[grumpy31700]

Since I brought my son home in March I have noticed that he has an odd smell. When I brought him home I thought maybe it was the food he was eating and when we got him home he would logically smell like us. Well several months have gone by and even an hour out of his bath he starts to smell. It is hard to describe the smell and it seems to be strongest in his hair but I can smell it all over him. It does not smell like BO but I have to assume it is because he sweats a lot for a 16 month old

Has anyone ever experienced this sort of problem?

[bogeydog]

You may already know this and not create alarm, however strong body smells can be anything from diet to health conditions. I would have a doctor check him out.

[Gatos]

There was a thread about this a while back. I seem to remember people describing the smell as vinegary. Try and search it.

[lcikra00]

My baby smelled like this when I visited her. This is what I found out from a little online research:

The one that most closely resembles what you're talking about was a sour, somewhat vinegar-y, but warmer smell, and that was when she had ear infections. She had recurring ear infections, eventually getting tubes in. About 90% of her ear infections were accompanied by that smell. And there was a direct and exact correlation btwn the smell, and when it was bacterial vs viral. I was an obsessive note-taker, and the infections that stank were helped by abx, and the ones that didn't, weren't helped by abx. The "smell test" was so reliable, that the drs knew if I said, "she has an ear infection, I can smell it," that I was right. It actually proved to be a useful diagnostic tool, because it let me know to get her to the dr right @ the start of each ear infection.

Oddly enough, it turned out that her ears were constantly infected (bacterial) which then spread to her stomach, so she had a bacterial infection in her stomach and was not gaining any weight. Hope this helps.

[grumpy31700]

I have had him on antibiotics twice since he was home for several reasons one was a ear infection. I do not think he has one now

[cjrogers]

This could be the way your son smells naturally, an infection, endocrine disorder, etc. I would take him to the pediatrician to get it checked out. Have you brought this up with your doc yet?

My son smells badly, due to his constant saliva drip, but it's an obvious saliva smell. Not vinegary or anything - just stinky and it goes away with a bath. But comes back soon after. He's fine. Get it checked to be safe.

[mom2zachy]

My first thought would be an ear infection, which is why, unless your actually sniffing his ear , it would seem strongest in his hair.

As for the sweating, my DS sweats PROFUSELY and always has since we picked him up at nine months. It's not necessarily b/c he's hot, because he will insist on his blanket in bed, even when he's dripping sweat. I'm not sure if it's because he's Guatemalan or not. I mentioned it to his pediatrician and she said not to worry unless he was running a fever, acting cranky or sick at the same time or had diarrhea with it. So, who knows? Glad to know I'm not the only one

[fochtru]

Holy Cow!! Andrew had a funny smell too and reading these posts made me realize that not only has the smell gone away but it was right around the time that he had tubes put in his ears. Up until then, he had ear infections from right before he came home until he had the tubes. (and I thought the same thing about his hair...the smell was worst around his hair but didn't seem to actually BE his hair! Weird)

[ProspectiveSingleMom]

I agree with the other possibilities. Is he on any meds? That could be another possibility, as unusual body odor can be a side-effect of some meds.

[angel_bayou]

My DD has a unique smell to her as well which is not a stinky smell but a different one! If that makes any scense. It's not because she's sick or anything but it's when she sweats and her to is in her hair. The ped says its her natural body odor and not to worry about it. I trust this since we did a million and one test on her and nothing was out of line!!

[Mandy4President]

Addisyn also smells funny - lol - People have commented on it but it's not vinegary everyone describes it like maple syrup. I guess if you're going to have BO maple syrup is the way to go!

[w8ting4Thomas]

I posted last Feb about our DS smelling...my DH is the one who told me one day that it was vinegar!!! We couldn't place it. And SURE enough, when I took him for his checkup...EAR INFECTION. Since TRULY clearing it up the smell went away and now he smells SO good I could eat him up (thanks to Johnson and Johnson!!!)

[grumpy31700]

I have had him checked by a doctor when he came home and they found nothing wrong with him, we told them that he sweats, he is always wet from the sweat. We did not ask about the smell because I assumed it would go away with changes in his diet. I do not think it is an ear infection because he has smelled this way since we have picked him up. I do not recall smelling him on our visit trip but everything was new and we were picking up our DD at the time we were visiting our DS.

I would describe the smell more sour then sweet

On a side note to those that say your Son or Daughter smells like Maple Syrup please read below

Maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) is caused by a gene defect. Persons with this condition cannot break down the branched-chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine, and valine. This leads to a build-up of these chemicals in the blood.

[EZ2Luv]

Truth be told, whenever my kids are sick I can smell the infection before any symptoms rear their ugly head. Since my momma has been ill I can also smell a UTI days before there are any signs.
At first I thought it was just coincidence with my kids until I insisted on some blood work one day and sure enough there was an infection.
I would definately start with blood work to see if infact there is any type of infection that is present without symptoms..
EZ