Baby has a hot head: reasons. Features of thermoregulation in young children

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

What to do if the baby has a hot head? How dangerous is this condition of the child and is it dangerous at all? This question often haunts young parents, so now we will try to give an exhaustive answer to it. And also find out what are the features of thermoregulation in young children, and how this process differs in babies and adults.

How is thermoregulation in newborns?

In both children and adults, body temperature is regulated by the hypothalamus, a special department located in the diencephalon. But at the same time, the endocrine and nervous systems play an equally important role in this process. So, the thyroid gland, adrenal glands and pituitary gland directly affect the production of heat by the body. In general, thermoregulation is a complex of chemical and physical processes that give a person the opportunity, if necessary, to increase or, conversely, reduce heat production.

Muscles and digestive organs help the body to “warm up”, in particular, the liver. This mechanism is moreIt is the chemical processes of thermoregulation that are involved, which, as studies show, are quite well developed in newborn babies. On the contrary, the vascular system is responsible for heat transfer, as well as sweating. Due to their special physiology and insufficient development of the skin, it is harder for children to cool themselves. That is why the baby has a hot head without fever is a normal condition. This, as a rule, is not associated with malfunctions in the body; the cause of this condition is most often banal overheating.

From the moment of its birth, however, a child can cope with the challenges that the environment throws at him. In the womb, he was in the waters, the temperature of which is close to 38 degrees, therefore, when he is born, he experiences a shock, because he gets to a place where it is 10-14 degrees colder. Brown adipose tissue helps him cope with such a temperature drop, it begins to form in the fetus at about the 26th week of pregnancy and accumulates in the body until the very birth. The baby will use it to keep warm for about the entire first year of his life.

Premature babies do not have as much brown fat as babies born at term, so they have much worse thermoregulation. The second feature of babies is that their muscles do not contract during heat production. That is, if the child does not shiver in the cold, this does not mean that he is not cold. To determine this, it is better to feel the child. If the baby has a hot head, it means that he is hot,and cool skin may indicate hypothermia.

When do newborns stabilize thermoregulation?

The first week of life for a newborn baby is marked by strong fluctuations in body temperature. Immediately after birth, a he althy child has a fairly high body temperature - 37.7-38.2 degrees. Accordingly, the baby has a hot head, and not just the torso. But already after three hours, the temperature drops, and quite strongly - to 35.2 degrees, after which it gradually stabilizes and stays at 36.2 degrees in the first three days of life.

After discharge from the hospital, many mothers notice that the baby has a temperature of 37.2 plus or minus a few tenths of a degree, but at the same time he feels good - he eats normally, sleeps, and is not naughty. In the first two months of life, such hyperthermia is considered normal, it is associated with the underdevelopment of the thermoregulation of the child. You need to be wary if, in addition to fever, other symptoms are observed: the baby has a sweaty head, he is restless, does not go to the toilet well, eats little.

From about half a year in full-term babies, the temperature begins to normalize, they have the processes of heat production and heat transfer, but they will not end so soon - only after a year, and in premature babies it is delayed for another 2-3 months. Toddlers can overheat at an older age, so they should always be dressed “for the weather.”

Temperature features of differentbody regions in children

Also often, mothers notice that the baby has a hot head, while the hands and feet are completely cold. In such cases, the child urgently needs to measure the temperature, and if its increase is recorded, it means that there is a serious inflammatory process in the body with a high degree of probability. Due to vasospasm, the body cannot lose heat through the skin of the palms and feet, and accumulates it inside the body, causing the temperature to rise more and more.

This condition is extremely dangerous for babies and requires immediate medical attention. In general, studies by doctors have shown that on the surface of different parts of the child's body, the temperature, as a rule, is different. This is due to the fact that in some places there are more blood vessels. So, in the central part of the body the temperature is higher, and on the periphery - lower. At the same time, the toes are the coldest (in newborns 31.7 degrees). Having felt the baby, parents may notice that the baby has a hot head in the temple area without fever, and the forehead is cool. This is absolutely normal and is connected with the same uneven coverage of the vessels of the skin.

Normal temperature for children under one year old

A slight "warming" of the body in a newborn is quite normal. As we have already said, if the temperature of the baby fluctuates between 36.5–37.5 degrees, this is quite natural and acceptable. During sleep, the child may get a little excited, so putting a thermometer on him awake does not make sense. This temperature measurementbody will be uninformative, because it will most likely show hyperthermia, which will pass by itself after about half an hour. Also, the baby can become hot if it is not dressed properly, using a lot of clothes or things made of synthetic fabrics. When the temperature rises, you can try to undress the baby and if the situation stabilizes, then this is not a disease, but overheating.

Is a hot head in a baby a symptom of a disease or a norm?

In itself, an increase in temperature in the head area does not mean anything. It can become a symptom only along with other characteristic signs of diseases:

• restlessness;
• bad dream;
• poor appetite;
• urinary retention and constipation or vice versa, diarrhea;
• frequent causeless crying.

These symptoms may indicate infectious or neurological disorders.

Child's head sweat

Often, parents ask pediatricians why the baby's head sweats. According to a number of experts, this is due to a deficiency of vitamin D in the body and rickets, but not all doctors adhere to this point of view. To confirm this diagnosis, you need to consult a neurologist and an orthopedist, as well as donate blood for biochemistry.

Another likely cause of head sweating is the underdevelopment of the sweat glands, overexcitation, the use of synthetic clothing and downy bedding, intensive sucking (this makes the child tired, sucking forbaby - a serious physical activity).

How to cool down a baby?

Before you engage in "knocking down" the temperature, you need to find out the reason for its increase. To do this, you need to understand why the baby has a hot head and other parts of the body. If it is a disease, then it must be treated under the guidance of a competent medical officer.

If the fact is that the baby is overheated, you need to do everything possible to remove the factors contributing to his hyperthermia. To begin with, the child should be undressed, you can wipe his hands, feet and head a little with a damp cloth. This will ensure that the fever will go away faster and the temperature will return to normal. It is also very important to maintain a normal microclimate in the room where the newborn is most of the time. Although he is accustomed to warmth while in the womb, after birth he does not need to be grown like a greenhouse plant in a hot and stuffy room. It is more correct to maintain the temperature at a level of 22-24 degrees and not higher, and air humidity - from 40 to 60%.

Where in the head should a child's fever be checked?

Many parents, kissing their child on the forehead, check if he has a fever. This method of temperature rise control is truly generational proven. But you need to understand that by touching this part of the head, you can only determine whether the baby has a fever at all, but this method will never give an accurate result. In addition, it is important not to “miss” when making such a diagnosis and not to kissthe baby in the temple, where, in principle, the skin is much warmer, and it may seem that the baby has a temperature of 37 degrees or even higher.