Toddler Smells of...

[TunipTheVegimal24]

Sick. It's quite gross - I'm with him all day, so am sure I'd know if he was chucking. Mainly seems to be coming from his scalp / hair.

I bath him every other or third day. Did him last night, and by tonight he already smells grim. He does have eczema, so only bathe him in liquid paraffin as "soap", and oilatum. Not sure if this is contributing? Our 4 yo gets bathed the same way and doesn't smell :-/

Is his hair thick ? My dd has thick curly hair and it can smell awful - like cheesy sick. Especially in summer when she got sweaty. I think it’s a yeast issue ? We used head and shoulders a few times and a tangle teezer to really loosen the almost cradle cap like skin on her scalp. If she’s unwell or gets hot and sweaty it smells bad again though 😩

What do you use to wash his hair?

Scalps that are prone to a build up of skin or grease can need a bit of a scrub with fingertips when shampooing to loosen it a bit.

Something else that can make someone smell of vomit is lactose intolerance but I think you’d smell that on his breath.

You don’t use Vosene tea tree shampoo do you? It has an acrid note

Are you properly massaging his scalp when washing?

How long have you noticed the smell for? I can smell when DD is getting poorly, I notice a slight vinegary small on her, DH says he can't smell it, but every time I catch that whiff I know she's coming down with a virus and will have a temperature within 24 hrs and it's always been right.

@InfoSecInTheCity vinegary- yes, my LO is the same. I haven’t noticed it’s when she’s coming down with something though, just seems to be a general natural smell. Not stomach-turning but not pleasant either. I bathe my two most days in plain water, no soap or shampoo, as they have sensitive skin prone to rashes. Only one is like this.

OP, what is your LO’s diet like? Is it heavy in lactose?

Yes, it is a "cheesy" sort of sick 🤢! His scalp does LOOK normal though - certainly no cradle cap looking stuff.

Just Epimax, as his skin is so sensitive he gets bad eczema with anything else. I thought I was giving him a good scrub with my fingers, but might go back to using our little plastic scrubber.

Interesting you say about the lactose intolerance - he does get bad nappies if he has a lot of lactose. We give him Arla in a bottle, but don't restrict if there's a splash of proper milk in something as an ingredient and he's always seemed okay. But with it being Halloween / bonfire night sort of time, we've been with family and I've not been paying close attention to his snacks tbh. Will try cutting the dairy right back and see if it helps.

We generally avoid lactose heavy foods with him, as he seems sensitive. But have been a bit more lax last few days 🤔

Only a few days. Hopefully not ill!! But will update if he is, it would at least explain the mystery.

We get this because she's been smoothing food through her hair at every meal - soup in particular smells very vomit like an hour later

I had this with DD when she was small-it was coming from behind her ears.

Nothing stuck up his nose is there? I hear that stinks

I had this with my curly haired son and it was his sweaty pillow! Had to replace and get a waterproof cover that I could wash regularly and it solved the problem.