You know as a mother that an uninterrupted sleep is important for your child to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, even after a long day at work you cuddle, sing or read your kid to sleep. What happens if your child appears to be distressed during his sleep, possibly breaking out in night sweats? Are you losing sleep just to watch your child sleep peacefully? Is your child sweating excessively at night but no fever? Night sweating is common in children of all ages.
What Are Night Sweats In Children?
A night sweat, as the name suggests, is a condition where you may notice excessive sweating in children at night. Do not worry about your child’s night sweating as it is quite common in young children and is usually a direct result of the environmental conditions.
Children spend more time in deep sleep than adults do. In addition, their body temperature regulation systems are not mature that means they have a higher proportion of sweat glands as compared to their body size.
Causes Of Night Sweats In Children:
Climatic conditions may be primarily responsible for night sweat in children, but it may be a result of other factors too. Sometimes your child may have excessive sweating without any medical condition, which is referred as primary focal hyperhidrosis. The most common areas of this excessive sweating are the feet, hands, underarms, and face or head. The other possible reasons for your child sweating excessively at night are:
- Using too many or too warm bedclothes
- Warm nightclothes
- Warm room temperature
- Closed windows and lack of fresh air in the bedroom
- Infection
- Side effect of medications that your child may be taking
- Nightmares or excess dreaming
- Weight issues
- Eating spicy or rich food, especially close to bedtime
- Frequent change in temperature, from non AC environment to AC or otherwise
- Fever
- Sleep apnea
- Snoring or any other sleep related issue
- Breathing problem
- Blocked nose or cold and cough
- Stress or anxiety
Symptoms Of Child Excessive Sweating At Night:
Even though your child may be simply sweating, you need to keep a watch over your child’s night routine to check if it is excessive. Your baby may not be comfortable when he/she sweats at night. You need to watch out for these following symptoms:
- Gasping
- Irregular breathing
- Excessive fatigue through the day
- Sleeping with the mouth open
If your child is showing one or more of the above symptoms, schedule an appointment with your child’s doctor. Sharing your concern with the doctor will help you rule out unnecessary doubts. The doctor can initiate any medical treatment to cure your kid sweating at night if required.
How To Help Your Child Avoid Night Sweating:
Night sweating is more or less common in children and usually goes away as your child grows. Even though it is a normal occurrence, you should not ignore the same if it continues for too long. If you are worried that it may be too exhaustive for your little one you may try and do a few things listed below that will help your child:
- Maintain a comfortable temperature in your child’s room throughout the night
- Avoid giving spicy foods or foods that may increase your child’s body temperature for dinner Maintain a gap between dinner and bedtime
- Encourage your child to go regularly for night walks before bedtime
- Ensure your child’s bedtime clothes are light and breathable
- Avoid using heavy bedtime accessories like blankets and comforters unless necessary
- Talk to your child regularly to know of any fear or worry that may be causing stress
- Get your child regularly examined by a doctor to eliminate any medical issues
- If you feel any particular medication your child takes may be causing night sweat, speak to your child’s doctor for a possible change
It is natural for you to worry about your child’s disturbed sleep pattern and sweating. Follow the above tips to ensure your child can sleep peacefully. If nothing works, do have a word with your child’s doctor.
Source: https://www.momjunction.com
