Smelly bits in 6yr old daughter

[louloulabelle]

I'm hoping someone can give me some advice. My 6yr old daughter is still in nappies at night and I am finding that she often has quite smelly bits. We get her to wash herself around the whole area her nappy has been in the morning but she can still be smelly. She also has a tendency to leak a bit during the day and her pants can be damp - I have recently had her wee tested and she doesn't have an infection. CAn anyone give me any advice on how to avoid her smelling and getting her out of nappies at night. It really upsets me to think that she is smelly.

Is there any reason, medical perhaps, why she's not been dry at night before now? And how does she feel about not wearing nappies at night?

Sorry, have just seen the bit about leakage during the day too - did you get a chance to mention this to your gp?

getting her out of nappies - that will only happen when she is ready. My advice is not to worry about it. I thought mine would NEVER come out, but they did .. at around that age, actually (autism btw)

When you say smelly, do you mean smells of wee, or some other smell?

If it's wee, then it's a continence issue. More frequent changing and more washing. pads (tena lady type) in her pants, or something, might help during the day. Can you get small ones?

and instead of a strip wash in the morning, get her to freshen up with a proper bath or shower. We still do that now, for our boys, or they can whiff a bit.

Thanks for all your replies. there is no medical reason that she isn't out of nappies at night - she just isn't ready - she's not too bothered about it yet.
THe smell is just wee - so I will go with a more thorough wash. I don't think she has a medical problem with the leaking - I think she just isn't bothered by doing it.
I really struggled with her potty training - it was a complete nightmare and then some time later, I found out she had a urine infection, so she hasn't had the best/easiest start to wearing pants.

Don't forget not to use soap in that area though

solo if not using soap is there something that should be used, or just warm water??

A six year old should definitely be washing her bottom with soap. A mild one.

I wouldn't use soap. Aqueous cream works perfectly well IME. Teach girls early on that soap isn't good to use 'down there'. You've only ot to read stuff on here to know that grown women don't know this and then wonder why they get sore/itchy/thrush etc...of course it's up to the individual, but I'd definitely say after 3 years old, 4 years at most...no soap on their bits.

DD is just like this, and I've been advised not to use soap or bubble baths when she's sore.

Sometimes it does develop into a urinary tract infection, but more often than not she just gets sore round her bits.

Then when she's sore she can't "hold" so has accidents at school, and if she's too shy to ask to go and change she sits in damp knickers all day.

It's a vicious circle. Our doctor has prescribed some cream that does help, but as soon as we stop using it it all starts up again. She has an appointment at the hospital on Monday so that she can be checked out.

Apparently it's very common and most of them grow out of this, but as dd has had 3 confirmed infections he thought it best that she was checked out.

solo
you mean Aqueous cream can be used instead of soap. So you just wipe it on and leave it or what? Sorry if I sound a bit dim. Not heard of this before

Yes, use it just like soap and rinse it off, though it doesn't matter if you don't rinse properly like it would with soap it wont make you itchy or sore. It is very soothing too if you are a bit sore. I particularly use it during my period as I use towels which tend to make you(me)sore(TMI)and it does help. Just rub on and rinse off in the shower. HTH.