Excessive Sweating

First, it is not a good idea to CIO. Babies do not have the cognitive ability to manipulate. Crying is their only means of communication. Also, letting your baby "soothe themself to sleep" is a myth. The reason they stop crying is because they are giving up because no one is responding. You are correct to respond to your baby when he cries. Try more stimulation during the day, such as taking a walk in his stroller, putting him on his tummy several times during the day so he can get enough tummy time, infant massages, classical music, etc. Put your baby in an wearable infant carrier--it is comforting to your baby to hear your heartbeat. Also, check the air vents in your baby's room to make certain they are blowing correctly. Good Luck!

Hi H.,

my baby sweat like this,too, and it worried me that she could dehydrate.

I wonder, though, why not pick up an 8 week old baby when he cries? 8 week old babies don't have wants, they have needs. It's the only way he can tell you he needs you. I know it is hard when you've got a 2 year old, too. Have you tried a Maya Wrap? He can just kind of "hang" with you and be happy while you go about your life. Google it, you might find it very handy.

His is only 8 weeks. I think its probably too early to let him "cry it out". Not long ago he was cozy in your womb. If he's crying a lot maybe he's colicky. If that's the case, I found that if you put his stomach close to your stomach and hold him tight then rock him briskly, he will within about 15 mins fall asleep and you can put him in his bed. As for the sweating, he's probably sweating because he's anxious about whether or not you will come and get him. Don't really know though, I'm not a doc. Good Luck!

8 weeks is too young for cry it out.

Make sure he is getting enough to eat.

Our daughter and I have always been warm blooded. Be sure to mention that to your doctor. Even though this is the case, see if you can use a thin sheet or baby blanket to swaddle your infant. Having his arms and legs tight to his body may help sooth him. Just keep a fan on low close to him.

When you lay him down pat him on the back slowly but firmly and see if that calms him. Also you may need to try to let him sleep in a swinging cradle or swing. Some babies really like that movement.

Also remember he can feel your anxieties. You need to try not to be so anxious.

The first thought that came to my mind why are you having your 8 week old cry it out? As others have stated, too young to start that method. Try other methods such as the swing to help sooth your baby to sleep. If you are worried about a bad habit forming just try and re train him around 6 months of age. 6 months of age is the time children start to make things concrete. So, as long as you change things to wear he is in his bed around that time you should be fine.
You need to find out why he is crying at that time. Is he happy when he is upright and then cries when he lays down? He could have reflux and it hurts for him to be laying down because the acid is burning his esophogus. Even babies who don't show the typical sign of spit up can have reflux.
The sweat can also be his body reacting to the pain. Babies that age usually can't regulate their heat. But something else going on in the body could cause your child to sweat.
I would just bring this up to your pediatrician and see what they have to say about it. I wouldn't worry about the heat affecting him. Just continue to pick him up everytime he cries. He is still trying to build the bonds of trust.

Your right, an over heated room can be bad for a newborn, but I don't think that is the reason he is sweating. As others have said, 8 weeks old is way to early to let a baby "cry it out". At this age you should be picking him up every time he cries. You can not "spoil" a baby at this age. Right now what they need is for their needs to be met right away. Congrats on your new bundle of love!!

at 8 weeks when they cry it ususally means they need something, bottle, diaper, burp, nap. his excessive sweating needs to be addressed. the cry it out method isnt recomended for babys that young. i would call the doctors office. congrats on your new baby.

It sounds to me that the excessive crying is causing him to sweat, not the temperature.

At that young age you should pick up your baby every time he cries. Not sure about the sweating issue, but don't let it get to that point. Try a swing, a vibrating bouncy seat, or a sling and wear him if he doesn't like to be put down.

An 8 week old baby is far too young to let "cry it out". Dr. Ferber and most experts agree that the "cry it out" method should only be done with babies 6 months or older. Even then, I think the method is a progressive one, wherein the parent goes to check on baby throughout.

Seriously, he's far too young to do this. Picking him up everytime he cries is what teaches him to trust you, his mother. It's perfectly ok! you are NOT spoiling your baby if you pick him up when he cries.

My first two children are ages 4 and six. They were held, rocked and nursed to sleep for as long as they wanted (the first self-weaned at 2 when I was pregnant with the second, and the second self-weaned at 17 months shortly before my littlest baby was born). I picked mine up when they cried. I assure you, they have not suffered nor are they spoiled by being picked up when they cry. Both of them go to bed easily and fall asleep easily, without any crying or fighting with us. It is completely possible to have good sleeping children without tears and without "training" them. I think showing your child what good sleep feels like (by helping them when they're babies) allows them to learn how to fall asleep. Mine always fell asleep at the breast, but they don't need that now, and i didn't follow a sleep training method. They just outgrew the need at their own pace, rather than one imposed by me.

I am not trying to "scold" you, I'm merely trying to show that it doesn't have to involve tears nor "training" to get your babies to fall asleep eventually. you just have to have patience that it will happen when they are ready. Dr. Ferber's method does not involve such a very young baby. If you're seriously wanting to do this method of sleep training, wait until he's 6 months or older and in the meantime, read up on what the Ferber method is. It will help tons.

