Okay, I'm a little disturbed. I'm wondering if this is normal or if there's something wrong... I feel a bit like a bad parent.
The Little Mother seems to have bad breath on a regular basis. She brushes and flosses, but still when I kiss her goodnight there's a sweet-sour smell as if she'd been chewing Sweet Tarts an hour ago. We don't really eat candy and sugar in our house, so I know it's not that. She HAS had a lot of dental work on her baby teeth, and my husband claimed his baby teeth were bad, too. Could she have another cavity? Could she have some disease or hormone imbalance? I'm a little bit worried, but I don't want to say anything. I don't want the little girl (7) to feel self-conscious and I don't want to jump to conclusions if this is completely normal.
And Little Crow (almost 4 months) has stinky feet! I didn't think babies had stinky feet. Is this just due to him being a winter baby who wears socks and footed jammies all the time? Or should I be wiping his feet regularly? Or what? It doesn't seem to bother anybody, but it makes nibbling toes (one of my favorite baby games) much less pleasant.
Posted by Anna (Member # 2582) on :
I don't know about feet but when I was a kid I had bad breath because of acetone.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
I suspect the smelly baby feet is just because they're cooped up, and thus sweat a lot. One site I found recommended
quote: Sprinkle a little baking soda into the sleeper feet of children’s pajamas after they come out of the dryer to avoid "smelly feet."
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Useta be that physicians would use smell as one of their main diagnostic tools. Inre breath scent sweet&fruity : diabetes ammonia/urine : kidney failure rotten eggs : cirrhosis of the liver Sweet&fruity breath doesn't automaticly imply diabetes, but it is an indicator that you should take her to a physician for testing.
Some folks just have unusually sweaty feet, which isn't particularly noticible when there is air circulation to dry them. But when ya confine those feet in sox/shoes/etc, they sweat even more, and the sweat evaporates far less. With more moisture and more constant heat&moisture, stink-producing bacteria can reproduce faster into much higher densities; thereby making an unnoticeable or barely noticeable scent into something unpleasant.
[ March 17, 2006, 07:37 PM: Message edited by: aspectre ]
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Jenny, I noticed my sons feet always smelled worse than his sister's in infancy. Maybe boys have more sweat glands on the bottom of their feet or something?
As for the breath, every time I notice a bad breath on one of my kid it almost always indicates an infection of some kind - either strep or something that's causing post nasal drainage.
Posted by romanylass (Member # 6306) on :
It's my experienced opinion that boy feet stink. I know that sounds sexist, but, it's true in my family. (The boys' room always smells like a locker room too.)
I don't know about the halitosis, if you're worried I'd talk to your heath care provider. The post nasal drip makes sense.
Posted by Roseauthor (Member # 148) on :
I didn't have any problem with either of the boys feet stinking. Sometimes, the smell can be attributed to fungus. Get an antifungal cream just in case (it can't hurt!)
As for the bad breath.. the twins would get that but it was due to their sinuses draining into their ears and causing blockages. When we realized it was sinus related, we kept the orange triaminic in the cabnet at all times. It saved us a lot of time with ear tubes and infections.. and bad breath.
I would talk to a doctor and see what is normal for YOUR KIDS first. Then try some of the aforementioned suggestions.
Posted by Boothby171 (Member # 807) on :
Totally different diagnosis, though, if their feet smell and their noses run...