What Causes Night Sweats in Children?

When a child experiences night sweats, it is important for the family to take note and distinguish between physiological and pathological night sweats. When a child has night sweats, there may be some symptoms such as crying, poor appetite, etc. Especially when the child sweats during sleep at night, it is likely due to night sweats. However, there may be other reasons such as calcium deficiency, malnutrition, etc. Let's understand more about this topic.

Improper Feeding and Care

Weak-bodied babies often sweat in patches on their heads, chests, and backs during daytime activities or after falling asleep at night. This is often caused by improper feeding or poor digestion and absorption. Additionally, dressing the baby too warmly or using thick blankets can also cause excessive sweating. Therefore, it is not advisable to overfeed the baby at night, and clothing and bedding should be appropriate. For physiological night sweats, drug treatment is generally not recommended, but measures should be taken to remove factors that cause hyperthermia in daily life. For example, if the baby's activity level before bed is too high or eats high-calorie foods that lead to night sweating, the activity level and food intake before bedtime should be controlled. This is also beneficial for sleep, controlling obesity, and promoting the baby's physical and mental health. The bedroom temperature in winter should be maintained at around 24℃-28℃; the thickness of the blanket should be adjusted according to the temperature.

Calcium Deficiency

Calcium deficiency is manifested as significant sweating on the head in the first half of the night after falling asleep. Stimulated by sweat, babies often shake their heads while sleeping, rubbing against the pillow, resulting in sparse and falling hair on the occipital region, forming a typical "pillow baldness". It is necessary to promptly supplement vitamin D and calcium. If night sweats are accompanied by pillow baldness, delayed closure of the fontanel, X-shaped legs, and beaded ribs, it is likely due to low blood calcium levels, which is more common in children under 3 years old.

Illness

In the later stages of illness, anemia, hyperthyroidism, and other conditions in babies often lead to night sweats due to weak physical constitution and dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. Additionally, there are other conditions that can cause night sweats: