Do all prepubescent boys have a weird smell?

My son is 8, and his oaxters are really stinky. I have to tell him to wash his pits twice.

strangely, I remember that when I was a kid, my dad smelled the same! And he washed every day

Yes unfortunately, a new low of pongy smell, I feel sorry for them!

I febreeze my eldest child before he leaves the house now. Bath every night and a full wash every morning with clean clothes daily!

The 'separation' theory is interesting as I have ID twins. Both just pre puberty and both have ASD. One is however much more independent than the other who still needs much more help and is functioning probably 2 years or so behind his brother..independent twin smells quite wierd at times... not BO, more cheap vinegar ! The one still needing more help with care doesn't smell at all yet... nature is a curious and clever thing ...

I thought I had written this post only my son is 12 not 10!
The fuckn fluffy dressing gown and snoodie worn constantly, even in 20° heat 🤢

Normal. 3 teens. 1 now a man, no smell at all, 1 girl, body odour when very hot, 1 14 year old male, very pongy for a few years. All very normal.

What sort of smell?
If it's definitely not linked to diabetes or a rotten tooth I guess all you can do is insist on bar soap, regular hair wash in case it's his scalp, Mitchum roll on and fresh clean clothes in natural fabrics. Wash bedding and clothes in laundry disinfectant when needed. Make him open bedroom window on a morning to air it out.

They worked fine for my ds, he never smelled and he did a lot of sport.

Where is the funk emanating from?

Yes!!

We joke about it now he’s well into his 20s, but my DS was just like Gollum between 13 - 15. Enormous hands and feet out of proportion with the rest of his body. Long, thin, white arms and legs. Lank hair. Aversion to daylight. Tendency to only communicate in a low growl with hunched shoulders.

And smelt very peculiar.

Now he’s upright. Confident. Good looking and 100x fresher scented!

Buy him dettol anti bacterial soap and mitchum roll on for men. This combination will keep the pong at bay, shower gel makes it worse. He needs to scrub himself well with traditional bar soap & dettol does the job.

It's the bacteria in the skin which causes the unpleasant odour.

My DS is nearly 13 and doesn't smell at all. Yet! No real signs of puberty though.

I teach secondary and a couple of my lessons follow their PE lesson and my classroom has needed airing afterwards in this hot weather. 28 ripe teenagers post PE are utterly honkworthy!

Yes, a KS3 classroom at the end of the day is not a feast for the nose. And winter heating fug, or sweaty polyester blazers in the sun just enhances the aroma. Be grateful you don't have 30 at home 😁

Just wait til he's an actual teenager OP!

My son is 12, doesn't generally get that sweaty and doesn't really get BO (unless he's done a LOT of exercise) - but he does leave an odd smell behind in places where he's spent a lot of time (mostly his bedroom). I can't work out what causes it - and it's not even that bad, it's just his smell. It's a relatively new thing in the last year or so.

Yes to hamster smell. I have to secretly air his room as he hates fresh air.
At the end of the school day a waft accompanies him into the car.

He's not got to the acid armpits/ Lynx stage yet.

There's nothing quite like period 5 eww de y9/10, post-PE covered up with Lynx.

Mine is 13 and, to me, he smells of vanilla and baby shampoo. Except his socks which I admit smell of the bog. Maybe I am just nose blind. But he’s ok so far as I can tell. He has 2 older sisters. They never smelled bad either.

Yes, awful smell. Maybe even worse when they hit puberty.

Could it be his scalp? Both teenage boys and girls can get smelly hair/scalps due to hormonal changes.

I was pregnant with my youngest when my oldest hit puberty and I really hated the way he smelt! It got so much better after giving birth!

DS is 13, and I'm surprised he's not smellier by now (puberty is definitely well underway though). I can smell a metallic smell when he's been hot, but not a BO smell. And he brings home a classroom smell when he's been at school - it smells a bit of farty boys and Lynx. He's not even using deodorant yet, he'll use a PitRok crystal when he needs to.

Oh yes. Make sure he’s washing his pits, as my son wasn’t for ages, only when I walked past him as he got out of the shower and realised he still stank that I realised he wasn’t washing properly

Ds is 10, 11 in December. We've just been on a UK holiday in a lodge. Packed up this morning and the stench from his room when I opened the door the get his stuff 🤮🤮🤮. I left the windows open for an hour and all the windows in that part of the lodge and it was still vile when I had to lock up and go. Poor cleaners.

He is very fusty. Showers daily, I always remind him to wash bits, pits and arse but the boy honks by the time he is out of school despite being prompted to use antiperspirant etc.

He's also a fucker for hoodies and fleecy dressing gowns which makes it 10 times worse. I've only bought cotton summer shirts in the hope natural fibres are better than synthetic stuff.

Is he washing properly? I don't remember mine smelling . Clean clothes on? What sort of smell is it?