2 year old - night sweats and complaining of fatigue

[HJBeans]

Would you be concerned about the above? My DS, who will be 3 in the summer, has quite often had a very sweaty head in the few hours after going to bed - drenching the pillow and waking him up - but it's gone into overdrive in the last few weeks. In addition, he's complained of being tired in the mornings several times despite sleeping well. His sleep had been a bit disrupted due to the sweating and arrival of DS2 a few months ago, and he may be complaining of tiredness because he doesn't want to go to nursery, but I'm very bad with anxiety and an scaring myself by thinking he looks a bit pale, could it be cancer, etc. etc. He's eating well and seems to have energy during the day, though nursery have said he's been very tired after nap some days.

[kelda]

He certainly needs to see a doctor. There are a number of things it could be, try not to worry about cancer. Does he do any odd things at night or during the day? Is he difficult to wake up? Any moments when he seems to daydream?

[HJBeans]

Thanks for the quick reply - nothing too odd that I've noticed in the night or day. He usually wakes up himself and calls for us, and had had a bad run of nightmares since DS2 arrived which may be adding to the tiredness. Doesn't seem to daydream.

I suspect he's not getting enough sleep - he's been fighting sleep at bedtime so not out reliably till 8:30 and then usually up by 6:30 or so. He generally refuses naps at the weekends but will sleep at nursery for up to an hour and a half. We'd tried limiting his nursery naps to try to get him to go down earlier at night but it didn't work and he was just much more tired.

He's under pediatrician care for a slight immunodeficiency which they expect he'll grow out of and has just had bloodtests done for that. I see her at the end of the month and was planning and asking about this then. The sweating isn't new and has been mentioned before - it's really just the combination of that with the fatigue that's turned my anxiety up to 11 this morning.

Would you bother with a GP sooner if he was otherwise well?

[kelda]

Yes I would still go to the GP and it's good he is under a paediatrician. My ds's epilepsy started with night sweats and tiredness, we still don't know exactly how it's all related as he is being tested for other illnesses too, but the doctors consider night sweats could be a symptom of something.

In the meantime make sure his bedroom is cool with thin, loose, cotton night clothes and bedding. Blankets are better for temperature regulation then duvets. Also no fluffy pillows or big cuddly toys in bed, keep it as simple as possible. Make sure he drinks enough.

[kelda]

I understand your anxiety, it is an anxious time with a new baby and a child who you are already worried about. No one can blame you for being worried.

I would keep a diary of his night sweats and tiredness and take it with you to the doctor.

[HJBeans]

Thanks. If I called the GP he'd be in today or tomorrow - more likely today. As neither thing is entirely new and there are other obvious explanations, I wonder if keeping a diary over the next week is the sensible thing to do? We're then on holiday for a week and seeing the pediatrician when we get back, though. Because nothing new is happening, I'm not sure on a same-day visit to the doctor. But I always second-guess myself because of the anxiety.

There's also an issue with self-reporting of symptoms in a two year old. When I asked if he was saying he was tired because he didn't want to go back to nursery he said yes and agreed he wouldn't be tired if he could stay home today. He's essentially always great at nursery - they have no concerns - but there's been a lot of stalling on going, saying he's poorly when he's not, etc since DS2. I try to impress on him that it's important not to fib about feeling poorly, but he's 2 and just discovering he can say things that aren't true.

Thanks again for your advice and best wishes for your DS.

[countingdown]

What kind of mattress does he have? Only ask because I have found that our memory foam mattress makes me sweat terribly.

[HJBeans]

Just a normal mattress. Kept the upstairs much cooler yesterday and switched from a duvet to an (infant sized) cellular blanket and he didn't wake up crying and sweaty for the first time in many nights. Covered him up towards morning when it got colder with no sweating when he woke. Maybe he's just been way too warm. I'm always cold and keep the house pretty toasty.

He did say he was tired again this morning, but said he was OK after eating. Wonder if he's mixing up hunger and tiredness or just takes a while to come round. That said, he wasn't too tired to play with his brother and jump around on my bed - just to get his bowl for breakfast and carry his bag to the car.

[Sammylouiise]

Hey just wondering how ur son is my daughter is extremely tired snd Alsocbeen having nightsweats for a long time did you get any answers? Thankyou and hope ur one ok xx