6 Year Old Girl- VERY Slight Arm Pit Smell

Hi there.

Only a very involved M. would notice such a small change. :) Its good to be proactive and to take measures so that she's not ostracized at school. I would like to suggest perhaps using a more 'natural' type of deodorant since its not a very healthy habit (i.e. to use deodorants) since many of them have chemicals which could disrupt hormones. Furthermore many antipersperants have alumunim and it can accumulate in the body over time. This is what I personally use as a receipe for deodorant and it works:

Basic Deodorant Powder
1/2 cup baking soda
1/2 cup cornstarch
A few drops essential oils such as lavender or cinnamon

Place the ingredients in a glass jar. Shake to blend. Sprinkle a light covering of the powder on a damp washcloth. Pat on. Don’t rinse.

Basic Liquid Deodorant
1/4 cup each witch hazel extract, aloe vera gel, and mineral water
1 teaspoon vegetable glycerin
A few drops antibacterial essential oils such as lavender or tea tree oil(optional)

Combine the ingredients in a spray bottle. Shake to blend.

Makes 3/4 cup

Shelf life: Indefinite.

3 moms found this helpful

Hi,
I would suggest this little secret that I use the night before my workouts. Make this part of your daughters bedtime ritual. First, start with clean armpits. This can be accomplished with baby wipes, if you don't have time for a shower. Dry armpit. Take some Baking Soda..yes, same stuff you use in the fridge, and rub into armpits. The color will not disappear, but you only need a small amount. In the morning, wash as normal. This as a bedtime ritual should be good for a 6 year old. Results will be immediate. If you need more umph...put a few drops of tea tree essential oil on a cotton ball, or in a spray bottle, with teen bit of bottled water and spritz after shower. Or use baking soda treatment during day. Either one, either way, would work, I suggest Baking Soda first.

Good Luck

1 mom found this helpful

Glad you brought this up as my 8-year-old started developing the aromatic armpits this spring when she was doing a lot of dance rehearsals/recitals and the weather was getting warmer. No one notices but me, but soon enough other kids will notice and maybe comment. I'd recommend an all-natural deodorant (not anti-perspirant) like Tom's of Maine (even with a natural one, test it on a small spot for a day first). The commercial antiperspirants have so many chemicals in them. As for bubble baths and kids' scented soaps, take care--they have chemicals and dyes that can be irritating to skin, very drying, or even cause skin allergies to flare. Our pediatrician recommends against bubble baths for little girls as the products can irritate their genitals; remember, with bubble baths they're basically sitting in the soap for a while. We use a soap bar from Whole Foods that is just saponified (solidified) olive oil. I love the baking soda idea someone posted and will try that too as a natural, safe alternative.

I've experienced this will all 3 of my kids-2 boys/1 girl. All of them were checked by our pediatrician because, rarely, it can be a sign of a problem with the adrenal gland or precocious puberty. In my kids' case, they are all just very sensitive to the early hormone surge. Except for my middle, the odor went away pretty quickly, too (actually, my now 13 yo doesn't even really stink that much yet & he's fully in puberty now!) My pediatrician told us it was okay to use a gentle deodorant (like Dove or Secret). Good luck to you.

M. B,

My daughter started having the smelly pits just before she turned 5. Sometimes she would come in the house from playing outside and the odor was awful...she smelled like raw onions!! Anyway, I started giving her organic milk, hormone fee chicken, no beef, etc. I thought she was too young to start using deodorant but the baby powder and shower to shower just wasnt helping. She's been using the Almay Fragrance Fee deodorant about 3 times and week (every other day) and no more odor. You can also dry Dove Sensitive skin for your little one as well. Just a few suggestions. Let me know what works for you/your daughter.

D

My granddaughter had the same problem at that age. I went to the pharmacist and inquired. I do not recall the brand; it is a good idea for this situation to check there.

Dear M. B, You could have an early bloomer; let's hope it is something else; they grow up way too fast! I would suggest using more natural products. I have seen a number of issues disappear since I switched to Melaleuca's products. Melaleuca oil kills germs without harmful chemicals, so this could "cure" your daughter's problem. Happy to provide more info; just let me know. Good luck! N.

