How young is too young for BO?

I think folks (meaning scientists etc) need to dig deeper than the surface. it's easy to see this difference and make the assumption that it's racial. Of course it depends on how they defined racial groups, and a number of other factors. Hopefully folks are looking into this across the board rise in early puberty and asking what we can do to stem the tide. I can't imagine that early puberty is good for anyone. back in my childhood (the 1960s and 1970s) there was always one child in class who developed early. In 4th grade we had one child had breasts. The rest of us were quite slow to develop. I know my mom bought be a training bra in 6th grade. we both giggled and I put it in my drawer for "when I needed it", which was over a year later, lol. only one girl wore a bra in my 6th grade class. Fast forward to the 1990s and 2000s and I'm visiting elementary schools, stopping in 4th and 5th grade classes. I ask the teachers "what the @#!!, these kids look like 8th graders!". They all comment that kids are developing earlier these days. these girls were wearing real bras with cups, not the little stretchy things. quite a shock. I used to think it was all the hormones in meat and dairy products, but I'm thinking it's a much more complex cocktail of environmental things, including foods. Not sure what can be done to stop it, but we're dancing around trying to do so. we'll see when dd's older...

And add to that the wearing of makeup and skimpy clothing in elementary school. Yikes! Our girls' school has a "no nylons or makeup" rule for girls (we have a dress code), and yet I saw two fourth grade girls last week with fake nails! :(

I'm not talking about the kids that I grew up with but the ones that I know now. I was out of the country when I was 7 or 8 and when I came back we lived strictly in southern states. My friends that have kids that age now are talking about them using deordorant. My nephew is one of them. I'm convinced that the climate effects how early you develop too. I live in Georgia :D , you can't get more agricultural than that. Plus there are a couple of nuclear plants near my hometown. The town where one plant is located has an unusually high number of AA albinos. DH used to work there on a regular basis and believed the plant caused it. I worked at the other plant that was in South Carolina for a number a years and there was a high incidence of childhood cancers and two headed toads there. They were the largest employer for the area so no one was going complain about the long term effects. I think diet plays a big factor in BO. The diet of AA people in the south is horrible. There are many traditional things in the southern diet that I refuse to eat. I limit dairy because I'm lactose intolerant. I don't really eat a majority of soul food because I just can't get past the smell or how it was prepared. Turnip greens and collard greens... Yuck! Just about everyone I know who eats those types of food have high blood pressure or high cholesterol. DH is slim and comes from a family of very slim people and high blood pressure and cholesterol runs in his family. DH is just now figuring out why so many of his family have died from heart attacks. If they had been diagnosed, took the proper medication and changed their diet, some of them would still be here. I don't want to get on the subject of the ones who are on medication but have not changed their diets. If studies are done, they will probably discover that generations of bad diets will create certain conditions in families. Because of generational poverty, southern people have horrible diets. The cheapest food is usually not the healthiest. One day they are going to realize that everything doesn't need to be fried or dripping in butter. I know it tastes good but you have to think about your health. When I was growing up my mother's family typically ate baked chicken, fish and vegetables. They did not eat red meat. All the fried foods were saved for special occasions once or twice a year. I don't ever remember anyone having BO in the family and I think it was mainly because of diet.

My little sister who is Seven already has problems with BO and we use deoderant/anit perspirant because it's sometimes that bad. My other sister who is 13 has extremely strong BO to where it smells like a skunk odor almost and she is AA and my other sister is biracial. I started sweating really bad in middle school and I was soooo self concious of it and we had tried tons of deoderant brands and even perscription strength deoderant and I would sweat to were it would leave stainds all the way down my shirt almost and it was a big social hinder on me and I don't think seven is too young for deoderant I mean I would rather have my sister use deoderant than have her friends tell her that she stinks or have it be a social problem like it was for me. It all depends on the persons's hormones like I had a slight hormonla imbalance, but luckily as I've gotten older my sweat glands seem to be calming and I don't sweat like I used to.

I think you're right about that. My DH is not AA but he is black (so that's racially the same thing) and he has practically no BO at all. He grew up in the country in a non-industrialized country, and was a really late bloomer, and eats fairly healthy. As for soy causing BO I think that's doubtful, because I am a vegan so I eat a lot of soy products and I have not noticed my BO getting worse since I became vegan, actually now that I think about it I haven't noticed it at all so it probably is less. I don't know if it affects children differently though. Definitely my advice for the thread starter is to just ask the kids' pediatrician what they think.

Time for deodorant. My 7 yo (I've had him 1 1/2 years), sweats alot. I noticed an odor near his room and thought it was the shoes and/or sneakers. He went to summer school and his teacher called me and said in so many words, that he's developing BO. He puts deodorant on every day and he's ok now.

