Toddler with Bad Breath

I have been told that bad breath is a result of a sluggish digestive system. If you are truly interested in health, please let me know and I can share a nutritional seminar dvd with you.

J.
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Is he drinking enough water and eating enough fruits and veggies? Bad breath is usually from a build up in the intestines. Is he eliminating enough? Is he ingesting anything hard for the body to break down? sorry so many questions, just a few I'd ask myself.
blessings,
K.

This can be a sign of an infection - mouth, nasal, stomach. Take him to his pediatrician and if everything is okay take him to a pediatric dentist.

Are you brushing his tongue as well as his teeth?

Don't forget to brush his tongue-not just the teeth. Not many people know this, but when I worked at the pedo office we always told the parents to also brush their tongue.GOOD LUCK! L.

Hi R.,
My daughter who is 3 had that same problem. I would make sure that her teeth were brushed really well, but her mouth would still smell bad. You have to make sure that his tongue is just as clean because that is where the smelly bacteria are. Also, I found a great toddler mouthwash. I am not sure if he is ready to swish and spit without swallowing but it is Listerine for kids. If he isn't ready to do that on his own, you can always brush his tongue and mouth with the mouthwash. That is what I do for my 15 month old becasue toothpaste is too difficult to control in his mouth. I hope this info helps.

K.

Hi R.!

Your problem may not be his teeth, but sinus related. I would recommend flushing out his sinuses with body-temp. saline solution as best you can - he may not be very willing to cooperate!

Try a children's digestive enzymes. Sometimes bad breath (halitosis) can be caused by improper digestion of certain foods. A digestive enzyme assures that all foods will be digested completely thus eliminating bad breath.
You may also want to take your child to a pediatric dentist to be sure that your baby does not have a tooth that may be infected. That also can cause halitosis as the bacteria collect in those infected pockets.

Have your doctor check him out. we thought my little sister had bad breath for weeks. My parents couldn't figure out why. Turned out she had stuck a tiny piece of sponge (a toy) up her nose weeks before. It was sitting up there all that time! We laugh about this story in our family (she is 25 now) but it is really sad how long it took my parents to figure out that it was something other than bad breath!

The suggestions sound great but I would also brush his teeth three times a day. Personally, twice a day isn't enough for me whether it's toddlers or adults. Bacteria builds up in our mouth and the smell is terrible. Good luck whatever you decide.

Have him eat some parsley (fresh). All natural and an ancient bad breath remeady! Not terribly tasty and he may not like it at first but make it a game and eat with him. Good luck!

in addition to cleaning his teeth and his tongue, have you noticed a stuffy or runny nose? sometimes you can't hear or see those things, but there is some post nasal drip happening. if you can get him to safely gargle with an antibacterial mouth wash, that helps to kills the germs back there as well. one of my friends kids safely started gargling with the orange listerine. while it is more mild, some children may think it's still too strong. use your discretion for you child's safety, though.

one cause for post nasal drip can be from allergies--seasonal, chronic, or situational.

Also check his nose. My cousin as a toddler stuck a peanut up her nose and it was a very long time before anyone discovered it, she stunk.

check w/ your dentist. There may be an infection somewhere.

Yes you should brush his teeth and his tongue but you should also be flossing his teeth. At 24 months old I took my daughter to the pediatric dentist for the first time. The dentist gave me a great little tool that helps you get in there to floss easily. You'd be surprised the food that you will find stuck in between those little teeth! I try to floss my now 29 month old daughter's teeth every night before bed and she thinks it's neat. Just part of the routine. If I forget to brush her tongue or floss her, she reminds me now. It really helps the bad breath!

Try brushing ever so litely a soft tooth brush over your childs tongue with alittle bit of the tooth paste that your useing and see how that works..Good Luck.
L. G.

Have you checked for thrush? It's a yeast type infection in the mouth and it causes VERY bad breath. Eventually the child gets white patches on the tongue and mouth, but I noticed the breath first. It needs an antibiotic to clear it up.

Hi R.,

As others have said already, take your son to the doctor and get this checked out. Halitosis can be caused by a variety of stomach disorders, but can also be simply from persistant post-nasal drip, and is actually a more likely cause, given your son's age. Post-nasal drip can be caused by allergies (food or inhalant, persistant or seasonal), vasomotor rhinitis, a sinus or ear infection, inflamed tonsils or adenoids and a variety of other minor ailments, most of which are treatable.

