Dr. Leia Addresses Body Odor in Children and Possible Causes and Treatments

My eight year old daughter has developed a metallic odor. I first noticed it in her hair. Even freshly washed with watermelon shampoo, the odor was present. I notice it on her clothing and bedding as well. It is almost an aluminum foil smell that leaves a "taste" in your mouth. She has not been eating as much and told us today that " things taste weird," including the foods she usually loves. We went to the pediatrician today and they immediately sent us for a round of blood tests. They could not really tell us anything until we get the blood work back. What could this odor indicate? What are they looking for?

Dear Kathleen, you did well to take your daughter immediately into her pediatrician and get a professional diagnosis and in depth testing. It is impossible to tell you what they are looking for over the internet. Take a deep breath and know that you did the correct thing. In a few days, your doctor will be able to discuss her individual case with you in more depth. Good luck.

This article was very helpful for me because I also have a daughter turning 5 this month who has body odor. We've noticed it for the last six months or so. The pediatrician just asked if I noticed any other signs of puberty which I didn't. He didn't test her for anything. He just said it's common in children. How common is it for 5 years old to just have body odor without any other root illness? Did the parent who emailed you with the original question find out anything about her daughter's body odor?

Hi I am 19. I recently started producing a bad body odor. I went to the doctor and he said there is no cure. What would you suggest?

My 8-year old daughter emits an odor when she's sick. I'm the only one that can smell it. I can even smell it before she gets sick and, therefore, always know at least a day beforehand. It's not a foul odor at all. The smell reminds me of plastic Band-Aids. I've told many friends who are moms about this and no one has ever heard of it before. Do you have any idea what or why this is?

I have a 8 month old baby boy who smells like a melting crayon, a waxy smell. He has smelled this way for many months. It is strong, predominantly in the arm pits and when sweating. He has been on several different formulas, Enfamil, GentleEase, Soy, and now Hypo Allergenic, and has continued to smell this way. The pediatrician did some basic blood tests and they all came back normal. I'm not sure who to turn to or what course of action to pursue next with him.

Hi Lori, it could be due to a wide variety of things. I wonder if dehydration could be a factor?

I am Indian. My 8 yr old daughter's hair has recently started to smell strange. It's a sort of sweaty musty smell. The smell starts again even hours after her hair has been shampooed. Her diet has not changed in any way, neither is she on medication. There have been no changes in her physically either. What could the course be? It's really worrying me.

Hi, my daughter is four years old and she has body odor like adult smell and at the same time she has dandruff, smelly mouth at night even already gargled after milk and suffering from mild eczema. I'm really worried as my three other children are entirely different from her. She is the only one who suffers this kind of smell, rash, or dandruff.

There is a product called a deodorant stone. Basically it is a mineral stone which neutralizes the bacteria under the arm that causes the smell. Frontier sells them deodorant stones of America. This is a pure-natural-crystal deodorant stone product. Recommended by Walter Reed Army Hospital to their patients.

Hi, my daughter is four years old and also has real bad under arm body odor. We bath her two times a day and it seems to come back right away. She also has an odor in her private area that smells bad if she doesn't bath everyday. Is she going through early puberty, or is there some other problem we are missing. Her diet is the same as it was before this all started and she dosen't drink milk.

My my daughter is seven years old and she has body odor under her arm. I'm really worried. What product do you recommend. Thanks and God bless.

My four year old has had a foul sweaty odor under her arms off and on for a few months. We took her to her pediatrician and she noticed some darker hairs under her arms. I can't actually see them so I have to take her word for that. To be on the safe side she is sending us to an endocrinologist to test for early puberty soon. I would recommend everybody noticing this with their children to go see their doctor because you do not want to leave it untreated if that is what it is.

I don't know if this will help anyone, but my mom's niece is two and she has a very bad odor so bad they kicked her out of day care. Well she took her to the doctor, and they sent her to a ear throat and nose doctor. They said the smell is coming from her adenoids that they are infected, so she has to have her tonsils removed and tubes put in her ears to get the smell to go away.

