Kids Go to School Clean but Teachers Say They Are Dirty

I don't have anything to add bc I think you got a lot of nice, well thought out answers. I expected people to be accusing you of something bc WTH are you talking about with sending people back to their perfect lives etc? I wonder if this question is for real bc of that...

I can remember having body odor when I was little and we were really clean. But everyone reacts differently to deodorant. I am assuming she is using it. When I was little we used one brand as a family (it never did smell good on me) and some deodorants don't last. When I got older I found some that worked quite well. I think you could experiment. Another thing I found was that certain materials are pretty bad. In my case silks, or satins, or polyesters-cotton is fine. Or was, actually after I had all my insides taken out I don't seem to have hormones that make me smell as bad. Anyway, keep trying. Tell the big mouths that if they want they can start buying the soap and deodorant and help pay for a jacuzzi. sheeesh

What do they mean, they don't want her to be away from her parents. That doesn't sound like a hygiene issue. You need to be more clear about exactly what they're saying that relates to hygiene.

As a teacher I have had to make this uncomfortable phone call several times. Sometimes there isn't water in the house. Sometimes there isn't money for the laundry mat. When this is the case our school finds resources for the parent.

I have also made this call because other kids have mentioned things to me or I notice them moving away from a child. I would rather I am put in the awkward position of contacting a parent than have the child be embarrassed
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Instead of getting offended try TALKING WITH the teacher in person (without your children there) about it.

If you are bathing her that often and the clothes are clean I have to wonder if it is smoke or something like that. I have some students come to school smelling so strongly of smoke that it is overpowering. Don't know if anyone smokes around her, it is just another possibility.

There has to be a reason for this. Why would anyone complain about the hygiene of a clean child? My own children certainly don't take a daily bath (not that great for young skin) and I consider them clean. If your children are taking two baths a day (every night and every morning? really?)...then there is something else going on here.

I'm sorry I can't offer any advice, other than this makes no sense. Ask them to be specific about their complaints concerning your daughter's hygiene, perhaps. The only thing I can think of, and sorry if it's TMI, is that perhaps her "after bathroom" skills haven't been perfected (as I'm sure plenty of kids that age haven't) and there may be a lingering smell.

I would have an in person conference with the teacher and the principal. In front of them both, I'd tell her that your daughter gets a bath every night and puts on clean clothes each day. Tell her if that's not good enough, to go ahead and call CPS because you're certain it'll be good enough for them.

Explain to the principal that you don't appreciate the teacher making inappropriate comments about your daughter's hygeine when your daughter is perfectly clean.

If that doesn't cut it, go above their heads to the district superintendent.

Your daughter may need deodorant. And I'm sorry, but what child needs two baths a day? One in the evening before bed time ought to do it. A child doesn't get dirty during the night unless they're up partying in the sand box or working up a sweat in the gym. ;-)

I do think that you need to go have a face to face with the teacher, counselor, and school nurse and ask them to bluntly tell you what they're talking about. Explain to them your home routine. Then depending on what follows in that conversation, consider taking your daughter to the pediatrician. If you feel your children are dirty enough to need bathing when they go to bed AND wake up and your child's teacher is telling you that she's dirty in school, then it might be time to consider that there's some sort of abnormal/atypical hormonal imbalance.

They could be talking about arm pit odor or they could be talking about a urine smell. If she smells like urine but isn't having accidents, that could actually be a medical problem that needs to be addressed. There are other odors that are foul that can indicate something is wrong rather than dirty.

If she is bathing twice a day and wearing clean clothes, I would suspect household odors like smoke, pets, etc which really DO creep into everything--clothes, bed linens, etc. any possibility of that happening?

We worked with a new guy that REEKED of BO. We couldn't understand it because he can in to work with shower-wet hair every day.
His (very brave) supervisor had to talk to him about it. Turns out his wife wasn't laundering his clothes properly. He had all of his work shirts & pants dry cleaned and he's been smelling fresh for 15 years now. You just never know.

Good luck!

