I was freaking out yesterday because my six year old sat in my lap. I noticed her underarms were very sweaty and then a slight odor to them. The only time I had heard about bo in children is the onset of puberty. I started young but not that young. The embarrassment I felt all came back to me and I did not want my children to ever go through that. I was almost in tears yesterday. I called my pediatrician’s office this morning and the nurse was very re-assuring she said most likely she is not starting puberty especially if there is no other signs of puberty. There are not only the odor. She said not to worry about it that kids can start young sweating and that sweat mixed with bacteria is what causes the smell. I felt some better. My mother in law sent me a link about children and body odor but most people pulled their kids off milk and it went away. My daughter does not drink milk. She has always been on organic soy. We do eat meat and chicken but I limit how much my children eat. They eat red meat maybe two times a week or less and chicken or fish the rest.

Has anyone else had this issue with their children?

I did not want to blog about this because certain issues should be kept private, however I noticed the same thing with the other parents on the site, we were all freaking out so I thought maybe this would help someone or someone else could help me.

Update: I spoke with my pediatrician today and she said her daughter who is now 8 started sweating under the arms and had some body odor at age 6. She is also watching her closely due to her starting puberty early. She said so far her daughter still shows no signs of puberty and she is 8. There is an xray they can do to check bone development. If it is show abnormal bone development the likely hood that she would start puberty at an early age would show up and at that point they would want to do more tests. Since I see no signs of puberty, I don’t want to expose her to unnecessary xray radiation. It is good to know they can check if they have too.

Update 2009: At Pooky’s 7 year check up, the doctor said there are no signs of puberty and she only put on 2 inches since last year so that is another sign that puberty has not started. I am so relieved. She said, she just has increased sweat glands and when she sweats it comes in contact with bacteria and smells. I could use deoderant if it is an issue but at this time I don’t want to expose her to all those chemicals. I hope this helps someone out there. Your doctors can tell you if your child is starting to develop.