5 Reasons Your Baby Sweats While Breastfeeding

Moyin Adediran

Ever wonder why your little angel breaks into a sweat while nursing? If you are a first-time mum, this might be a little unsettling for you, especially if you have no prior baby experience.

There are actually a lot of reasons why your baby may be sweating while nursing. Let’s look at 5 of those reasons and how you are probably adding to your angel’s dampness!

1. Mummy’s skin

Your baby is nestled closely to your bare and warm skin. The skin to skin stimulation affects the increase in body temperature and naturally stimulates your babies cooling mechanism which in turn makes baby sweat. Classic biology stunt.

2. Your room’s too hot!

Extremely warm surroundings can cause your baby to sweat. Now, we all know how hot Nigeria is and your baby has had enough heat cooking in your belly for 9 months! Airing up your room temperature to a level that you feel comfortable in your clothes is good enough for your baby too! Not cold, not hot…just cool enough.

3. Too many layers of clothes!

It’s time to break the norm of layering infants with too many clothes. Yes, we want to keep them warm and cuddly with just about the right number of clothes. Too many layers in a hot environment make them more prone to sweating.

4. No to polyester, yes to cotton!

Polyester doesn’t give room for the skin to breathe because of its synthetic properties. Cotton on the other hand is very breathable and would allow your babies skin to breathe sufficiently. Drape your baby in colorful cotton.

5. Sucking is baby’s form of exercise!

When we move our muscles in light exercise, we sweat, so it’s no surprise your baby’s movement of her jaw makes her sweat as it’s baby’s form of exercise.

Note that excessive sweating in babies may also be a real cause for alarm. So, do well to always trust your mothering gut by seeking out a well certified paediatrician’s opinion whenever in doubt.