My lovely 7 yr. old daughter has just switched over from the "wet puppy" smell to definite body odor after a warm day. She bathes every other day, but will switch that to everyday and I would love to find some safe, natural soap and deoderant that will help her odor problems. Does anyone have any ideas or can recommend some products? I hate to start deoderant on such a small child, but if the daily baths and a better soap for her doesn't do the trick, I will have to resort to deoderant.
Baths/showers every day has helped except on hot days when she is running around outside most of the day. I think it is time to check out the natural deoderants. Many of you recommended Toms, so I will try that.
Also, want to say thanks to all of you for your help. It is hard seeing them grow up so fast. I certainly don't remember being that smelly at 7, and I grew up in NM where it gets very hot and I was always outside. But, I only remember baths every other day at that age. Who "nose....," ha ha ha. Thanks all, you have been a great help!
My daughter is 8 and started wearing it last year too - so she wears the same stuff I do...Secret Outlast. The scents are nice and clean so nothing overpowering and it's worked great for her.
We used Tom's of Maine when our teens were younger. It's all natural, non-toxic, and fragrance free.
There are several different brands that are all natural. I'd look for one of those.
We have the same problem with our almost 8 year old son. He showers daily and uses an antibacterial body wash. I believe it's Dial body wash. The stinky level is down. He will get stinky if he's out running around and it's hot out. So we might be trying a deodorant soon. Kind of sad to see them growing up so fast.
I know there used to be some kind of deoderant called Teen Spirit, not sure if it is still around. But I do think Avon might make a deoderant geared towards kids as well.
Don't get her using deoderant/anti-persperant that is your general store brand type with aluminum. If she washes thoroughly with soap and water, she may not need that at all. The aluminum in anti-persperants has been proven to give cancer. Surprisingly the crystal deodorants are also not good, see articles below. Try a pinch of baking soda mixed into water.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2004/0...
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2006/0...
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/0...
My daughter uses Degree -they make one for teens with girly scents. She has used it since she was 7 with no ill effects. We just use Ivory bar soap, and she showers every day. I don't remember being that stinky so young, but maybe we were all that stinky at 7?! ("Kids these days! They're so smelly!" LOL)
Tom's of Maine, unscented and aluminum-free
Crystal is exactly what you are looking for. I have been using it for years and LOVE it! You can buy it at lots of different places, but here is link to the company's online store if you want to get it that way.
Tom's is great because you can get a deoderent that is NOT an anti-perspirant. They have nice soapy scents so it doesn't smell like she's wearing anything too grown up, or you can get the unscented which basically just keeps her underarms free of bacteria.
We switched our eight year old daughter to shower everyday instead of every other day and she uses Dial deodorant soap. This helps a ton. Then for the occasional day that she doesn't have time for a shower we got her some Tom's of Maine natural deodorant and it works great and isn't bad for her. The daily showers are the key for us on normal days though.
GNC carries a all natural one i forget the brand name tho
Just make sure it is Deodorant (not spray) and not called anti antiperspirant.. AP has the harsh chemicals.
Also consider letting her use Dial bath soap on her feet and underarms.
I love Toms. Natural, organic ingredients with no harsh chemicals or aluminum.
Another thing you might try is exfoliating her underarms every couple of days. I read once that dead skin cells can harbor odor-causing bacteria, and if you can gently remove them the odor goes away. I do this myself and found it to be very effective.
I use this for lotion etc. It's a great tool: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/