You have exactly ONE person doubting your post. ONE out of 30 at this writing. And you have the gaul to say "others can go back under their perfect little lives andi can choke my friend for even hipping me to this site"?

Your post was confusing, hard to read and you have asserted that you bathe your kids twice a day. I'm amazed that more people didn't consider you to be this past weekend's troll that had AT LEAST 3 different screen names.

If you're going to bawl moms out for not understanding what on earth "more time with the parents" means, then don't ask for advice here. If people can't understand what you write, work on your communication skills. WE can't see what's in your head. We can only read your words. If they don't make sense, they don't make sense.

And NO, it doesn't make sense that your kids would stink if you really bathe them twice a day. Figure it out, even if you have to go to the school and in front of the teacher, compare your kids to other ones in the class. And then LISTEN to what the teacher says.

I would meet with the school and ask specifically what they are referring to. Does your daughter sweat alot? When I was 7 years old, I had to start wearing deodorant. I started puberty earlier than most also. Some kids sweat more than others which leaves them smelly. My son is 7 and he sweats profusely. If he runs or plays, wham...he's sweaty. He showers in the morning with Dial body wash and wears deodorant which has helped some. For us, it's a hereditary thing.

You have gotten some good suggestions -- please don't let anger at a very few less than friendly posts stop you from taking a serious look at the good suggestions!

Is the issue stains or tears on the clothes? If so - possibly the kids just really make a mess during the school day and I'm not sure why the teachers would not realize that.

If the issue is that they say there is odor: If they are asking specifically about whether you have access to washing machines and laundry soap, the issue might be not the kids but the clothes. Yes, you wash their clothes, but if you air-dry them by hanging them up, or if the clean clothes stay in a washer, damp, for a while before being in the dryer or being hung up, they can carry a musty smell that frankly people can get used to and not really detect, but which might jump out at someone not used to it. I am not saying the clothes are not getting washed! I'm pointing out that even clean clothes can pick up and hold onto a musty odor if they aren't dried immediately and in a dryer or if they are slightly damp and then folded and put away like that. I have noticed this myself - at times I might put on a shirt and once I pull it on I suddenly can detect a slight musty odor that tells me the shirt didn't get completely dry at first and now it's dry but has that smell. It's not a body odor type of smell or a stink, it's... well, it's more a damp laundry smell that dries into the fabric. If that's the case, you aren't doing anything wrong, you just might need to ensure that you move laundry immediately to the dryer and dry it really well so it doesn't have any dampness to it. Nothing to do with cleanliness or good hygiene or even good washing of clothes, just something that happens at times.

One thing to consider -- Bathing too often actually dries out the skin. It's possible your daughter's skin is dry (and dry skin does not always appear dry when you look at it, so it might not appear dry or flaky). When skin is overwashed and dries out, the oil glands try to compensate by producing more oil, and that might be happening during the day, and teachers might be noticing that.

And as others say, you could take your daughter to the doctor to see if there are any issues with medical conditions that could be giving her an odor that you, yourself, don't detect becuase you are so used to being around her. Diabetes can actually cause a person's body to smell; usually the odor is a sweet or fruity smelling odor but I've also heard it can be mistaken for body odor. If your daughter is thirsty a lot, drinks a lot, you should definitely have her checked for diabetes, as well as other conditions including urine leakage, excessive sweating etc. You may just not notice things because you bathe her so often that when you're with her, she usually has just gotten out of the bath or is about to have a bath.

Yes, it could also be that the teacher's just freaky but if this is possibly a sign of something medical, or an issue like the laundry thing, it's worth checking rather than getting mad at replies, right? I hope you get it figured out. I would approach the teacher with an attitude of "Help me figure out what you smell or see because I do not smell or see it, so let's work together on this."

The comment you mention about "being away from her parents" is a mystery to me and to others too - can you explain how that fits into the issue about the hygiene complaints?

Okay, I don't mean to be rude but there is no nice way to put this, why do you keep starting new user names? Your questions are never so off the wall that you will get blocked so why?

