Child and deodorant

[purpleme12]

When did your child start wearing deodorant?

And when they first start using it, should I just buy her any one from the shops? Or is there one that's best?

My DS was 11 and my DD is 10 and doesn't seem to need it yet. DS was complaining his armpits were "sticky".
I got an unscented deodorant stick - they are both used to body balm sticks.
We have had them from zero waste shops (Scence brand) or from Amazon (random brands that were available).
I haven't actually seen just a deodorant in a stick in Boots/Superdrug - tends to be either stick anti perspirant or spray deodorant with a real pong to it!

I have a 9 and 10 year old and the 9 year old I think needs it if playing a lot of sport

the ten year old doesn’t

i have tried to gently introduce the idea and they have cried (9 year old did - they are tiny and still very much into teddies etc) so I would love some advice but for now lots of showers and fresh clothes

I meant anti perspirant
I always forget I need to say that!
My child is almost 11
She doesn't pong or anything but I've wondered if she has started to sweat a bit/smell ever so slightly there in the heat
I wasn't really expecting it to be this soon but don't know whether I should get one now

I would stick to just deodorant for this age TBH.

@Royalshyness my DS brought it up himself but he has quite a lot of sensory issues, and it was very good he was used to a body balm. I would maybe try introducing that for after a shower, first.

@purpleme12 My boy started at about 7. I used to use a natural deodorant from a brand called pitt balm on him. They've since rebranded to Rubb. He's 9 now and super active I used a tiny bit of rubb and it seems to do the trick and he was ok with it as we started pretty young. They say they're coming out with a kids deodorant soon so that would be good.

@drspouse Yeah i find with mine, using it right after the shower as part of the 'routine' is the best bet.

My 11yo ds uses anything gentle that I can nag him to put on - Wild, spots and stripes and a natural one that I got in France. I really want to stick to just a gentle deodorant rather than an antiperspirant at this age - in fact I’ve used just a deo for years. Sure smells very strong to me now.

Can I ask what's wrong with normal anti perspirant?

Wondering why so many mentions of 'only' using deodorant and special balms etc. why not just the supermarket anti perspirants?

Fussy is good and seems to do the trick.

My DD is 10 and we have had to start using one as she was sweaty and smelly.
We tried a fragrance free super sensitive roll on bit it irritated her.

We found a super sensitive roll on online and so far this has been working well

amzn.eu/d/i49MGY3

This is the link.
It's WILD, natural, refillable

Without getting too boring and scientific about it,

Anti-perspirants stop you from sweating which stop the smell.

A GOOD deodorant will allow your body to sweat as it needs to, but instead tackle the bacteria under your armpits which also stops the smell.

so one allows your body to do what it needs to do and one prevents it. As an adult I don't think the big pharma companies always do what's best for our bodies. I am especially distrustful of them for younger kids when they are still developing etc etc.

We started at 7 for my DD as she had actual body odour at that age (checked out with GP who had no concerns, no other signs of puberty). We started with one called salt rock and moved on to Wild. Salt rock didn't hold up for long and I found I didn't like the smell of wild when it mixed with actual sweat! She is 9 now and just uses a normal Dove one. She never smells now and some days forgets to put it on. It was like she had a sudden surge of hormones at that age which was odd!

It happens more often than you think. My colleague's 3 year old has had to start using deodorant some days. The body does crazy things eh?

Wow! The body does to crazy things and the range of normal is massive.

A great positive of it all is it started a really open dialogue about puberty at 7, when otherwise I probably would have left it a few years thinking she was too young. It's so much easier to talk about these things when they're younger because they don't find it embarrassing at that age! She still doesn't really have any signs of puberty at 9 but is ready and chilled about it. So different to myself at that age!

Yes exactly. I was just talking to my sister about this a few weeks ago. Having some of these conversations early, before kids get to the age where they are embarrassed about every little thing, actually makes it easier. They're keen to learn and don't think they know it all. (like a 13yr old would)

My sons started needing it toward the end of year 4 because they smelled of stale sweat so we just made it part of their morning routine. I volunteered in a school and year 4 seemed to be the turning point for I would say 1/4 of the children smelling sweaty after PE or games. So in school they had roll on or stick deodorant as they are not allowed to spray anything as it can set some children's asthma off.

I would wait until they need it but have some in ready to go for when they do. Whatever mine started with was mild and kid friendly, I couldn't tell you what it was as my youngest is now an adult.