I ended up buying some "natural" deodorant in the organic section of our grocery store. It has a minty scent and contains no aluminum-something, but it does contain "propylene glycol." I'm not sure what that is, but it doesn't sound good. It's probably what gives stick deodorant its stickiness. I don't have her wear it everyday, just when she wears sweaters to school or I know she's going to be playing outdoors alot in her heavy winter coat. I haven't noticed the BO as much (even when she's not wearing the deodorant), so maybe it's just bacteria when she goes more than two days without a bath. ???

Here is more info on "Propylene Glycol" and it's uses: [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propylene_glycol[/url]

Eek, that doesn't sound good (the propylene glycol description). OK, so my quest continues. I have found all kinds of natural products online that contain no aluminum, propylene glycol or triclosan: IndiuMagic (but I looked up Indium, the main ingredient, and it appears to be used as a metal alloy!); Alba Clear Enzyme in Lavendar or Mandarin Spice (or Aloe, scent-free...not sure what ingredients is has); and "Thai" salt crystal rock (in a push up plastic case so you don't have to hold it, you just wet it and roll it under your arm--no scent, supposedly dries quickly). After looking at the ingredients of my own "Secret" deodorant and seeing the warning that anyone with kidney ailments shouldn't use it (yikes!), I've decided to "go natural," too. I just need to find something that works and will last long enough to be worth its price. ;) Does anyone have any experience with these?

Okay-- here's my 2 cents. Kids are stinky. I have a caucasian bio daughter who is two and a half. If she doesn't get a bath everyday she smells like a foot. (She sweats in her sleep and sucks her thumb, so even her room stinks in the morning.) When she has a bath everyday she doesn't smell. I asked a friend of mine about it and she said that one of her kids was the same way--- some kids are just stinky. Sure, it's definitely worth asking your ped about, but lots of kids (of all races) are developing earlier. Another one of my friends had to let her 7 yo daughter start shaving over the summer because she had so much underarm hair. Also, you may want to check that she's wiping properly when she uses the bathroom. When things are not in balance down there it can get stinky. And an option of what to use-- my mother in law doesn't use deodorant b/c she's scared of the breast cancer link, but has been using apple cidar vinegar under her arms for years. She read about it in some natural book-- a swipe on a cottonball in each pit. I have never, ever known her to smell bad... just a suggestion. Good luck!

I use the crystals. I have used them in several forms, liquid (which is just basically the salts in a water suspension) and in the rock form (with and without the plastic). They all seem to work well. Now, for people that sweat alot, they may require reapplication. I can use it in the morning and be fine all day, even if working outside but have been told by some that they have to reapply a few times through the day. Even with the reapplication factor, though, I think it is worth it to get away from using all those chemicals. I prefer the crystal to all the other natural choices that I have tried.

Funny you should mention wiping. It's true that she needs work in that arena (she has hidden soiled diapers in the bottom of her laundry basket--grr!), but the BO smell clearly comes from her underarms because I have lifted her arm to see if that's what it was--whew! Ugh. Underarm hair at 7 sounds like it could lead to premature bone development, which will end up with stunted growth (kids grow too fast then suddenly stop when the other kids start growing. This leaves them at under 5' typically.) There's a foundation that researches this: the Magic Foundation (wwwDOTmagicfoundationDOTorg).

I've noticed that my little sister age 7 has light underarm hair thats the same tone to her skin like its not like alot of hair just light little ones is this normal? Also me personally I use Dove deoderant and a prescription Aluminum Chlorid solution for my my underarms because I'm a heavy sweater and have tried everything even natural products and I have yet to find something that works so any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Hello I have two daughters not biologically related. We've had both since they were infants so their diets are virtually the same. The oldest who is Asian didn't begin her period till age 13 but the youngest who is Pacific Islander began her's at 11. The younger is small build, not overweight at all so its not related to size, weight etc. The younger girl also has much stronger body order than her older sister and needed deodorant at an earlier age. I guess :) what I'm trying to say is I think its a unique thing to each child depending on their genetics :flower: I think I'd buy deodorant not AP at such a young age. There are also deodorants, AP's made for teenagers.

I might still take them to the doctors though. If they smell like sulphur-ish, or like almonds, or like apples, take them right away as that is a medical problem. A guy that I had to work with (in an enclosed space no less) had horrible BO ever since he was a kid. He took multiple showers a day, etc. Went to the doc and found out that it was an endocrine problem (?) that could be fixed with a mild medication. All those years of suffering, even through high school, and that's all he needed to fix it. On the other hand, most of my friend's kids have been using deodorant since they were 7 or 8.