Four year old finishing up his kindergarten year? Not a chance. Giving a six year old two *baths* a day? Not a chance.

I'd find out if they mean dirt on clothes, food stains on clothes, smells (maybe she is not a good wiper - even good wipers can be smelly). I'd ask then to specifically let you know what they mean.

It sounds like they are threatening you with child protective services?

I'd also consider checking her in to school with the nurse in the AM to have her blessing for a clean child.

Good luck.

At first before reading beyond your title, I was thinking they were getting dirty on the bus or on their way to school, which wouldn't totally be out of the question, but now that I've read the whole thing, I'm like what??

I'd be going in person and talking to the teacher, principal or whomever is complaining and finding out just what the heck they're talking about. I know it sounds crazy, but are you sure they got the right child matched to the right parents?

As for bathing, is she for sure getting her privates washed real well? I volunteer with little kids and there is a very distinct odor from little girls that I can tell are not washing properly "down there."

Good luck!!

You should get an assessment from the school nurse, not the teacher.

Welcome to Mamapedia!

Your question makes no sense. They call to complain about her hygiene and make comments like "well we don't want her to be away from her parents....."

Um, what does that have to do with the price of rice in China?

I'd talk to the nurse at the school and see what she has to say. If she says she's fine, and the teacher keeps complaining, then complain to the principal.

I am with Mommyof4 talk to the nurse I would also go up and talk to them face to face and ask specificly what they are talking about. Most 6 year olds don't have bo but some do. Also how well does she clean herself after using the restroom? The only other thing could be if some of the foods she eats may cause oders as well. I am not saying it does but I know people that eat different foods can have oders. I would defiently try to get to the bottom of what they are talking about because to me what they are saying sounds like a threat and that would piss me off!!!!!!!!!!!! Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go to the school, to the teacher and ask them to point out specifically what it is that they are complaining about. I know I brush my daughters hair every morning but it looks like she went through a tornado by lunch, she may just be oversensitive.

Ask them to be specific and tell you what the hell they are talking about.

ETA: Ask them why they are asking about these things. Surely, they're not being demure. Perhaps they are conducting a survey--first one to say no gets the prize. If you can't do better than this, I will be forced to believe that you are jerking our chain.

T., just ask the teacher about a SPECIFIC, EXPLICIT examples (spots on their clothes, smell, etc.) and mention what you said H.. It sounds odd to me.

Wow, can't beleive that you bathe your kids twice a day, my kid's skin would be totally broken down. Something does seem a little off about about all of this.

Wow, I wish my children would bathe as often! But they don't, and we've never, ever had a issue with anyone complaining about their hygiene.

Can you speak with the teacher from last year and ask her if she has noticed any hygiene issues? If she can't offer anything, then I'd make a point of showing up midday, maybe towards the end of lunch, and ask for an impromtu meeting with the principal and teacher or aides that are complaining. Ask point blank what the issue is. What kind of odor are they noticing. Bring your child to the office so you can see if it's happening at that moment. Involve the school nurse too.

The only thing I can think of is she's got some strong underarm odor going on. We parents tend not to notice the natural B.O. of our children. I remember my sister always, always had a strong B.O. Not just armpits. The smell was in her clothing, as she tried to wear outfits several times without washing them. So everything always stunk. I'm talking about early grade school up through high school. I remember raiding her closet to pull the worst offenders and wash them for her. But neither her or my mom ever realized how bad it was, despite a few comments. Very few people ever said anything because neither of them ever did take any negative comments well.

So give them the benefit of the doubt, press them for specifics, and if they can't tell you right out that "hey, her shoes or her pits are stroooong!" then I'd press further about what the real issue is. Good luck!

What specifically are they pointing out?
I have no idea what their comment is supposed to mean.......???

Get a face-to-face sit-down with the person who is making the complaints, preferably both of them at the same time. Unless your daughter has a medical issue which is causing problems (and I mean something very serious, like leaking bowels or some bacterial problem with perspiration) this seems very confusing. Have you noticed an odor after school?

