sweaty baby - should I be concerned?

[magnoliaparadise]

Hi,

My 10 month old is a sweaty baby. Sweaty at night, but also in the early evenings and sometimes during the day. It's not because it's summer - it doesn't matter what the temperature is. She is best when left without clothes. She also sweats when sleeping (and never wants layers ever then).

I just did a middle of the night dr. google search (always a risky prospect) and now I'm a bit concerned. It turns out sweat can be normal, but also be a symptom or a heart or sleep apnea condition. Or a sweat gland condition in particular.

Also, my kid is petite - started out at 85-90% height/weight and has continually dropped on the curve and has not yet stopped dropping. That is a separate matter that I'm looking into with my ped. But now I'm wondering if these two things could be related?

In all other ways, my kid seems very normal - very active, crawling so fast I sometimes have to run after her, trying to walk, climbs stairs, babbles a huge amount, is very social and smiley and happy (except when in the car).

I'm sure it's nothing, but would love your thoughts and experiences of sweaty babies...

[viba424]

I have no authority to comment on weight curves, etc but in terms of the sweating issue, DD has always been a sweater, particularly on her head. She has a hot head during the day and has big time sweaty head at night and she has her whole life and she is healthy so I personally wouldn't worry about that part. However in your case, I think the weight issue is something you need to address with your doctor. However if she started out at 90th percentile, thats pretty high so maybe there is some averaging out. Its not like shes in the 10th percentile or something.

[lizzywednesday]

"Excessive" sweating can be a symptom of a heart issue - which is what they told us when DD was discharged and she DOES have a heart defect.

She is also a VERY sweaty kid, no matter what I do. Some kids just are.

What I would also look for, if you're concerned about heart issues, is blue-tinged skin/lips, trouble breathing and fatigue while feeding (assuming still nursing/bottle feeding) ... if she hasn't got any of that, I'd relax a bit.

If you're still worried, you can always ask her pediatrician at her 12-month well-check to give an extra listen for a murmur because you were concerned about how much she sweats.

[magnoliaparadise]

Thanks for your posts. I happened to talk to my ped about my older daughter and mentioned the sweaty baby issue. She said that we should do blood tests and it's likely nothing, but always good to check things. She said that in rare cases, slow growth and sweatiness reflects hyperthyroidism.
Thanks.

[Melaine]

I just searched this because I have noticed DS, 3 months gets a bit sweaty while nursing or sleeping over the last couple days. We have the AC on and he is just in his diaper but still a tiny bit "sticky" feeling, especially his head. Does that sound normal?

[lizzywednesday]

I just searched this because I have noticed DS, 3 months gets a bit sweaty while nursing or sleeping over the last couple days. We have the AC on and he is just in his diaper but still a tiny bit "sticky" feeling, especially his head. Does that sound normal?

Sounds perfectly normal for the type of weather we're having lately, especially if it's humid where you are.

The A/C isn't always able to remove the moisture from the air, so Baby may feel sticky due to external humidity.

A sweaty head is OK, too. My nephews, who are perfectly normal otherwise, had sweaty heads as infants.

I wouldn't worry UNLESS he also shows difficulty breathing, fatigues easily while feeding and/or a blue-ish tinge to his lips & fingers. If any of that's happening, I would head to the ER.

[brittone2]

I just searched this because I have noticed DS, 3 months gets a bit sweaty while nursing or sleeping over the last couple days. We have the AC on and he is just in his diaper but still a tiny bit "sticky" feeling, especially his head. Does that sound normal?
I can't tell you if it is normal for your kid, but all 3 of mine have been sweaters when they sleep.

I dressed them fairly lightly even in winter. When we coslept, it was even lighter, because all of the body heat added to their sweating.

[bandgsmama]

i hope the blood tests determined if there was an issue or not. we just had that done with my ds (he's now 6) & everything came back ok. he sweats so much, i have had to check & make sure he didn't have an accident at night. when we co-sleep, i have to change my shirt because it is soaking wet. apparently, he's just a sweater!