What does cold sweat mean in children?

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 12:45

Cold sweat in children may indicate that the child is sick. Such a symptom should not be overlooked. Perhaps this is the first bell that you should pay attention to and immediately visit a doctor. The therapist must prescribe a general blood and urine test, and only after that the picture will become more understandable. Perhaps this is due to age-related changes taking place in the child's body. We will talk about all this in the article.

Why can a baby sweat?

Cold sweats in children can be caused by natural environmental factors. Among them are the following:

1. High room or outdoor temperature.
2. Bed too soft to sleep in.
3. The child is warmly dressed.
4. The baby is very active.

In all these cases there will be active sweating. To prevent this from happening, you just need to eliminate the causes:

1. Always ventilate the room. The temperature should be no more than + 18-20 ° С.
2. For sleep, use orthopedic mattresses. Forget feather pillows.
3. Dress your child according to the weather. Remember: children are more active than adults, they are constantly on the move.

Before running to the doctor with a question about why a child has a cold sweat, it is important for parents to familiarize themselves with the above information. Perhaps the reason lies in natural factors.

Worth noticing

If all the factors described above are eliminated, and the child is still thrown into a cold sweat, this may indicate a serious illness and the presence of an infection. There are a number of diseases that provoke sweating. Among them are:

1. Rickets is a disease in which there is a violation of the musculoskeletal system against the background of a lack of vitamin D. It is quite rare in our regions, since there is no lack of ultraviolet rays. As a rule, premature babies suffer from it.
2. Metabolic disorders. In addition to sweating, there will be drastic weight loss or gain.
3. Problem in the endocrine system (thyroid disease).
4. Viral diseases. Associated symptoms - fever, cough, vomiting, diarrhea.
5. Problems with the cardiovascular system. In this case, ECG and ultrasound are indispensable.

As you can see, if a child has a cold sweat, the reasons can be quite serious. Don't delay your visit to the doctorplay it safe and be sure that the baby is all right.

Sweating in babies

Separately, you need to raise the topic related to babies. In relation to newborns, the expression "a child in a cold sweat" is quite acceptable. This is how the body regulates body temperature. It is not for nothing that doctors recommend putting on a cap, booties and armlets for the child in the first weeks. No matter how high the temperature is outside or in the apartment, the heat exchange of the crumbs does not yet work at 100%. The body only adapts to the conditions of the external environment.

Many mothers sound the alarm when a baby sweats while feeding. Remember: the baby does not just eat, but makes every effort to get milk from the breast. For him, this is hard work, so in this case, sweating is considered the norm.

But if there are accompanying symptoms, such as coughing, runny nose, sneezing, you need to see a doctor. Perhaps the baby is diagnosed with an allergy. Unfortunately, this is a fairly common occurrence these days. The immunity of children is weak due to the environment.

Another reason could be teething. Everything is very simple: there is an inflammatory process in the body, the baby experiences unpleasant, painful sensations, he begins to sweat.

Don't delay the visit to the doctor

If a child wakes up in a cold sweat, it is not always necessary to rush to the doctor, perhaps he is corny hot or had a bad dream. But there are situations when the advice of a specialist does not hurt:

• Sweat smells like ammonia or vinegar.
• Sweating is uneven.
• Baby has low body temperature all day long.
• There is a cough or sore throat, runny nose.
• Clear liquid or pus comes out of the eyes.
• Appetite has dropped sharply.
• Sleep broken.

First, you should consult a therapist, and after passing the tests, you may need to consult a neurologist.

Endocrinologist to help you

Very often, cold sweat in children may indicate a violation of the thyroid gland. Symptoms are as follows:

• The sweat is sticky.
• There is a smell of ammonia.
• Sweating occurs even at rest.
• Baby shudders while sleeping.
• Baby taking antibiotics or other medications.

In this case, you can immediately contact an endocrinologist.

When there's no time to waste

There are situations when cold sweat in a child may indicate a serious malfunction occurring in the body. Then there is no time to wait, you need to urgently call an ambulance. This should be done when, in addition to sweating, the following clinical picture is observed:

• Baby has weak breathing.
• Body temperature dropped below 35 degrees.
• There is a strong cough.
• Child faints.
• The limbs and lips of the crumbs become bluish.

Remember that every minute counts in these situations.

Very often, these symptoms can occur after a viral or infectious disease. They may indicate disorders in the work of the heart, nervous system, thyroid gland. The situation needs to be corrected immediately.

In these cases, you need to be prepared for the fact that the doctor will put the child in a hospital for a complete examination. It is especially worth listening to parents of children under one year old. The baby's body only adapts to the outside world, the immune system does not work well. All diseases are transient. In just a few hours, bronchitis can develop into pneumonia, in which cold sweat is one of the main symptoms.

We pass the necessary tests

After contacting a specialist, the following tests will be prescribed:

1. Complete blood count. It's better to make it expanded. Necessarily on an empty stomach, only in this case the result will be informative.
2. Urine analysis.
3. If the doctor suspects abnormalities in the nervous system, you will have to do an ultrasound of the brain and cervical spine. Manipulations are completely painless. If the fontanel is not prolonged in the child, ultrasound is done through it.
4. Testing for the presence of enough vitamin D in the blood.
5. Glucose tolerance test. It shows blood sugar levels, diagnoses hypoglycemia.

6. Examination of lymph nodes.

   

If no abnormalities were found in the analyzes and studies, it is possible that the baby is hereditary. In this case, the doctor will prescribe a course of vitamins, massage. This will help reduce sweating.

Do not be afraid of specialists, the doctor is interested in understanding the cause and curing the disease. Cold sweats are common in children. Many parents immediately begin to sound the alarm. And they do it in vain. After all, the reasons may lie in uncomfortable conditions created for the child (high temperature in the bedroom, hot downy feather bed and much more).