Has anyone noticed that all posts relate to girls vs boys. This is the fifth site I have looked on for answers to my daughters BO. Could gender possibly have anything to do with it? Also I have switched her to an antibacterial soap and found an all natural deodorant not an antipersperant. Although it smells kind of funky it's better than the onion pits. Some kids are just smelly; I wouldn't make too much of it.

I'm extremely anxious about my son's odor. He's now 3.5 yrs old and the smell has been coming on for some time now, at least a year. I simply thought it was hygiene, so I'd bathe him, apply baby powder and my husband even tried his deodorant on him. But in the last 2-3 months it's been extreme. I have a hard time hugging him for the smell and have to hold back on openly exclaiming about how foul the odor is. Only today after I gave him a bath first thing in the morning did I decide this can't be 'normal.' Immediately following the bath, he smelled worse than before he went in. Coming to this website and reading that I'm not alone in my concerns has made me feel better. The reason behind my anxiety is not that he 'smells,' but the fact that this smell can be the result of a genetic disorder PKU that has other symptoms my son is also exhibiting. We also knew something was 'wrong,' just couldn't put our finger on it. He's currently seeing a neurologist, he has a small head, behavioral and occupational therapist, speech therapist, as well as a Developmental Specialist. I'll now go back to the developmental specialist and ask that he be tested for PKU and see if that's the cause for all of his hyperactivity, developmental and behavioral issues. Who'd have known that smelling like a sweaty old sneaker could possibly lead to a genetic diagnosis that explains so much more than a 'smell.'

Well, for the gender I do not believe that is true. I found this web site because I have a seven year old son that has developed a BO smell just in the past month! I thought because we'd moved. But it's actually a dryer climate here. His diet hasn't changed. He always asks me for fruit and Mac-n- cheese. The smell is there but not overwhelming. But since reading this article I'm for sure going to schedule an appointment with the doctor.

My six year old daughter's hair has just recently started smelling like a wet dog even when her hair is freshly washed, even twice and conditioned. It has only been about a month or so that my husband and I have noticed this. What could be the cause?

Thank you to Cheryl who said that her child's armpits smelled like onions. My daughter is 6 and that is exactly what hers smell like. It only just started maybe a month ago, and I am wondering if stress is playing a factor as her dad and I are in the midst of a separation.

My four and a half year old had been going to an endocrine now for about nine months. I am really getting fed up with labs being done, monitoring, and going back every three months with no answers. My daughter is four feet tall and seventy pounds at four years old and has breasts. She is the biggest kids of her Pre-k class. She is also taller then all the kindergarten classes, first grade, and some second graders. She wears the same size as her ten year old sister. She is growing rapidly 1-3 inches every three months, however at this point we are maintaining her weight. She had a bone scan density done about a year ago, and I was told it was slightly elevated. What does that mean? There was still no big concern on there end. Today I noticed when giving her a bath, her underarms smelled like a smelly old man. This is not normal along with the fact that she started loosing her teeth three months ago due to her new teeth pushing them out. I am concerned and my doctor takes this lightly. I am very frustrated as I know this is not normal at all based off my other three kids. She also had an extra top front tooth which I was told may have something to do with the growth hormone. What do I need to do to get my child the care she needs to slow down her growth and development? I am getting gray hair over this, and why can't I get a doctor to look over my daughter with a fine toothed comb? There are several signs that something isn't right!

Deanne H. you need to call a pediatric endocrinologist. I was looking on here because my three year old daughter has b.o., and I feel her doctor is taking it too lightly. It is not normal for a child that age to have body odor. If I were you I would call the endocrinologist right away and get her checked. Go look in Wikipedia and search precocious puberty or premature adrenarche. I hope this helps, so sad for you.

My child is eight years old. She is overweight. She has puberty hair and has a bad smell. What can I do to help her?

Dear Laura, I have also been able to do this with my child. Ever since she was an infant I could tell when she was going to be sick just by smelling her. My husband was unable to detect the odor and thought it was just weird. So, Laura you are not alone. Have you been able to find out anymore about this?

