Body Odor on My 4-Year-old

You are not alone! I am mother of two daughters. I noticed this trend when my oldest child-now 7 was just 4 among her peers. It concerned me greatly. At that time-the majority of my daughter's friends were a year older than my daughter and my second child had just been born.

I researched this trend and found to my dismay that it is and effect caused from growth hormones in our milk and meats. My family consumes a lot of milk. I immediately chose to find out which brands of milk are growth hormone free. I also felt that antibiotic free is also important as I want my children to respond correctly to antibiotics if it is needed and not build up a tolerance to it so that increasinly stronger medication is required to treat simple illnesses.

Shepps, Borden, and PromiseLand milk availible at Wal-mart are all safe. My older sister told me that Oak Farms and H.E.B. brand milk is also growth hormone free.

To combat the meat issue and because organic beef is difficult to locate-my family consumes mainly chicken and turkey now. We buy ground turkey in place of ground beef and have learned to season it with steak seasoning to mimic the taste of beef. To our surprise every member of our family has improved in energy and over all health since making this switch.

My youngest is now 4 and her peers have body odor. My oldest is now 7 and has only JUST developed body odor but it is not yet knock you down strong. Still it is present at the end of long, hot days. I have chosen to make certain she washes well each night. I explained (trying very hard not to make it a big deal or embaressing for her) about body odor and we bought Naturally Fresh Deoderant Crystal Roll-On availible at GNC health stores. This is what I use myself only my daughter had noticed her little friends using deoderant and that theirs had good scents. Sweating is how we rid ourselves of toxins and the odor is caused by bacteria on the skin mixing with the sweat. This deoderant now comes scented with Lavendar which my daughter is delighted by. It is Hypoallergenic and Paraben/PG free and works great. I feel it is safe for her to use at such a young age and because I know what it is-would not mind if my 4 year old daughter used it. (Which she will probably do since she wants to copy her older sister at every turn but doesn't actually need it yet.)

You might wish to look into what we are exposed to in our tap water as well. I live in Garland. We have always used either a Brita or PUR water filter for our tap water but discovered this year that these were not enough. We went the route of Berkey filters which remove everything harmful, we bought optional filters as well which remove chlorine and arsenic but not minerals. To our enormous surprise this results in very clear water that has a clean taste. Better than Dasani. (Most bottled water is actually tap from somewhere else!) The filters are costly but last on average up to 2 years each. My family has always consumed a lot of water because we knew it was best for us-but until this year none of us really enjoyed water. Now we crave it and there is no struggle to have our children drink it. They regularly request water over Ovaltine (chocolate mix) flavored milk!!!! Our last brita filter is now used for our pets drinking water. LOL.

Just since making these changes my children are sick less. My oldest is no longer in need of inhalers for Asthma and that is HUGE! Air is a big factor I know in this area-so we use ionic air filters and live plants throughout our home to help cut down on air pollution. We choose also to limit the chemicals we use in our home for cleaning and have gone the "green route" in most everything to further limit exposures to chemicals as much as possible.

I myself struggle with Endometriosis, Fibromyalgia, fertility issues, pituitary and thyroid issues and so all of this has been extremely beneficial to me as well even though I'm in my 30's.

Medical doctors are no longer concerned because this is the new normal but it isn't natural! Medical doctors have their place but you may wish to consider homeopathic or holistic healing as well. This is simply going the most natural way of healing but it is NOT against the use of medicine required in the instances where it is truly needed.

You are right to be concerned. Kudos to you!

1 mom found this helpful

Alfalfa tablets are a natural body deodorizer, even helps with bad breath and allergies. I like the Shaklee brand best.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi Chasity, you're not alone. My daughter had the same problem around 4 yo. We tried powder for a while, but needed something stronger and I knew I couldn't let her start school with BO. So, I bought the Naturally Fresh Deodorant Crystal roll-on: http://secure.tccd.com/shoponline/DeodorantCrystalRollOn.asp (it is NOT an anti-perspirent)

It works super and she went through a whole school year and we've only used maybe half the bottle. And the nice thing is you can buy at Wal-Mart very inexpensive.

I think if you would buy meats with no growth hormones and organic milk a lot of the odor would go away. Kids are getting bo younger today because of all of these growth hormones.

A friend of my sis-n-law had a daughter that started her period in 1st grade. Doc told her to go organic and no growth hormones etc. in milk and meat. In a few months she stopped having her period. The doc said that these growth hormones are the reason the kids are developing so much younger than a couple of generations ago.

Chasity,

Both of my girls started having body odor at about 5. So much so to me they smelled like grown men! It was horrible. I didn't have any choice but to have them start wearing deodrant. Washing is great but wouldn't last all day. Things have changed since my oldest, so when I went looking for deodrant for my youngest who is now 6, I found a couple options for kids. She is using Degree for girls (I think that's what it is - it comes in a black bottle with pink letters.) It works well.

As far as puberty early, my oldest started her cycle at 9 almost 10. So, personally, I do think early body odor is a sign of developing early BUT don't think she's going to develop for a few more years.

I think all the hormones that are in food and all the chemicals that we put on our skin have something to do with our kids developing earlier then we did.

