Many young mothers notice that their baby has wet hair, sweat drips from his forehead, while the rest of the body remains dry. It would seem that this often happens with children and adults, so special reasons for concern should not arise. In fact, this is exactly what happens in most cases. But it is worth remembering about those serious pathologies that lead to the fact that the baby sweats his head during feeding, when he sleeps or is awake. To avoid such troubles, let's clarify the situation just now.
Reasons for increased sweating
Usually every mother faces a similar problem. And often it is not a pathology, but a physiological norm. The baby sweats head strongly in a dream and during a meal due to his young age. Children come to this world already fully formed, but some of their organs and systems continue their development after the birth of the baby. This also applies to the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for thermoregulation and sweating. The little ones have sweat glands , but so far they are not working properly. Therefore, the baby can sweat under any conditions: when playing, sleeping, having lunch. Droplets on the head, oddly enough, appear when the baby freezes. From the cold, his blood vessels narrow and he sweats. A similar thing happens from the temperature difference.
It is clear that thermoregulation in a newborn is imperfect. This leads to the fact that the head is sweating strongly in the baby. The glands begin to work actively already in the third week of the baby's life. At the same time, their final development occurs only at the age of five.
Sweating as normal
The body of the little one reacts to any physical and emotional changes. Therefore, sweat appears in response to various external and internal factors. The most common causes of the phenomenon are:
- Physical activity. In infants, the head becomes wet even due to not very intense movements of the arms or legs. Therefore, if in a calm state the child is completely dry, then the mother should not worry. Drops of sweat on his hair are just the consequences of his injustice.
- Mom's breasts. Active sucking milk also leads to the fact that the baby is sweating his head. At the baby, during feeding, all forces are concentrated in order to “get” the treat. For him, this process is not as easy as it seems to us. Usually, after the meal is over, the head dries completely.
- Emotional overexcitation. Too a busy day, full of new events, leads to the fact that perspiration covers his hair and neck.
The cause may also be a banal overwork after vivid impressions and too active pastime.
Other situations when not worried
In addition to the above, there are other reasons that provoke the active production of sweat in an infant. Firstly, this is non-compliance with the temperature regime. You must admit that frightened mothers often wrap up their little ones, turning them into small “bulbs”: several outfits, a sweater, a warm jacket, and on top there is a fur jumpsuit and a couple of blankets. If an adult puts on all these clothes, he simply “floods” later. What can we say about the baby, whose body is still not able to coordinate the temperature and adapt to extreme conditions. It turns out what kind of thermal regime we will set for the newborn, so he will feel himself: to freeze or, conversely, to proceed the tenth then. Secondly, the baby can overheat, not only due to excess clothing, but also due to the high temperature in the room.
Why does a baby sweat a head? Unnatural fabrics also contribute to this. If a lot of synthetics is included in a child’s robe, his skin stops breathing - sweat appears. It also causes the intake of certain drugs. If you read the annotation of drugs, then in most cases, among the side effects, you can find the phrase about increased sweating.
Signs of the disease
In some cases, you should consult a doctor if your baby's head is sweating: during feeding, sleeping, or physical activity. Sometimes this process is a symptom of a disease: a cold, flu, or rickets. In addition, increased sweating causes hyperthyroidism, congenital heart defects, and vascular pathology. The presence of a disease is indicated by concomitant signs. With SARS, it is a runny nose, cough and fever, in case of rickets - deformation of the skeletal system, when there are heart problems - shortness of breath, blue skin.
The baby sweats and with tuberculosis. This disease is extremely rare in the first year of life, but this happens. Therefore, it is better to play it safe: consult a TB doctor and do a Mantoux test. Lymphatic diathesis is another common
cause of excessive sweating. Congenital enlargement of nodes is accompanied by marbling of the epidermis. It manifests itself in the peanuts who suffered from hypoxia during childbirth, as well as in those babies who stayed in the womb longer than expected, and as a result they suffered an anhydrous period.
Rickets - The Most Common Cause of Sweating
Detecting this disease is quite simple, as other symptoms accompany it. With rickets, not only does the baby’s head sweat during sleep and feeding, the bald spots on the back of the head are also visible with the naked eye, while the edges of the fontanel become very soft and the bone system is deformed. In a relaxed state, the peanut will have wet not only its head, but also its limbs - palms and feet. The baby will begin to abandon the chest, will often cry, be naughty, nervous.
