Is newborn sweat normal?

Newborn sweat can come from many causes, such as overheating, incomplete nervous system, congenital heart disease ...

You watch your baby fall asleep like a lovely little angel. Suddenly you find your baby's head is sweaty and this situation lasts for many days. This can make you anxious for fear of your child having a medical condition. In fact, most babies experience sleeplessness. Here,  aFamilyToday Health will help you better understand this situation.

Causes babies to sweat their heads

The good news for you is that in most cases, babies who sweat their heads are really nothing to worry about. Some specific causes include:

The nervous system is incomplete

The nervous system is a complex network of nerves and cells. They are responsible for carrying messages from the brain, spinal cord to other parts of the body and vice versa. The nervous system also controls body temperature.

However, the newborn's nervous system is still not fully developed after the baby is born. Therefore, this organ cannot regulate the baby's body temperature like adults, thereby causing babies to sweat their heads.

Location of sweat glands

For adults, the sweat glands are not restricted to one part of the body. But babies are different, they don't have many sweat glands in their armpits, and the most active sweat glands are on their heads. This causes babies to sweat early when sleeping due to lack of ventilation or little movement.

Due to being breastfed

While breastfeeding, keep your baby's head constantly in the same position for the best possible feeding . At that time, your arm will continuously transmit warmth to the baby, thereby causing the baby to sweat his head.

Room temperature is too hot

It is easy to sweat when you feel too hot. Likewise, infants sweat their heads due to their rather high body or room temperature. Some parents like to let babies wear thick clothes that cover the body from head to toe. Furthermore, they put extra blankets on the blanket, which made me feel hot, sweaty instead of warm.

If you are in this habit, stop and let your child wear clothes that are cool, sweat absorbent and not too thick. If you are afraid of the cold, you can add a thin blanket. While your baby is sleeping, you should check to see if your baby is sweating his head. If your child is lying in an air-conditioned room, adjust the room temperature to about 26 - 27 ° C and do not aim directly at the baby.

When is an infant's head sweat unusual?

Although your baby's first sweat when sleeping is usually nothing to worry about, there are a few conditions you should pay attention to to prevent bad situations from happening:

Congenital heart problem

In addition to the first signs of sweating when sleeping, you can also see your baby sweating too much during simple activities such as breastfeeding. At this point, you should take your child to see the pediatrician, as this could be a symptom of congenital heart disease . This disease is the result of defect development of the heart in the fetus. Babies with this disease often sweat more than other babies because the heart has to work so hard to complete its pumping job.

Increased secretion of sweat glands

If you find that even in a cold, air-conditioned room your baby is still sweating profusely, he may experience an increase in sweat gland secretion . Increased sweat gland secretion involves an infant's sweating excessively, which is necessary for maintaining a normal body temperature.

In addition, this phenomenon is very common for people who sweat their hands and feet. This is not a special problem that requires drug treatment. When your baby grows up, you can teach your child how to control the sweat glands (use deodorant rollers, sweat absorbent clothes ...) to avoid affecting daily activities.

Sleep apnea

Sleep apnea is another reason babies sweat. This condition is more common in premature babies, and is associated with bluish skin color, wheezing and apnea for up to 20 seconds, which in turn makes your baby very uncomfortable.

Sudden death in a newborn

Many parents often overlook the danger of letting their baby get too hot. However, this can cause your baby to fall asleep and make it difficult to wake up, leading to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) .

Some other situation

While infant sweat is quite common and is not a cause for concern, if you sweat too much, you shouldn't take it lightly. Head sweating can also be a sign of a problem with the nervous system, respiratory system, overactive thyroid, or a genetic disorder.

If in doubt, you should be careful and check your child's condition. The conditions mentioned above are very rare. So, don't panic if you see your babies sweat your head.