Early Puberty?

[Natty281]

Hi All,

I have three boys, two of them being twins. They are 9 in May and have quite bad body odour if they haven’t used deodorant. It started about a year ago and for some reason it seems to have been triggered by them putting on deodorant when copying their big brother.

I was looking for a child friendly deodorant and came across a website saying that a boy under 9 shouldn’t have body odour and it could be a sign that somethings not right. Have anyone else experienced this?

One of my twins also has fine hair under their arms, only a bit, and they are naturally quite hairy since birth.

I’ve booked a GP appointment but I wondered if anyone else has had a child with early body odour?

My daughter has full early puberty not adenarche. I dont think body odour at 9 is much to worry about. Unless they are very short (as height can be affected by early puberty) and showing other symptoms.

Quite a few children in my class in year 4 had B.O, I don’t think it’s that uncommon.
Plus I think not all parents offered a clean tshirt every day so even if they were washing in the shower every day the clothes would still smell.
Fresh sweat doesn’t really smell.
It’s likely that he’s just developing sooner than you realised he would.
Just ensure he washes regularly and has clean clothes, deodorant will help too!

I remember my dd having body odour when she was 8 on hot weather days. No other signs of puberty at that age.

Actually when I said there were quite a few, now that I’m thinking back it was really only 3 or 4!

My son was about nine when he started using a deodorant. He used to smell when he came home from school. He always showered or bathed in the morning and was very thorough but obviously being active at school means sweating a lot and it gets stale during the day.

I don't think his puberty was early - 12ish - and certainly not at nine. It seemed normal to me and wouldn't have occurred to me to take him to the doctor. He wasn't the only kid in the class to smell a bit ripe by the time he came home.