7yr old dd with body odor

[sacgw]

My poor dd has smelly pits already. It seems too young to me. I am wondering if it's her diet or just genetics. Has anyone else had this problem so young? Did you find out the cause?

 

I don't want to start her on deodorant, I am going to try having her wipe her pits with vinegar after bathing but I wish I could figure out the cause. I have read articles regarding soy, that it is causing young girls to enter puberty earlier. She was drinking a lot of soy milk in her early years but since reading the articles I have stopped that. Some days are worse than others, and I have not made a correlation to any foods. However, it's all been mental, I haven't kept a food diary which I know I need to start. But until then, has anyone else found out that certain foods have caused their child to start smelling so early?

 

My ds doesn't even smell yet and he's almost 9.

[Laura Corin]

I found that bathing got very sketchy with my boys when I stopped supervising closely. Perhaps you could reteach your daughter how to bathe if you think that could be the problem.

 

Best wishes

 

Laura

[brehon]

Not sure how normal it is, but my now 9 yo ds has needed to wear deodorant since he was 6 (almost 7). Vinegar didn't work with him. Both dh and I supervised washing and that also didn't make a difference. My ped said that as long as he didn't have any other signs of puberty, he was probably OK. My dd7 does not need to wear any yet. We use one of the natural brands (it's the same brand my mom used while she was going through radiation therapy for breast cancer). Good Luck.

[Bonnie in VA]

It started around age 6/7. She's been wearing deodorant for at least a year (she's 9 now). I don't know why she is this way; my ds12 never had any similar issues. and so far my younger dd (6) doesn't have that issue. Perhaps it is just body chemistry. Regardless, I felt like it was important to teach her about washing her body well, and also to treat the 'symptom' by having her use deodorant. I didn't want anyone to give her a hard time about b.o.

 

I just wanted to let you know that you're not alone!

 

Bonnie

[NanceXToo]

My daughter started needing deodorant at age 9. I was very surprised as I'd expected it to be closer to 11 or thereabouts but when I started a post asking, there were lots of people with kids who'd needed it even younger than mine!

[julesmama3]

I think it's genetic. My dd 10 has had stinky armpits for years now. We've had to up the showering to at least every other day plus deodorant. When she was younger we switched to organic milk and chicken but it didn't help. I have a ds 9 who never stinks and a ds5 who just started stinkin when he's really sweaty and hasn't bathed in a few days.

 

My doc said not to worry too.

 

Fwiw....I never stink. I could go without deodorant and be fine. Hubby is another story.

 

[Kalypso]

My dd had this hpapen around 7 or 8. All others signs of puberty started around 11/12.

[Unicorn.]

My dd had this at age 4. I too thought it might have something to do w/ soy at the time, and stopped using soy for that reason. Turns out that it was her clothes. She can't wear polyester. She can wear a cotton-poly blend of 50/50, but no more than that. She's 12 now, and developing normally.

[Jenstet]

My son is 7 and has been using deoderant for the past year. He sweats quite a bit and gets overheated pretty easily but he is also busy everyday with soccer or karate. He's a stinky boy:)

[Dandelion]

My poor dd has smelly pits already. It seems too young to me. I am wondering if it's her diet or just genetics.

 

My 7yo son started having underarm odor at age 6. No amount of washing, scrubbing, etc. would make a difference.

 

For him, it did turn out to be food-related. We had an IgG food sensitivity test done (not because of the body odor - for other reasons), and after we eliminated the foods he was sensitive to he had zero odor.

 

I can still tell when he eats something that he's reactive to - after a couple hours, the underarm odor is back.

[Ali in OR]

My niece had this problem. She was tracked by an endocrinologist until age 10 to check for early puberty. He said that different systems can get "turned on" at different ages. For my niece, the body odor system got going early, but nothing else did.

[ourjourneys]

For him, it did turn out to be food-related. We had an IgG food sensitivity test done (not because of the body odor - for other reasons), and after we eliminated the foods he was sensitive to he had zero odor.

 

I can still tell when he eats something that he's reactive to - after a couple hours, the underarm odor is back.

 

That is interesting because I often think that maybe it is the chemicals in our food reacting to cause the odor. What foods does he react to? Natural or with preservatives?

[Brenda in FL]

This was my daughter as well - I had her start wearing a natural type deoderant and she started growing underarm hair so I allowed her to start shaving as well (at least by age 9 - maybe when she was 8). She has only just begun to get breast buds at age ten and no other signs - so I wouldn't worry too much about starting puberty early.

[Gwenhwyfar]

 

I don't want to start her on deodorant, I am going to try having her wipe her pits with vinegar after bathing

 

she's gonna smell like french fries. :tongue_smilie:

 

if she has BO, i'd get her deodorant. there's nothing quite as embarrassing as having your friends tell you that you stink.

[RebeccaS]

My oldest dd started with BO at age 4. It's genetic for her. Now at 8.5 she is just entering puberty. (hair, etc) Pediatrician is not concerned. DD uses a deo, but not antiperspirant. Cleaning every morning isn't enough for her and I don't want her to feel self-conscious. Other kids have already remarked about her armpit hair. :glare:

[QueenCat]

Besides a daily bath, try different soaps. My younger ds was smelling really bad when I tried a new soap.... went back to the old one, and the problem went away. I'd have her use deo. before I'd have her smelling bad and getting teased.