For now, I highly recommend Dr. Harvey Karp's Happiest Baby on the Block. The 5 S's are essential, IMO, to helping a baby feel comforted to sleep. They are: swaddle, swing, "shake" (you have to read about it to understand, you don't really shake your baby!), ssshhh, and suckle (yes, nurse or bottle). He helps you understand what babies at this age need. He also advocates a "cuddle cure" to help spark the baby's "calming reflex". I have suggested this book to three different friends, all who just KNEW they were spoiling their babies by picking them up, and a week later all three had called me singing the praises of this book/DVD. Their babies slept much better after that.

I implore you - don't force your newborn to cry it out. He's too young. If you do want to use that method, wait until he's older. If you'd like to try a gentler method that's perfect for a newborn, try Happiest Baby on the Block. His excessive sweating is most likely because he's being left to cry for that long. It's hard, I know, and I would wear my baby in a sling when he/she (I have two boys and 1 girl) needed to be held and I needed to do something else. With my third, I am sometimes doing something that causes him to cry for a minute or so (giving the others a bath, and i can't run to him right away) and even in that short a time he is sweating. I've learned to bring him into the bathroom with me while I bathe the bigger kids!

My baby always sweats when she is exhausted. Yours is obviously exhausted, if he's not sleeping - but there is something else going on. He could have gas and may need his stomach massaged (backwards C motion or knees bicycled toward the chest), he may need to cuddle, he may be hungry. If you're breastfeeding but not letting him drink the hindmilk (fatty and filling milk) at the end of each session on each breast, his stomach may be upset from drinking the thin, less filling milk that comes out of the breast at the beginning ... If you're using formula, it has a tendency to constipate.
Again, the sweat is probably from exhaustion ... and he's exhausted because he's not getting something else essential. Don't let him cry it out this early.
Walks in the stroller before 10 a.m. are a good way to get him to sleep, once his other needs are taken care of. My daughter always preferred the outdoors for calming.

You just may have a sweater. My daughter is constantly sweating, but she is just fine. When she wakes up, I can rub her hair back and it looks like she just bathed. Just keep him covered with a light blanket cause you would not want it to be too cold and him get a runny nose or something like that. They outgrow it, my other two were the exact same. As far as him not napping, my daughter will only nap in her swing. It can be for 3 hours at a time on certian days and then on others just 2 minutes. I allow her to dictate her naps, so when she is ready to get up, she always has a smile on her face. Its a matter of finding that position or swing, bouncy, or whatever that he finds comfy to hang in until he get to sitting and can be occupied with toys and songs. She is 7 months now and we have Barney songs on all the time, she loves them! Maybe a little soft background noise may help. I just read how complete quiet is not what they need to nap, but some background noise like the static from a TV, running water (which she loved as a newborn) or the hushing sounds.

Good luck!

If he has a sweat problem, don't swaddle him! He could get a heat stoke! Try dressing him in jammies w/o feet. When little girl crys she gets super hot! Just dress him in jammies and put him in his crib with a overhead fan on low. If he contines to sweat like crazy see what the dr. Says. He could just be hot natured. Just don't swaddle him anymore!

What I've been told is that infants younger than 6 months cannot regulate their body temperature. Meaning, they don't have the ability to sweat in order to cool off. That physical ability develops in older infants.

I once mentioned to my daughter's pediatrician that she seemed to sweat excessively while nursing and asked why... To my surprise, that kicked off the doctor wanting to do several heart tests and check for congenital heart defects. Turns out that her heart was absolutely fine. However, you might want to mention to your pediatrician that your baby seems to sweat excessively and see if that raises any concern.

Just about everyone will agree that 8 weeks is too old for cry it out. However, I understand that sometimes you have to prioritize other activites with another child in the house...it won't harm your child to cry for a few minutes.

I'm with Umber...I couldn't have made it without my Moby Wrap/Sling/etc. It will calm your baby, maybe help hime sleep, and still allow you to get stuff done.

I WOULD mention it to the pediatrician. Many babies do sweat because their regulatory mechanisms develop later on. It wasn't clear from your post if he is sweating as a matter of course...or when he is getting upset.

You might request your pedi check the thyroid. That can sometimes alter the body's ability to regulate heat. Hypothyroidism can cause irreversible mental retardation in babies. They check it when they are born, but the results can sometimes be inaccurate because of the mom's hormones still in baby. My daughter sweat a lot as an infant which I didn't think was normal. We were waiting for Down syndrome test results and I inquired about the thyroid. She was confident it was normal. After getting results she was Down's we were referred to a pedi cardiologist. She had some fluid around her heart the cardiologist said could be cause by hypothyroidism. Since I was curious about the thyroid anyway, I requested to have it checked. Sure enough, her TSH was high. I switched pedi and he checked it again and it was even higher. She was in the early stages of hypothroidism and he began treatment.

Do some research and listen to your gut instinct. You just never know. Hope to not freak you out, but never put your mother's intuition in the background.