Does your infant or toddler have really sweaty feet? My almost 1 year old niece Patricia too, her feet are always clammy. Sometimes they are hot, sometimes cold, but always clammy.
In some kids there’s so much perspiration that socks become soaking wet and their feet leave wet patches on their crib mattress.
It may seem like your little girl or boy’s feet have been under a running tap.
On smooth surfaced floors their sweaty little feet slip from under them like Bambi on ice.
Reasons babies hands and feet sweat so much
Those little feet feeling all cold while being clammy at the same time may cause concern among parents but it actually is pretty normal. Here’s why.
- Babies are unable to shiver and are less able to sweat. Only the glands in their hands, feet, neck, and head are active (about 30% of their total body size) so these body parts have to do all the temperature regulating work.
- Because of the excess sweat glands in their hands and feet these body parts may feel sweaty.
- Concerned parents often overdress their babies. In order to cool down the body the surplus body heat is discharged via perspiration in the hands and feet.
- Newborn babies have limited blood circulation focused mainly on supplying blood to their heads and chest and heads when they are asleep. As a result their hands and feet may feel cooler.
It’s pretty common for babies to have sweaty hands and feet and, even more so, sweaty heads.
Although sweaty hands and feet are pretty common in our youngest there is a distinction between normal sweating and excessive perspiration. In case of severe sweating there may be a genetic issue.
Sweating in babies, infants, and toddlers
We humans, being warm-blooded, are able to maintain our own body temperature even when the surrounding temperature differs greatly. This is called ‘thermoregulation’.
When we are still very young however, we are less able to regulate our body temperature independently.
From about a year, children are better capable of sweating and shivering and thus better able to regulate temp effectively. That’s why in most infants excessive sweating of the extremities (i.e. head, hands, and feet) evens out when they get older.
When we get older the sweating will normalize in many people. This however depends from person to person. It may be so that your child will be about 2 to 4 years of age when the sweating stops or normalizes.
But some will have to reach adulthood. And then even some people will continue to sweat. This is often the case when it is common in your family to sweat a lot. This condition is called hyperhidrosis.
Increased capability of regulating body temperature leads to less fevers and less excessive sweating of hands and feet.
When should you worry?
Even when your baby’s sweaty feet are not due to a too warm room temperature or being overdressed, sweating in itself isn’t cause to worry.
However, if your child shows other signs that may cause concern such as being underweight, not being energetic or active, it’s probably wise to get him or her examined by a pediatrician.
This to rule out dangerous underlying issues, such as heart disease, low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) or an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism).
Excessive sweating as a medical condition
Excessive sweating could indicate an underlying problem too. Sometimes a genetic issue plays a role.
Primary hyperhidrosis is a condition starting in infancy. According to a prospective study in 338 patients,
In 86% of the patients PH started during infancy, 71.5% were female (mean age 28.8 years). 96.4% of the patients reported palmar hyperhidrosis, often there is family history of PH.
Hyperhidrosis
Hyperhidrosis, although it may sound a bit scary, is just the medical term for excessive sweating.
it is too much sweating that occurs even at not really high temperatures and while you’re not exercising.
It is caused by a problem in the sympathetic nervous system which controls many automatic body functions, including sweating.
The type of hyperhidrosis that occurs primarily in your palms and soles may have a genetic component, because it sometimes clusters in families. Mayo Clinic
Although hyperhidrosis just means sweating a lot, there are some medical conditions relating to this condition.
Not only does it often involve embarrasment and can really affect someone’s psychological, emotional, and social perspective it may cause;
- skin irritation,
- peeling feet,
- a very unpleasant smell (that adds to embarrasment)
- and painful skin.
Apart from that it worsens if you’re under stress or nervous. Because you sweat you will get self-conscious and become more nervous. In other words, it can cause a virtuous circle.
Which hyperhidrosis treatment is best?
Since excess sweating of hands, feet, head, and neck of children is normal it is generally not necessary to worry or take action.
When hyperhidrosis runs in the family and your son or daughter grows older you may want to use an anti-perspirant. A well-reviewed, often by doctors recommened product is a deoderant called Certain Dry.
If the problem persists you can have your child see a dermatologist. They can do some tests to rule out underlying conditions that may cause the sweating.
What if deodorants do not work?
If antiperspirants and other measures don’t work, oral medication, botox injections, iontophoresis treatment, and surgery can be used as next or last resorts.
Botox works by blocking the signals the nerves send to the sweat glands. Iontophoresis uses electric currents to disrupt the function of the sweat glands and in surgery some of the nerves are removed.
Image credits: Schematic skin with sweat glands: Wikimedia. Baby feet by Tommy Botello.
Feeling relieved after long worries.Thanks for your good pieces of advice
i have a 4 month old baby boy this was very helpfull when i was pregnant i have actually being treated from low hemoglobin and calcuim maybe this also was the reason for his sweaty hands and feet .What do you suggest i should do?
I have 18 month baby boy..he have sweating in head and neck for 1hrs mostly when his sleeping so wht should i do?
My son is 7 years old. He is having thyroid problem since 7months. He is taking thyroxin 50mcg tablet. My question is last two days his hand and foot getting wet. Is it a big problem or what treatment have to take for this?