If your doctor sees clear symptoms but waves you off, ask for an ENT consult (or schedule it yourself if you insurance will allow) if you're still concerned. Post-nasal drip from a minor cause never killed anyone, but it can contribute to lower respiratory problems over time (cough, asthma, bronchitis, etc.) and it can be uncomfortable and, as with your son's breath, become embarrassing.

Hi R.! Brush his tongue thoroughly and floss as often as possible to rid the food particles stuck between his teeth.

If you're a mom who's passionate about health, contact me and we can share notes about keeping our families healthy.

Act makes this great kid mouth wash. It comes in all types o flavors. It worked for my kids and they like using it.

brushing teeth is great but the smell comes from tissue make sure to brush everything

Hi R.,

I have a friend that also had a child with really bad breath. She would normally brush the child's teeth twice a day. When the really bad breath started she brushed more and more and more everyday and it didn't help. She finally took her into the pediatrician and it turn out the child had stuffed tissue up her nose and it was really stuck way up in her sinus cavity. It turned out the tissue was starting to rot, gross I know. The doctor removed it with really long tweezers, gave some antibiotics just as a precaution then she was fine. Just something else to consider.

Thanks,
J.

Hey R.!

I found out from my son's dentist that not only should I clean his teeth, but also his tongue. I was so focused on maintaining healthy teeth that I forgot that I brush my own tongue too. I guess, the majority of bad breath issues comes from stuff sitting on the tongue and inside our cheeks. So, I go my son a tongue scrapper, one of those plastic ones and he does it himself most days. As brushing his tongue, just makes him laugh.

Good luck!

Could he be cutting his 2 year molars? My son had wicked bad breath while cutting those things...then it went away.

It is most likely something he eats that causes it. Finding out what it is will be the trick. Bad breath usually comes from the stomach. See if he will munch on parsley, that is a great breath freshener. For great healthy snacks go to we-us.mychoices.biz and search for Simply Nutrilite. I always keep it in the house for the kids.

Does she have a cold? My kids always have bad breath whne they have a cold.

He might be breathing through his mouth at night time while sleeping. Brush first thing in the morning and use a tounge scraper. If you see his tongue all coated white, you will need to get this build up off as the bacteria will cause the stench. There is a good tounge scraper we use at https://store.breathrx.com/scrape.php
Also make sure that he is drinking enough water and eating his veggies...especially the green ones. The Chlorophyll in the green veggies help to take away the bad breath.

Hold his tongue with a wash cloth and brush it 'til it's pink again!

To avoid the gag reflex, proceed to the back of the tongue a little at a time. If you can't do this in one sitting, it may take several days (months)to accomplish a really clean tongue.

Bad breath is usually caused by something in the gut, not the mouth. But sometimes brushing the tongue can help.

Make sure your little guy gets lots of water to keep his system clean. If you feel it's necessary, you might try giving him probiotics to clean out any bad microbes that are hanging out in his tummy.

Good luck!!

R.,

I'd check with your doctor to make sure there isn't a medical reason for the bad breath. If his teeth are good and he's got bad breath, I'd be concerned. It could be reflux or any number of things causing it.

T.

R.,
Persistent bad breath in anyone is an indication of a problem, usually in the stomach or bowels. I would recommend that you take your beautiful son to the pediatrician and talk with him about the bad breath.

Good Luck,
A.

R.,

Take him to the dentist, there might be food caught somewhere.

Maybe backed up stomach problems? This gives off bad breath sometimes.

Also, try to switch to fluoride paste if safe enough for the little one.

Also, this might be a bit weird at first but try to get him started on a tongue scrubber, but not sure if they exist for the little ones. Both my husband and I use one, not the brush b/c it's a bit harsh.

Good luck

C.

It probably isn't his teeth. Are his tonsils etc. Ok. It could also be his digestion or constipation. Maybe you should consult his pediatrician, or put it in your web for information. I'm sure there are moms out there that can also help you with this. Is he a good water drinker ? Good luck. Sandy