(UPDATED) How Young Can a Toddler Have BO?

Can you give her a bath instead of a shower?

If so, add white vinegar and baking soda to her bath water.

Don't apply lotion to her underarm area.

And wear only cotton clothing, day and night. A lot of children's nighties are not cotton. Read the tags.

Sure. It happens.

It's really a matter of cleanliness.

BO is caused by bacteria. It's basically...bacteria farts. :-)

It happens in the underarms of sweaty folks because a specific oil is secreted there that bacteria REALLY love. Apparently she's sweaty little thing.

An easy fix for this is to ensure she is staying clean. Use a mild soap like Ivory and a scrubbing cloth/pouf to scrub her underarms. Rinse very well. When she doesn't have time for a bath, try unscented baby wipes to clean her under arms before she goes to bed AND when she gets up in the morning.

Dress her in cotton. Polyester and other synthetics don't breathe as well. She'll sweat less in cotton.

Is she putting lotion on under her arms? Is so, don't do that anymore.

Well she is not a toddler.

If her underarm smell is that pronounced... then take her to the Pediatrician and ask him/her. Per the age of your child, is the underarm smell normal or not?

If you can smell it, then others can too.

Try adding a cup of baking soda to her bath.

It's not unheard of, no. Our daughter is very active and gets sweaty at school. She's been wearing Tom's of Maine deodorant since probably age 5.5.

Totally normal even for infants. Why? Hormone fluctuations. With infants it usually only lasts a day, and might happen a few times a year. With toddlers (young... 1-3) it tends to last a few weeks. With older toddlers and young children it can last a few weeks to a few months, but usually only crops up every couple years.

REALLY common right around age 5. The first big 'bathing doesn't take care of it / needs deodorant daily' for a few weeks or a couple months. Which is right where you're at.

You'll note these periods tend to herald a new 'developmental phase'. Like you probably had a couple days of whiff right before terrible 2s (or 3s).

The 5ish hormonal swing (which changes face structure, hair texture, etc.) lasts anywhere from 2 weeks to 6mo on average.

(Also... I'm sure this isn't you... But just to avoid being snapped at... By 5ish, that's anywhere from 4 - 6. Months are super important with infants, but medically speaking milestone ranges after 3 get loooooong. So when I'm saying the 5yo hormone flux, almost 5yos are totally lumped in. Like I said, I'm sure you're not ghe type to freak about a couple months, but even this single paragraph saves 10 paragraphs later x_X Oy!! So I'm just sneaking it in preemptive ly!))

It's actually far more weird NOT to get BO with these hormone fluctuations, but most kids do. It just usually only only kids or the youngest who get noticed by parents as "Yikes! What happened to you?!?" Purely because there's fewer gross smells / time / etc.

At four years and eight months, she is not a toddler any more. Yes, she could have plain old body odor, especially under her arms. Does she sleep bundled up in warm pajamas, love to snuggle under blankets all night, etc.? That could mean she's sweaty when she wakes up, even if she had a bath before bedtime the night before. Use baby wipes to wipe down her underarms in the mornings and another time during the day if you continue to notice body odor. If it's especially strong or persistent and wiping doesn't help, I would ask the doctor; strong body odors can be symptoms of certain illnesses. But if there are zero other signs, this likely is body odor. Be sure she stays cool and wiped down.

I would check iwth a dr. It might be her body is ridding it'self of some sort of toxin.

Don't diatics have an odor to them?

Is she is overweight and has rolls on her body then i might by the BO thing if not I'm thinking medical. issue.

I'm going suspect the soap isn't quite cutting the bacteria that's building up under there. I have the same issue if I use certain types of soap - they never quite get me 'clean.' Try using a gentle soap like Ivory in a very small area to test whether she has a reaction. Once you sure she won't react, see if that takes care of the problem.

If not, try rubbing a very small sample area with rubbing alcohol. I know several adults that have never used anything other than rubbing alcohol on their underarms and they have never had an issue with odor. And that was in the very southern part of Florida where you sweat just walking out to your mail box! The alcohol really kills all the bacteria and you avoid deoderant-related issues. But start small, like an area the size of a q-tip top, to make sure she doesn't react to it. You may only need to wipe once a week.

Maybe you should switch her soap up a little. My little one has sensitive skin, as well, and we use castile soap. I'm partial to lavender, so we use the lavender one. (Ivory's not really good for sensitive skin unless it's really oily or there are sores. Ivory is designed to dry, so it could make her I. and irritate her skin if she needs to keep it moisturized.)

if she was using some1s deodorant. that may have caused it, my aunt rube some on me at 8 and from then on i had to use some.
But rubbing some lime(green) on underarms will help with the smell. Have her rubb it in good wen shes in shower wen she 1st hops in then wash off before getting out. Do it once a wk or as needed. It really helps.

Babies even get that underarm funk that is similar to smegma. I would just take a little more time in cleaning the creases of her armpits--dust on a little powder and she will be fine. If you don't want to use powder, corn starch is just fine.

I vote for cotton and possibly more baths, with attention paid to to her underarms.

I have never heard of using deodorant causing people to need deodorant thereafter. One of DH's friends is allergic and had to stop using it and doesn't smell any more pungent than the rest of us with regular bathing.