To think this is perfectly normal? (warning - a bit gross)

[AQAHistory]

Can you distinguish your family members by their smells? Including by the smell of their farts?

I was having a laugh with a friend, and she claims that it's weird that I can tell, by the smell of a fart, or by a used bathroom, which member of my family (3 kids and DH) produced it. I can also tell who has worn something just by the smell. None of them is a smelly person, they just have their own smells (not BO or products. Just their smells). Turns out she also thinks it weird that, when the kids were babies, I could smell a day before they came out with a virus that they were about to get unwell.

AIBU to say this is is all pretty normal for women?!

no, i don't think this is weird, it's totally normal and i have this myself! :)

Bloody hell.

My husband has the same.

Oh that's interesting. I thought it was a woman thing

Definitely agree about the individual person smells and I can still tell when DD is unwell as she smells completely different.

Not at all weird to me….i have a very sensitive sense of smell. I can smell things other people can’t but to be clear they are not phantom smells. For example I will detect an odour first that other then smell such as smoke, food eg BBQ. So I trust me sense of smell

I can tell who has been to the loo etc the same as you describe. I can also smell when my DH is going to be ill he just smells sort of off.

This hyper sense has got worse since I had Covid and it can be frustrating if I can’t source a smell. I am very selective about what smells are in the house, fragrance wise as I find some overpowering- I can be completely overwhelmed if near a member of the great unwashed where I feel quite nauseated and kind of suffocated.

…oh and I could tell when my daughter was due to get her first period her smell just changed

Donald Sutherland, quoting someone or other, said he knew his wife’s farts. Managed to make it seem romantic. I can also identify the family bowels by waft. Is there a gameshow in this?

What is weird is, my bathroom now smells, after me, the way the toilet at home used to after my mum had been in 🤔 Is it hormones?

Try going to a primary school. The kids can all tell who a discarded jumper belongs to by smell 🥰

Yes I can smell people’s individual smells and can smell an oncoming cold on my kids. Never tried with farts before because … yuck.

I could tell when my kids were unwell by their smell but not when older.

Smelling illness coming on is quite normal, but not for everyone IYSWIM, as is distinguishing between body odours/pheromones. The other things...eh I've not heard about that.

My teenage son used to complain about old peoples smell when he went in bathroom after me.🥺. I think I've noticed my pee smells sweet or something after I've been.
It must be hormonal.

Are you a super taster as well by chance?

Also I used to get a little bit exasperated with DH who has extremely sensitive sense of smell/is probably a supertaster, when he would say how annoying and horrible it was. But my sense of smell has got much more sensitive in peri-menopause and oh my GOD it's not nice being able to smell/taste all sorts of layers in things much more keenly.

😂

I don't know, OP.
Obviously I could sniff out my husband.

I don't know about the farts.
😐

I can smell the poos and farts things

the unwell thing im going to look out for

I used to work with a guy who would tell me when I was unwell, the day before I was actually unwell. He used to say I smelt 'ill'.

Yes, I've always been able to distinguish family member smells. Not so much farts (not sure my my mum ever farted in my presence!) but a general body smell. I can also smell illness on other people.

Absolutely. Which is useful as my kids have a habit of stealing my clothes. I can always know which one did it!

Mine too! So must be hormones.

I remember mentioning mums bathroom smell to a friend once, she thought I was really weird 😅

OMG, me three.

This is clearly A Thing....

I’m a super sniffer and my DS seems to have inherited it.

We both get put off buildings and even people by their smell. I’m not talking about the usual unpleasant body odours, these are scents that just seen to be ‘negative’ I’ve viewed properties that I’ve had to leave because of an aroma that no one else detected and as a youngster turned down dates for the same reason.

My husband has a friend who has a particular smell I can’t bear, but he’s never done me any harm and is always perfectly pleasant. If DH meets him for a drink, I can pick up this particular smell when he gets home and if he’s ever in our house, I need to air the place afterwards.

Even when DS was very small, he used to sniff anything new before he even visually examined it. As an adult, he is still very tuned in olfactorily and when we compare notes, we’re both getting exactly the same whiff!

I don't have that experience although my husband's neck does smell of fresh bread to me, warm and comforting, and I can smell a couple days before he gets a cold.

Growing up of my friends used to say that about people's houses but this was sometimes due to products, she said my one friend's house smelt of Lenore. When my family moved she said it didn't smell like our house yet, and then a few months later she said it smelt like it was our place again (not in a bad way). I think you have a very good sense of smell.

That's interesting. Just for a short amount of time or permanently?