I have a seven year old daughter that has had body odor since she was three years old. I talked to a couple of pediatricians about it, but they never heard of it so they don't take my opinion seriously. One pediatrician told me that my daughter is a mixed child so it's more frequent to get this problem. My concern is since she was born, when she was one week old , I fed her with breast milk and regular formula, then she got constipation, her poo poo is just like a rabbit's size 8-10 little balls came out. And her face would get swollen, scratched marks everywhere on her face. One of my friends gave me advice to switch to soy formula. After that her face got better, her poo became normal. When she turned five months old, she took an allergy test. She is allergic to wheat, milk, dairy products, peanuts, peanuts inside products, and also has eczema. When she turned three years old she started to have a distinct smell in her armpit when she ate beef, so I avoided beef for her. But lately, I smelled her when she ate chicken and eggs. Should I avoid these two also? This year, she developed a scalp problem. She had ringworm twice and had six weeks oral medication. She completely healed over the winter months. She developed yeast over the summer and healed. Now she has dandruff so bad like chunk pieces of dead skin come off, especially the right side of her scalp. And she is using Nizoral twice a week since she got yeast. It is dermatologist recommended. I am so concerned about what comes next, what is triggering to her, and if these symptoms are related to some kind of system problem?

My kid is five years old and this summer she had the onion smell too. I even bathed her with anti bacterial soap, powders etc. It is not all the time either just about once a month. This article is really helpful. I will bring it up to the doctor, thanks.

Hi my daughter is fourteen and she also has the smell. She takes showers everyday and every night, and she uses baby whips and body spray and vanilla spray. She is so upset with that and she is a little on the over weight side and that hurts her a lot. She gos to school and kids make fun of her because she is over weight and she stinks. She cries all the time, and she has no friends. It really hurts me to see her like this at the age of fourteen going on fifteen in high school. I don't know what else to do. I am stuck. I had her blood tested, and she can't lose the weight. She tries so hard to not eat, and she just gets so depressed that she eats and then she smells. She doesn't like to go to the gym because she can smell her self and she knows that. Her so called friends can smell her too. She use to have ear infections a lot and had tubes put in at a very young age. She is feeling hopeless and so am I. I have tried everything I can think of for her. Is there anyone out there with any ideas please please. Help me, she wants to quit school she hates it, thanks.

I don't want to scare anyone, but if you feel like your doctor has not given you a satisfactory answer or isn't taking you seriously, then get a second opinion. We noticed odor under my daughter's arms when she was three years old. In her case it turned out to be cancer and her doctor missed the tumor that the doctors at the hospital could feel just with their hands three days later. I was relentless with calling the pediatricians office until finally they listened to me. Turns out she had a hormone producing tumor, hence the body odor and other signs of puberty. She is a happy, healthy cancer free five year old now.

My eight-year-old son "developed" extreme foul body odor under his arms about six months ago. We bathed him everyday and changed soaps at least six times. We used dove scented, Dove unscented, Ivory, Caress, Dial deodorant soap, Dial natural unscented, but nothing worked. By the end of the day his pits smelled so bad they smelled almost like onions. And you could smell it when he got into the car or came into the house, even with his winter coat on you could smell it. I called our pediatrician and we ruled out precocious puberty. She suggested trying Hibiclens soap. She said to use the soap once a day for five days under his arms. She thought it might be an overgrowth or build up of Staph. We bought the soap, I gave him a bath, then after rinsing off his usual soap, I applied a small quarter size amount of Hibiclens into a wet washcloth and washed his armpits well. I then rinsed very well. The next day I picked him up from school and guess what, no more stink. I stuck my nose right up into that little armpit and there was no bad smell. The smell had completely gone after one application. We continued for the next four days, just to be sure and follow the doctor's orders, but the smell is completely gone for good. Well at least until puberty. She had also suggested Tom's deodorant which is an all natural deodorant to use in case the Hibiclens didn't work. I'm so glad that we did not have to resort to the deodorant, he is only eight.

My nine year old son has a very strong scent from his scalp of what I consider to be earth worms or kidney beans. I am curious if this represents a known health concern or if it is just the odor of a nine year old child's hormones.

My five and a half year old son is having some b.o. issues. It started when was two yrs. old, his breath would smell even after brushing but now his breath is better but it has moved to under arms as of today. I smelled must and wonder how could that be. He has dealt with unusual sweating since infancy but it subsided since he turned five yrs. old now weather is getting hot and he is sweating again but this time under arms are smelly. What could be some causes? Thanks.

