5 yr old with smelly armpits! (sorry!)

[Theresa]

I've recently noticed my 5yr old son has slightly smelly pits! You can;t smel it if you are next to him or anything like that but sometimes if i lift him up by putting my hands kind of under his arms i'm aware of it and i noticed his footie top is just slightly pongy! I don;t regard it as a problem but is it normal? My 8 yr old daughter doesn't have this 'problem'. Maybe it's just a 'bloke' thing!

My younger stepson (9) has had this problem for a couple of years. His mother took him to the dermatologist who said on no account to use deodorant as there was too great a cancer risk involved and just to make sure he washes very well every day (scrub under the arms with soap and a flannel in the bath or shower) and wears all cotton clothing.

Thanks

My ds had sweaty BO armpits when he was a new born! Lasted for a while, but it's gone away now. He still has smelly feet, though.

Interesting about the cancer risk and deodourant.

I've never been clear as to whether that was proven or not. Wonder if adults should be concerned too?

My 6.5 yr old dd has just started to be smelly under her arms too ! I bought her a natural deodorant - Bionsen - with Japanese minerals and no aluminium in. PitRok is another one that is safe and recommended by GPs for children.

It's alumuminium in deodorants that is considered to be a cancer rick - it isn't conclusively proven though. My GP said it was fine to use non-aluminium deods on my dd.

thanks again folks. interesting, i really don't think we're at the deodrant stage yet. Is it 'normal' do we think. I think i sort of assumed that children's sweat didn't smell, or maybe that they didn't sweat much and that sort of thing arrived with puberty!

I also use Bionsen on my stinky DD aged 8 on doctors advice as it has no aluminium. Daily washing is best but she does do a lot of exercise so she does get a bit pongy. She smells like cornish pasties but I love her to bits.

My ds1 has had this since last summer - when he turned 8. I thought it was a bit young. Like you I thought it was a puberty thing. He has always been a very sweaty boy - when playing football etc.. looks much hotter & stickier than the others. We haven't gone down the deodorant route and things are a bit better now he's in summer uniform. The problem I have is persuading him to have a shower every day. He's so anti-soap it's unbelievable! I don't want to say "Have a shower you stink" I can normally get him in the shower every other day and has a clean shirt every day.

schilke - your son sounds just like my stepson - he spends so little time in the shower that he can't possibly wash enough. My partner sometimes gives him a bath and washes him really fiercely from head to toe... and sometimes we tell him he can't have anything to eat until he's washed properly

Ooh I like the idea of withholding food - that might work .....