should I use anti-persparent or Deodorant for my 7 year old (she's still in infants)

[Wills]

Having been to the doctors repeatedly in the last 18 months to question him as to why my infant school child has armpits that could literally be bottled as chemical warfare (trust me I have 3 older kids all the way up to 17 and my youngest has pits that could knock you out before you entered the house) and been sent away with various palm-me-offs varying from not washing her properly, to not drying her properly to not using the right soap for her skin type etc. I finally found a female doctor who confirmed my other worst fear that she is indeed developing boobs already, that I'm not imagining the dandruff or greasy hair or spots or growth spurt (so am soooo angry with the first doctor for treating me as in an incompetent waste of time) and that she's probably got precocious puberty. We're off to see a professor at Great Ormand Street in 2 weeks time BUT.... from what I've read they can't turn anything back, only prevent further developments (like periods which if she follows her older sisters are not that far off). So the stinky pits are here to stay! What do I use that is healthy but stops her being called smelly by her class mates (they're already sniggering at her boobs - she was the only angel in the Nativity play with boobs ).

It's not funny how horrible for her. And just regular deodorant is fine. Roll one are better I think

Anti perspiratant will prevent her from perspiring, deodorant will just mask the smell.

I'd go with anti-perspiratant.

Coconut oil at night can really help, it's antibacterial. It's the bacteria that cause the smell so very frequent (2/3 times a day) washing is important too.

Deodorant.

Anti perspirant is pretty nasty stuff.

Try Toms of Maine natural deodorant. Works for my dd age 7.

My 9 year old uses this Children's Natural Deodorant, it is gentle but works on eliminating any BO smell

www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B012GZKAHY/ref=cm_sw_r_oth_api_22-CybKTWERJ0

Cherrycrumblecustard, sorry, I tend towards flippancy, when really emotionally upset or scared. Actually I'm a mix of stunningly angry, and v scared since it doesn't feel that long ago that I would have stated that she was reliably clean (I.e. Fully toilet trained) and the idea of having to help her come to terms with all that periods bring with them both physically and mentally is mind blowing. Of course my dh helpfully asked why they would be an issue and remained with that view until I told him he would have to share the responsibility of going in at least twice a day to help her change her pads because the school certainly wouldn't do it. But I'm being flippant again I know. But it's breaking my heart that her body wants to grow up so fast whilst her brain merely wants to float around as queen Elsa.

As for ideas, thanks ladies off to investigate - but should I worry that anti-persirants block the skin? Will that cause issues later on?

If you are worried about anti perspirant blocking the skin you could always try deodorant first and see if that makes a difference, and move to something stronger if it doesn't.

You can get deodorants which contain Alum which works to stop the bacteria smelling rather than blocking the smell. Sanex do a version, or look in somewhere like Holland and Barratt or on the Naturisimo website.

My brother is 6 & stinks of bo over the day....child or not...he needs to cover that up!

I'm so sorry your DD and you are going through this so early.

There are quite a few brands of natural deodorant - check out Holland and barrat.

Could you also get some fresh wipes to have on her bag? she could discreetly use them after PE etc and might help her feel cleaner (if she's noticing the perspiration).

Good luck at GOSH - I hope they are able to slow her pubity.

Ok, those age good ideas. Will look into further in the morning. Thx to all.

I hope your appointment at GOSH goes well. As you say they can slow down puberty if necessary. It's important to monitor growth potential such as by checking bone age. You might find it helpful to contact the Child Growth Foundation for more advice on precocious puberty.