In this case, you should immediately contact a pediatrician. Most likely, the doctor will prescribe urine and blood tests. To prevent this situation, a pregnant woman should lead a correct lifestyle for all 9 months. Indeed, an unbalanced regime of a mother often becomes that “favorable” soil on which the fetus is predisposed to rickets. The development of the disease provokes an improper nutrition of a woman, a lack of normal sleep, insufficient stay in the fresh air, as well as vitamin deficiency, smoking and alcoholism.
Treatment and prevention of rickets
If rickets has been diagnosed with a toddler , therapy should be started on the same day. Even the slightest delay is fraught with the development of terrible deformations of bone tissue, which will make the little one disabled for the rest of his life. Having found out that the baby’s head is sweating during feeding precisely because of this disease, the doctor will prescribe him treatment with vitamin D. Usually, the substance is prescribed for prevention, at the same time it is an integral part of therapy. “Aquadetrim” is often prescribed for babies: these are drops that are soluble in water, so the medicine is easy and convenient to give even to newborns. In addition, the child will be surely sent for massage and physiotherapy exercises, they will form the correct daily regimen for him.
Prevention of rickets is very simple. Firstly, this is the use of the same vitamin D. It is given to the baby from the first days of life if it was born in autumn and winter, when the sun rarely appears on the horizon. Those who were born in spring and summer are recommended to bask regularly in warm rays. Infants should also eat properly, ideally breast milk, take air baths and water procedures.
How to recognize tuberculosis?
Suppose you notice that your head sweats when you are breastfeeding, as well as when he is sleeping or awake. Responsible parents should be wary. After all, this can be a sign of a dangerous infectious disease that affects many organs. First of all - the lungs. Tuberculosis in 50% of cases is diagnosed in babies who have not been vaccinated from the disease, while their mothers are ill with an open form. This often happens in dysfunctional families. Infection occurs inside the womb or during the birth process. In most cases, a sick mother is isolated, the baby is under the supervision of a TB doctor.
But what to do if you are not sick and your relatives too. When is it worth to see a doctor? Firstly, if the child has a decreased appetite, drowsiness or excessive irritability is observed. Secondly, when he has enlarged lymph nodes, his stomach swollen. Thirdly, you have noticed skin rashes and discharge from the ear in the baby. All of these can be symptoms of tuberculosis. If the diagnosis is confirmed, the peanut will be prescribed appropriate treatment.
Lymphatic diathesis
Perhaps if the baby sweats his head in a dream, he developed this disease. It does not occur from scratch, but as a result of poor adrenal gland function, a decrease in their functions, and acute lymphatic system deficiency. Other symptoms are also characteristic of the disease: weight loss and muscle tone, on the contrary, too much baby weight, low blood pressure, skin rashes, and regular acute respiratory infections.
Already with a detailed examination in the hospital, the doctor can also detect other signs accompanying lymphatic diathesis: enlarged spleen, cardiac hypoplasia, low glucose and lymphocytes in the baby’s blood. Treatment will be focused on taking vitamins: A, C and group B, which, apparently, are not enough in the body. For this purpose, you can use ready-made complexes sold in pharmacies: "Undevit", "Aevit" and others. The child will be sent to the procedures: gymnastics and massage. In chronic diseases of the throat and respiratory tract, sanitation will be prescribed.
Prickly heat
She is not a symptom, but rather a consequence. If the baby's head sweats during sleep, then he develops sweating - a small red rash on the skin, which over time can turn into small vesicles. Usually it appears near the ears, in the neck, as well as in the groin, axillary zones, on the shoulders and under the knees. The reason is that the baby’s glands cannot cope with the load, while the small capillaries expand greatly, provoking the appearance of rashes on the epidermis.
Well, if the only consequence of sweating the baby’s head during feeding is only sweating. And the baby was not infected with dangerous diseases. In this case, it will cope with the trouble simply - it is enough to observe the hygiene of the child, bathe him in decoctions of herbs, regularly change clothes. It is also necessary to maintain the optimum temperature in the room, not to wrap up the peanut. Be carefull. After all, mom's care, her knowledge and literacy will be able to prevent the development of dangerous infections and diseases.