My 9 Month Old Has Profound "Fish Breath"

Hi T. You have a lot of responses here but I thought I would add my two cents as well. I use to be a dental assistant at a pediatric clinic. And when parents asked the Doc. why their child had bad breath he would ask if they snore, and do they sleep with their mouth open. If that was the case he would recommend they get looked at by either their regular Doc. or an ear nose and throat specialist. Because when they sleep with their mouths open it gets dry and then bacteria form and causes the oder. And the reason they are sleeping with their mouths open is because they can't breethe through their nose. He may need his tonsils removed. Hope all goes well
B. O
The Mom Team

Hi T.,

I've had experience with this as well with my 9-month old. The dentist told me it could be from a pacifier, which my son takes all the time or sucking on his fingers, etc. You can get toothpaste for infants right next to the baby orajel in the supermarkets. We try and brush his "teeth" before he goes to bed at night.
~J.

even though he's still toothless, its is good hygeiene to be brushing his gums gently, or at least wiping them with a cloth. That might help the problem some.

Is he getting plenty of fluids? Sometime being slightly dehydrated can give a person bad breath. Try to keep track of how many wet diapers he has in a day. If its less than 4, he is definitely dehydrated (I think the average is 8-10 for a healthy, hydrated child. Ask your doctor)

I haven't had one that young with bad breath, but acid reducers have caused it for our son. If he's on something for acid reflux, you might try something different. My other thought is, does he nurse to sleep that he might be keeping milk in his mouth after going to sleep, therefore causing the bad breath? Something to help is wiping his mouth out with a cloth or finger brush. You can use some of the baby toothpaste, but most dentists will tell you toothpaste isn't necessary until they can spit it out. I use the baby stuff that's safe to swallow because it makes the kids more likely to let me into their mouth. :)

At Primary Children's Medical Center, they used this on my daughter for dry mouth/lips: http://www.amazon.com/Toothette-Moisturizer-SAGE-PRODUCTS.... They sent me home with a couple tubes of it for her.

It smells minty and I use it on her when her breath stinks. It's a lip AND MOUTH moisturizer. It kills bacteria and relieves dry mouth and smells fantastic. She loves it. It seems very soothing for her. She is 8 months old.

You could prolly call around and find some locally so you don't have to pay for shipping - I think I've seen it at walgreens and outside the pharmacy at Primary Children's.

Hi T. - a few things could be causing this. Milk in his mouth overnight could be the cause as well as acid reflux, a sinus infection or even a food allergy that is causing a sour stomach. Give your doctor's office a call. They probably will have some input for you as well.

There is a "disorder" called Trimethylaminuria that causes people to have a fishy odor but it usually isnt confined to just the breath.

Good luck!

Hi T.. This may not be your son's problem, but my nephew started to smell really bad and his family thought it was bad breath. It turned out that he'd stuffed some florist's foam up his nose and with the moisture, it started to rot. He was a little older than your son, but you could check with your child's doctor if you think he might've pushed something up there! Good Luck!

When both of mine were teething they had some nasty breathe. It isn't too early to start wiping down his gums either with infant toothpaste either. Even without teeth they can get build up on their gums from feeding.
Look for signs of teeth, like red gums, excess slobber, cranky behavior at times, runny nose (this was what went on with mine). He could be getting ready for a tooth to erupt. You can also give him solids in other forms too like sweet potatoes, applesauce, carrots, peas and so on, try starting those now as that can help their breath too.