Hope this helps!

Take care and God bless!

M.

Hi Chasity.

My 4 year old went throught the same thing and washing every morning and every night didn't help. I bought her Teen Spirit Deodorant and that seemed to solve the problem.

S.

I feel your pain. When my daughter was four or five her underarms really started to smell. It has been a long time ago but I found a deodorant for kids that worked. They had one for boys and one for girls. She did not reach puberty until she was almost twelve. I think I got it at walgreens. I would reccommend that you google it "kids deodorant" and see what pops up and check walgreens. Let me know if you can't find it and I will try to help.

Not alone~my daughter is 6 and she's had this issue for a few years. I notice it stronger on some days compared to others. If I know she's going to be getting hot or running around, I let her wear deoderant for the day.

My son is seven and occasionally has problems with this. I googled it and found a forum that discussed body odor in children and linked it to milk. My son drinks milk like it's going out of style. The forum said to switch to organic milk and within a few weeks the odor would go away. My son didn't like the organic milk, so I've just been more careful about offering other drinks in addition to his milk and I've been giving him daily showers. I also let him use my husband's and my shower gel instead of the kid version. I also reminded him to scrub under his arms since sometimes there's more playing going on in the bath/shower than actual washing.

Chasity,

Do you feed her any kind of unusual foods? I know that people who eat curry could have body odor. If your daughter just eats the "usual" foods, like fruit, cheese, crackers, grilled cheese sandwiches, PB&J sandwiches, etc., then I don't see why she would have body odor. I realize that some people sweat/perspire more than others, but it doesn't make to sense to me why your daughter would have body odor if she isn't eating unusual foods.

I'm sure you already do, but definately bathe her every day. Even twice a day, if needed (in the morning and at night). Sure, put deodarant on her. If the problem still persists, take her to another doctor - maybe a specialist?

I wouldn't worry about it! My daughter is 8 and has been wearing deod. for a year now. She had this problem and I noticed it around Kindergarten. I didn't have her wear it because I just thought she was toooo young. I talked to my best friend who has a daughter the same age (they are best friends too) and she said her daughter was the same way but she thought it was worse. So together we decided to have them both wear it. It is a process because they rarely remember themselves but I guess it has to happen one day. We just weren't prepared this young. I am not sure if this helped but you are not alone. Good luck!
p.s. I read a few of the other responses below and my daughter takes probiotics along with spirilina, chlorela, and other vitamins and this did not change her smell at all. My friends daughter doesn't take any of these and she smells the same. Try what you need but I haven't found anything as of yet. Let me know if you do!

Hi Chasity, My 5 year old son had this same problem about 6 months ago. First we started putting powder under his arms but I didnt help and then another mom told me she had the same problem with her son. She recommended using a deorderant NOT ANTIPERSPIRANT...big difference!!! Several brands carry deodorant...just find a nice mild one. That solved our problem. But I always check him before we go anywhere....just in case.

I don't remember what age I noticed it, but my daughter was young when I notices she should really use deodorant. Now she's 9 and just starting to get some breast buds, so I don't think it was early development, I think it's just your run of the mill bacteria on the skin mixed with sweat to make odor. Get some deodorant and start telling her to use it daily.

You are not alone. Some young girls get body odor under their arms early in life. I have a daughter that has that problem. We just use a natural deoderant that you can get from any Whole Foods or wellness store. I get mine from Meleleuca.com. They have the best natural products! ____@____.com

Please read this article it has some pretty good information in it. I personally don't believe that a 4 year old should have to use deodorant. I think that kids should be left to smell like kids for as long as possible, and when kids sweat that's just part of that smell of childhood. Good luck!!... http://ezinearticles.com/?Child-Body-Odor:-Causes-and-Cur...

This sounds so much like my daughter. My daughter is 7 now. But when she was 5 in her last year of preschool, I noticed the same thing. I bought Tom's herbal deodorant, not antiperspirant. She has been wearing it since Kindergarten. I have a friend who has a daughter the same age with the same issue as well. Her Dr. didn't seem concerned either. It's easy to say not to freak out, but you do. It just doesn't seem right does it? Apparently these days it's very common. I took her to an endocrinologist a few weeks ago, because she has a couple of long dark hairs on her pubic area. The Dr. called it precocious female puberty. It has to do with the adrenal glands. Doesn't necessarily mean she will start at an early age, but be prepared for it. People will say it's the food we eat, but my daughter has eaten organic since she was born. Hang in there and just try a deodorant. My biggest fear is that someone at school or wherever would tell my daughter that she stinks.

I would definately be sure the doc ran atleast a panel of blood test including testing her thyroid. Better to be safe than sorry. Also sometimes a high garlic diet and cause body odor in toddlers. Good Luck!

I wish I had more info for you, but I do have 2 ideas:
1. Get a quality probiotic from Whole Foods or the like.
2. Start buying meat that has no hormones.
Take Care!

Have you tried adding a probiotic to her diet? You can get the child version or open up an adult capsule and mix with food. I suggest talking with someone in the wellness/supplements section of Whole Foods for a recommendation.

Have you tried putting some baby powder under her arms?