking, if a child sweats a lot and there are no other adverse changes, such as poor growth and development or abnormal mental state, we will treat the child as a disease.

There are five situations in which children have physiological hyperhidrosis

It is common for babies to sweat during sleep, which is not always a symptom of physical weakness or illness. Many parents think that their children are physically weak and therefore sweat constantly. In fact, a considerable number of children have physiological hyperhidrosis. Physiological hyperhidrosis is more common in the head and neck, often occurs within half an hour after falling asleep, and stops sweating in about an hour.

Infants and young children have a high metabolism and are active. Some children cannot rest even after going to bed at night, so they may sweat on their heads after falling asleep. Physiological hyperhidrosis refers to sweating during sleep when the child is well developed and healthy without any disease. Parents are often accustomed to deciding the best environmental temperature for their children based on their own subjective feelings. They like to cover their babies with more blankets and cover them tightly. Because the brain and nervous system of children are not fully developed and they are in the growth and development period, their metabolism is very high. Coupled with the stimulation of overheating, they can only regulate their normal body temperature by sweating to evaporate the heat in their bodies.

Some active children have a lot of exercise during the day, which generates a lot of heat. The body is unable to dissipate the excess heat through sweating, so the heat accumulates in the baby's body, and the baby's body temperature can reach around 38°C at night. After the baby falls asleep, the heat generated decreases, the sensitivity of the sympathetic nerves decreases, and the body dissipates excess heat through sweating to maintain a normal body temperature.

In addition, drinking milk, malted milk or eating chocolate before going to bed can also cause sweating in children. Some parents give their children milk, malted milk, etc. before going to bed. After the child falls asleep, the body produces a lot of heat, which is mainly dissipated through sweating on the skin. In addition, too high room temperature or excessive warmth can also cause sweating in children during sleep, which are all physiological sweating.

In the hot summer, the bedroom is poorly ventilated, and babies are more likely to sweat. This kind of sweating is called "physiological sweating" in medicine. It usually occurs when you just fall asleep in the first half of the night, and the sweat gradually subsides after deep sleep. Parents do not need to worry too much about physiological sweating. This is just a physiological phenomenon in the baby's growth process. As the baby grows older, this phenomenon will gradually decrease.

Baby sleeping mistakes

1. "It doesn't matter what time your baby goes to sleep, as long as he gets enough sleep."

Sufficient sleep time is very important for the growth and development of babies, because during sleep, the endocrine system releases 3 times more growth hormone than usual. However, the quality of your baby's sleep is also very important. The proportion of deep sleep and light sleep will change depending on the time you fall asleep. The later you fall asleep, the more light sleep you have and the less deep sleep you have. Deep sleep is directly related to the growth and development of your baby, because growth hormone is mainly secreted during deep sleep. Light sleep is more closely related to the development of your baby's memory. So, try to let your "little night owl" fall asleep early.

2. "If the baby's sleep time does not meet the standard, it will definitely affect growth and development."

In fact, although babies of every age group have their specific sleep needs, there are also individual differences between babies. For example, some babies' temperament type determines that they may sleep less.

In principle, as long as the baby is in good spirits, has a normal appetite, has no digestive problems, and is gaining weight well, it is fine. But if it deviates too much, for example, a newborn needs to sleep 16 to 18 hours a day, but your baby only sleeps 12 hours, you may need to consult a doctor to monitor the baby's growth and development.

3. "You must let your baby develop a good habit of taking a nap."

For babies over 3 years old, they are very energetic during the day. Playing and constant activities can consume their energy and ensure that they sleep well at night. As long as the baby has enough sleep time at night and the quality of sleep is good, it can meet his growth and development needs. Therefore, if the baby does not need to take a nap, parents do not have to force it.

4. "Holding your baby while sleeping will give him a sense of security and help him fall asleep faster."

Holding your baby to sleep can indeed give your baby a sense of security, but it can also make your baby dependent. When your baby grows up, it may be difficult for us to change this. This dependence will also prolong the baby's sleep time and easily cause difficulty falling asleep. Moreover, when the baby wakes up at night, if the parents cannot give him the corresponding comfort in time, it will be difficult for him to fall asleep again. This will have an adverse effect on cultivating the baby's habit of falling asleep independently and forming a natural transition between deep sleep and light sleep at night. It is recommended that you start from now on and slowly let your baby sleep in the crib to gradually cultivate the ability to fall asleep independently.

5. "Gently patting your baby when he moves can help him fall back asleep."

The baby's sleep is divided into two states: deep sleep and light sleep. For babies, especially newborns, deep sleep and light sleep basically account for 50% each, and they are constantly alternating. In deep sleep, the baby is in a completely resting state, with no other activities except occasional startles and very slight mouth movements; in light sleep, the baby's arms, legs and entire body often move, and the face may make funny faces, frown, smile, etc. These are all normal manifestations of light sleep.

Therefore, if the baby sobs or moves gently, do not rush to pat him, hold him or feed him. First observe him by the bed to see if he can continue to sleep. Otherwise, too much intervention will artificially interrupt the natural alternation of deep sleep and light sleep of the baby and destroy the baby's sleep pattern. If the baby shows more symptoms such as crying, we will deal with it.

6. "Snoring means the baby is sleeping soundly."

Occasional snoring in babies may be caused by a cold. After the cold is cured, the snoring symptoms will disappear. But if the baby snores for a long time, it may be due to enlarged adenoids, enlarged tonsils or other reasons, which affect the ventilation of the nasopharynx. At this time, some babies will also have nasal congestion and mouth breathing when awake. Over time, it will cause certain harm to the baby's brain development. If your baby does snore and breathes with his mouth open during sleep, it is best to take him to the ENT department of the hospital for a check-up.

7. "When the child is young, there is no need to emphasize his sleeping habits. Just wait until two or three months before entering kindergarten to adjust them."

In fact, 0 to 1 year old is the critical period for the formation of a baby's sleep behavior. The 24-hour circadian rhythm is generally established within 1 year old. However, many parents only think of adjusting their children's sleep habits when they have to go to work and their babies have to go to kindergarten. Once a baby's sleep habits are formed, it is a bit difficult to correct them. Therefore, it is best to consciously cultivate good sleep habits for the baby when he is four or five months old.