Dear Momma,
Whatever you do please do not use a antiperspirant on your lil girl. It is known to cause breast cancer. The antiperspirant blocks up glands. There are wonderful things you can get at gnc. I have sensitive skin and sometimes just plain weird skin...some of the natural things actually made me smell worse...weird right? And till I got pregnant I used arm in hammor but that only helped a lil bit and I would have to reaply..then I developed a allergy to it so I use naturally fresh deodorant crystal the web address www.tccd.com and the number on the bottle is 1-800-653-4006

I hope this helps

Don't feel bad! My daughter just started with the same problem but her smell was horrible. I could not believe this was happening to my 6 year old daughter. I was awe struck. I started having her use dove as they say it is gentle and it seems to be doing the trick. I didn't see teen spirit either so I just went with Dove.

Mother of 15 year old son and soon to be 7 year old daughter

my 4 year old has it and my 9 year old got it a couple years ago. i think you can only tell if your face gets near her underarm but still. so she uses sauve deodorant in a flower scent. not sure that it matters who makes it. by the way my 9 year old has little boobs and has started getting hair in certain places too so watch out!

I think the trend I've read about recently is that young girls are developing younger and younger. There have been pieces about girls getting their periods as young as 7 or 8 (probably extremely rare I am sure). This may be linked to obesity among children (which probably isn't the case with your daughter since you say she eats healthily). One of the other theories is linked to all of the growth hormones that kids are exposed to in most commerical dairy and meat. I am not sure if there is any scientific study to back this theory up, but it might be something to consider. You say that your daughter eats healthy (it's fantastic that she doesn't eat a lot of junk food), but what kinds of dairy and meats does she consume? You might consider switching to hormone free/organic milk and meats. I would mention the smell factor to her pediatrician (not within her ear shot so as not to make her feel bad) and see what he/she says. There's probably a natural deoderant (such as Tom's of Maine) you could use that doesn't have anti-perspirant in it, which may not be safe for younger children and would take care of the smell part at least. Good luck!

Hi there M. B,
While I am not personally experienced with a six year old daughter with a case of the smellys, my 7-year old neice is going through the same. My sister actually found Hannah Montanna deoderant (like you, I was thinking teen spirit), so that could be worth looking out for. Take care!

Whatever you do, only do deodorant NOT anti-perspirant!!! She's definitely too young. Actually, doctors usually agree that unless you have a problem with excessive sweating that you should sweat. You only need something to cover the odor. My son is 17 and he still uses only Ban deodorant.

My son was like that - and i asked his dr @ that - and he started him on a very mild deoderant - (dove-uncented) - and also check the type of soap shes washing with - and check her arms when she gets out of the shower/tub - and if they dnt smeel right - make her turn around and get back in - and then explain 2 her y ur making her get back in teh shower -- she will start to catch on - and wash better - and teach her to put it under her arms after bathing nad in the am when getting dressed -- it does get better

You've had some good suggestions so far, and I have a few to add. We have a similar situation with our daughter.

If you're concerned, maybe you could check with your daughter's pediatrician. He/she may be able to provide you with some advice on how to handle the situation.

Also, you might want to try using a different bath soap. You didn't mention what you use, but I know that my daughter, who is 5 1/2, LOVES bubble bathes, scented kids soaps, etc., but these aren't always effective in dealing with body odor issues. What I do is use Dial bath soap (just a regular bar of soap) first to get her squeaky clean, then she gets to use her "fun" soap to her hearts desire!

If you are using something like bubble baths or scented kid soaps or the like, try using Dial, Dove, or something similar first when she hops in the bath, and then let her use her "fun" soap. This way she gets the oils off her body that can cause the body odor, and she gets to have fun in the bath with her soap as well.

Hope this helps. Good luck! :)

My daughter is 9 and has had that issue for about 2-3 years now and there is a teen version of lady speedstick which is Teen Spirit and it comes in like 4 different fragrances. I bought mine from Rite Aid. There is also this Hannah Montana deoderant. Hope this helps.

I want to reemphasize that deodorants are bad for you, so PLEASE don't let your little girl use them!! The heavy metals are so bad that my biology teacher wanted to outlaw them. I can only imagine what they could do to her developing body if he thought they were so bad for adults. I don't remember the details for sure, but I'm pretty sure he said they were linked to alzheimers!

My daughter is eight now and started wearing deodarant when she was 6. I think it is normal nowadays. The alos start Aunt Flow earlier than what we did

I don't know if it's a sign of the times or what but my daughter's arm pits started smelling a few months before she turned 6 and my two neices when they were almost 5 (now 8&7). Funny enough my nephew is 8 and I've never smelled him and my son who will be 5 doesn't smell yet either. My daughter uses an anti-perspirent (sp?) btw. The previous poster also had good tips. HTH.