Shame on you. The kind of advice are you offering people here, sounds like something a doctor would recommend, or better yet, someone who is heavily invested in the pharmaceutical(poisonous chemicals deemed safe for human consumption by someone who is really interested in their own monetary gains, not you and or your health. Kinda sounds like an industry being run by people that psychologists may define as psychopaths…or sociopaths, whichever is really no matter since they now define both as the same) industry.
I’m sorry, oh how I digress, my bad. I apologize. I’ll try to stay on point. My point is, for sweaty feet, try soaking your feet in a bucket of warm water with a few tea bags in it. “Wait, wait, hold on here…did he just say what I think he did?!?” Yup, I sure did. Before I got interrupted and stopped by someone saying wait wait hold on (which, by the way, is perfectly fine by me. I’m used to being interrupted, it.happens to me all the time the way I tend to digress) I was basically trying to suggest soaking your feet in a bucket of tea. Those lil stinkers won’t produce nary a bead of sweat for three days or more. Repeat as needed. best antiperspirant you can get, all-natural, super cheap, and way better performing than ANY commercial chemical based antiperspirant you can buy.. which, by the way, a lot of people have allergic reactions to putting chemical anti-perspirant on their feet . I personally try to avoid any and all chemicals I can, and especially so, when there is a natural solution that is actually more effective. always try to seek out and search for natural solutions first. They actually usually work better anyway, and are always less harmful to your health. Natural remedies cannot be patented or profited from like chemical remedies, so they tend to be unwritten out of newer medical journals and books and back shelved by the pharmaceutical industry as well as their minions a.k.a. Doctors. I’m Serious about them being actually better Remedies then chemicals/poisons offered to do the same thing . Like, for instance, did you know that when you burn your tongue on still too hot to eat food, that burn can be remedied…as in totally healed, not just relieved, CURED, in 5-10 minutes? Or that bad sunburns can be totally healed and gone, in a matter of hours… Fewer than the eight hours we tend to sleep at night. Yup, as in Go to bed, wake up it’s gone. Not relieved…, HEALED, CURED, ALL GONE. How about when you burn Your finger or hand or something in the kitchen…. Instant relief from the pain can be had, and a total cure, again, In hours, not days or weeks. Trust me, I know how Crazy it can sound to the unexperienced and uninitiated. It likely sounds so incredible, that you figure that it cannot possibly be true. But it is. It’s all true, and it’s all natural. The pharmaceutical industry offers us NOTHING, nothing that can compare in any way shape or form to just these 3 things I mentioned here. what they offer as solutions or remedies to these issues are but a joke in comparison…literally. in fact, their solutions are so pathetic that it makes the solutions I am speaking of, sound like nothing short of miracles in comparison. oh how I digress. I got to stop now. I’m gonna have to let you go look into it for yourself. Just go look it up, look into it. Not for me, do it for yourself. Do it for you. After all, you have gotta realize that it is for YOU that I spent so much time digressing here like I am. It’s for YOU that i typed all this for. okay, that part just might be considered a lie by some folks, since I didn’t really type any of it, I speak, it types….But still, I call that modern-day typing. I digress . Anyway, all for you… and I’m willing to do that much for you, then you should be willing to at least go ahead and follow up for you… and check it out…For you. you can thank me later. Ok? Ok. I’m gonna go now, gotta make myself stop before another one of my digression sessions end up driving someone else (someone other than myself)mad. don’t fall victim to the pharmaceutical industry lies and propaganda. You are smarter than that(i happen to know this about you simply because you are still here reading) and you and yours deserve better than that. Those psychopaths, sociopaths, whatever, their idea of an ideal remedy for you is to only sell you a remedy, never a cure, so that you can become addicted to a chemical that they hold the patent rights to. it’s barbaric to say the least. An industry that certainly lacks any and all morals, and any and all empathy…Which is not at all surprising if one takes a moment to look up the actual definition of the word psychopath or sociopath….as they don’t even possess the ability to feel empathy. Oh my god how I digress. Anyways, I got to go, on a final note, just to be clear, I am not talking at all about the medical industry, I’m talking about pharmaceutical. Medical science actually does look for answers and cures, not just treatments and remedies that aim to make us a subscriber/ addict to them for life…so,ya, so we don’t have to have that debate . Wow how I digress. Oh well. I hope you at least found it informative, and I know for sure that if you follow up that it will certainly serve you very well, very often, from this moment on thru the rest of your life. maybe you will think about me, and my digression session, each time it does serve you. If so, rest assured that I’ll be in your thoughts a whole lot. Dang, STILL digressing! Maybe I need to seek some professional help for that… I don’t know, maybe not… its not really a flaw, it’s really just me, and I kinda like myself just the way I am. I just hope the moderator of this likes me enough to at least publishes this mess. Good day mates!
My two year old grandson has sweaty feet and hands even in a cool room. I was not sure what was happening or what to do. Thank you for the information and letting parents no that this is not unusual and giving the cause. This help people to understand the cause and know the medical terminology for this condition. As for Don, you need help. You have serious digressing problem. All you had to give was your simple suggestion of try soaking feet . But if that doesn’t work then what? stick your head in the ground and hope for the best? Yes the issues you mention does occur, but you should not let that consume your entire being and conversations. Please seek help to uncover the real reason for your negative and digressing attitude. In most case the person heard the most is the person who speak less.
My 5 month granddaughter has very sweaty feet what can l do