Hi, my daughter has really bad odor in her private area even with a bath every day and even wipes in between, she eats the same foods that she did before the odor started.

Hi my daughter is 18 months old and she smells really bad even after she has been bathed. Even her breath smells the same as her hair and the rest of her body. Do you have any idea what it is?

My five year old daughter has bad body odor under her arms. When she was an infant she started to develop breasts. The doctor told us to use organic milk and after a year, her breasts receded. For the past year, my daughter has had a slight period just for a day every couple of months. I mentioned it to the doctor, but he said that is more that she hurt herself playing and not a true period. Should I be concerned or force him to do more tests. I don't want to use deodorant, but even I don't smell like that on days I forget deodorant. She is about to start School and a few kids she played with already mentioned how bad she smells. Something has to be done. 

Has anyone ever heard of flowery sweet smelling BO? My four year old son always wakes up smelling like this. I know he sweats a lot during the night, but he doesn't wake up drenched. The smell isn't foul at all. I just worry that it might be a sign of something I should know about since it is so unusual, thanks.

Theresa, I would definitely get a different opinion. I don't think I would have that doctor do more tests. I would try to find a different one who is willing to look for the real cause. Since there has been a history with hormone type issues, it seems like it is more than an injury, especially because of the consistency of the bleeding. I am a strong believer that the Mom knows best for her kids, so if you feel your Dr. isn't doing everything he can, do what you can to find another doctor who really wants to help find the problem. There are a lot of hormones in commercially produced meats and in soy products. I don't know if that might be contributing to the problem. Good Luck.

Hi, I have twin girls and they are almost Five yrs. old. Only one of them have bad BO whenever she exercises. Her odor has a dirty and vinegary smell under her arms. The smell goes away after bathing but comes back the next time she sweats. Should we get a blood test done on her to see if she has this metabolic problem?

My mom and I also can smell when my daughter is getting sick. It is a metallic or plastic-like smell. I am curious as to whether or not there is any research on why some people have this ability. My husband doesn't, and I don't think he really believes me when I tell him I do. 

Amy, my son also had a sweet sweaty smell too. I had him tested for diabetes which came out negative. I was also able to detect an oncoming episode of tonsillitis by his scent. After he had his tonsils and adenoids removed, no more sweet smelling sweat. I can also tell if my other son is getting sick by his scent. Maybe it's a mum thing? 

My little seven year old son has a very strong under arm odor which is bad really bad. I don't know what to do? His urine smells very strong. Is it normal and natural to be like that.

Lori posted a comment and I don't see a specific response. It has to do with my two and a half year old that has a cold and she is emitting a strong band-aid odor. I kept thinking it was a new blanket in her room, but I still smelled it after I washed it. This morning she hopped in bed with us and I was overwhelmed by the plastic band-aid odor. She has a residual chest cough and mildly runny nose; last week she had a fever, but is otherwise recovered. I have noticed this odor getting worse and we are now 10 days out in her sickness. Could this be a sign of infection or something else that I need to take her to the doctor? Thanks so much!

My Eight year old son has a horrible, onion like odor, he sweats all the time. He sweats when he sleeps. He is always hot, which is fine, but the BO has gotten to be to much. He showers and all is well until he begins sweating. I picked him up from school the other day, as soon as he entered the car I could smell him. He showered right when we walked in the house. He knows he stinks and comments have been made to him. I know he feels bad about it, but there has been little we've been able to do. Like I said, he smells fine until the moment he starts sweating, and then it's all down-hill. His breath stinks even right after he brushes his teeth and uses mouth wash. We have had this issue for some time. My pediatrician also seems to play everything off and nothing is serious. I am looking for a new, good one. I have pestered the Doctor and dentist about these issues. He also snores, very loud and grinds his teeth. Finally, I received a referral for an ENT. I found out my son's adenoids are huge and his tonsils are large as well. I've put off his surgery until after school lets out for the year but after reading all these posts I am reconsidering. I am also going to switch to organic milk after reading these comments. It's amazing to find helpful information online, but I can't get it from the doctor.