Bad Breath - Minneapolis,MN

He could have an infection of some kind, esp if he had a cold recently, or has ever been prone to stick things in his nose!

It could be something as simple as cutting teeth. Every time my little guys have new teeth coming in, their breath gets a little funky. Good luck.

I asked about that once. The pediatrician said that it was because he slept with his mouth open.
But, I see that other moms cautioned against possible illnesses. I think it's a good idea to at least have your pediatrician assess the situation with your boy.
Best of luck!

I'm going to have to agree with the mom who said her child is a mouth breather. My daughter is also (and at three she still has a binky) and wakes up with the funkiest breath. But her dad and I have some pretty nasty morning breath ourselves, so I just avoid her mouth in the morning. :)
But if it's throughout the day you might want to go with the mom who suggested and ENT and maybe ask your pediatrician for a referral.

My nephew had this problem and it took a lot of talking to the doctors to find out what it was. Something was happening with his liver and he just had to take a medication for it. I don't remember what it was called, since it was so long ago. You could also take him to an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist and maybe they would have an idea.

Good Luck!
J.

Does he suck his thumb or take a pacifier? I've read in a magazine that thumb suckers have bad breath and my 2 1/2 year old sucks her fingers and has bad breath!

If your dentist has given him a clean bill of health possibly an ENT could help. My daughter had terrible breath and was a mouth breather. We took her into the ENT after I heard her stop breathing one night and it turns out her tonsils were enormous and needed to be removed (just out last week - still recovering!). But with enlarged or infected tonsils, food and other bacteria can get caught back there causing bad breath. Good luck!

Every once in a while my son is like this too. He's three. When I notice it, after I initially wet his toothbrush I'll splash lightly a little mouthwash on it, then I turn it upside down and put it quickly under the tap to get any excess off. Then I put on his baby toothpaste. I only do it when I notice bad breath or on days when I know he's going to be around a lot of people and probably close up. I wouldn't recomend it often since they swallow it, but I think every once in a while is fine. Hope this helps.

Hi C. - My son had that same issue when he was younger. We never did find a reason and he "grew out of it." He had no other symptoms, and we didn't take fish oil in those days. Not a lot of help. But if it is from the fish oil, the product that our family takes has lemon oil added to it. Plus it is highly filtered so that you aren't getting any of the contaminants such as mercury from the product.

Good luck

D.

Hi C.,

There could be many reasons why your son has terrible bad breath...

The residues of digestion caused by sulfur compounds such as certain cheeses, cabbage, beans, some other milk products, and sausages may create bad breathe too. Another culprit could be medications, cough & congestion medicines, and other pharmeceuticals.

There is a product that I found that is amazing as far as helping with the aid of digestion. I know of several other products that have had significant impact on bad breath as well.

Drinking a great amount of water each day can help improve his breathe too.

If you would like to know more, let me know.

God Bless,

J.

You could try just gargling. Sometimes if you have any sort of infection on your tonsils it can really cause bad breath. I know some people that are just prone to infection and it really causes bad breath. Not sure if that would help or not.

C., My son who is 7 also has bad breath. I was told it could be do to constipation. I did not know he was having problems, he seemed to be going everyday. He just tood a long time in the bathroom. He was complaining about is stomach hurting so we finally took him in for a check-up. the doc did an xray and he was so backed up. I never knew a person could have that much poo in them! A friend of mine told me about Ulimate Aleo juice. She has her daughter on it. There are many recent studies showing the beneficial effects of Aloe in promoting gastointestinal health. Since her daughter has been on it her constipation, stomach aches and bad breath are gone.
You can check this out at www.marketamerica.com/pamrorman
hope this helps
P.

My daughter had the same problem for years. We kept inquiring about it. In the end they say that it happens to majority of kids and that it will just go away on it's own. My daughter is almost 10 and yes it's true it will just go away! If you feel comfortable have him chew on a piece of gum or a mint. They have buttermints that just melt in your mouth.

It could be that he's breathing through his mouth at night. Does he snore? Does his nose sound stuffy? My son's nose is often clogged up at night, and he has some pretty terrible breath, especially in the winter! I'm not sure what to do, I'm going to ask the dentist next month when he goes.

Is he a mouth breather? My older breathes with her mouth open while sleeping at night and often has bad breath. Or, do eshe have allergies? Post-nasal drip can cause bad breath too. Not sure what to do, if anything, about either, but we make sure my daughter's toohpaste has breath freshener in it, not just the plain kind. Hope this helpS!

A cold or sinus issue can be the cause--if he is like my little girl he has the never ending daycare cold as I call it. The drainage of the sinuses causes bad breath.

Have him seen by a doctor. Bad breath that persists can be a sign of illness, such as strep.