I agree with the idea of offering to visit the school nurse in the morning every morning until the issue is resolved. Also agree with everything JB said-- is there some strange misunderstanding going on? People who work with children need to be extremely careful not to 'go there' when it comes to suggesting that a child might need to be removed from the home. I'd bring it up to the principal as well, if this continues. That's a horrible situation for a parent to be in.

An afterthought, and not meaning to be crude, but is there a case of chronic flatulence? My son eats some foods that make him super-gassy for a few days at a time. Chives and fennel-- his playmate's parents grow them and let them eat as much as he likes.It's rather odiferous... :(

You need to get specifics. Contact the principal and the school nurse and ask them the proper procedure to follow up on this. It makes no sense. Don't be confrontational - do the "can you help us with this?" approach.

Is your DD having problems being clean in the bathroom? I ask because if she is having any sort of bowel problems and not cleaning effectively, then that can become a smell issue. Or little girls can drip into their underpants and even a few drips smells funny. You don't give a lot of detail here, so I'm not sure what they are harping on. Away from her parents for what? You can talk to your pediatrician, you can ask for a meeting with the teachers. What makes them think that your child isn't clean enough, specifically. Ask them. Maybe your DD has a metabolic issue or something. I would keep asking for specifics so you can get to the bottom of what they mean and if it's something they notice or something other people report to them.

Check her shoes - my granddaughter has what I call "boy" feet cause they sometimes smell as bad as my boys' feet did back when! Think it's due to the shoes nowadays - they just don't breathe/air out well.

This doesn't make sense. Sorry. If she's bathing 2x a day and using soap and shampoo, I'm not sure how she could be dirty.

Do you smoke in the house? Are the kids eating breakfast at school? Maybe they are messy eaters and have food on their clothes/face? Does she sweat a lot (may be the cause if they say she is smelly). I would also cut baths back to 1x a day. I do not think kids need baths 2x a day. Just my .02!

Go to the school and sit with the teacher and find out what she is seeing. You may be used to seeing them this way and not noticing something. I also think the teacher may need to see your point of view.

My grandson takes 2 showers per day almost every day. He wears a pull up during the night and i't is often wet. So to freshen him up he gets in the shower first thing. Then after a busy day of playing he gets another one. If he hasn't had a busy active evening he won't get another one though.

I think that you really need to go and sit with the teacher and visit with her and find out what she is seeing. Maybe your daughter stinks, some kids do have a body odor and you are just used to it.

For those that are confused: I think the "well we don't want her to be away from her parents..." is a vieled threat to call DCS.

It is time for you to ask for specifics on what the teachers and counselors find offensive about your daughter's hygiene. Is it body odor? Is it bad breath? Do her clothes smell bad? Get specifics - When you are around her all the time or if the odor permeates your home, you may be so used to it that you do not recognize it (like the smell of smoke or other chemicals) It may also be time to schedule an appt with her physician for a physical. She may have certain metabolic or health issues that are producing an unpleasant odor. And she may need immediate medical attention.
You sound kind of perturbed about the whole situation. They are probably trying to help your daughter, not pick on here. Have a good attitude when you go to talk to the teachers at the school. Good Luck!

Please go to the school and talk directly with the teacher. You need to know what specifically the teacher is concerned about. Being defensive and refusing to consider what the teacher has said doesn't help the situation. Find out, in person, what is going on.

If I were in your situation, I would drop the kids off at school every day for a week and hang around for a few minutes. Then pull the teacher aside and ask for her/his specific concern. Sounds to me like the teacher is a bit bizarre. Are there any race issues at work here do you think? If that is a possibility bring the school principal into the conversation asap.

My son is 9yo and he doesn't bath nearly as often as your kids and often picks out torn clothes to wear to school when I am not looking. I have never gotten a single comment from any of his teachers throughout the years.

I have a relative that stinks although she looks clean. She lives in an apartment with a few cats. Stinky!