Hey ladies, My 3 1/2 yr old daughter has had a sour smell on her breath for about 6 weeks. I'm not aware of diet changes and we brush her teeth twice a day. She has a regular dental cleaning in 2 weeks, but I was wondering if I should take her to the dr. before then? Anyone know what causes a sour smell on the breath?
Wow! What a great resource everyone is! We ended up at the dr and after several tests it looks like it's either sinuses or acid reflux. She has a history of sinuses, and that's the likely cause. Dr could not be definitive though, so we'll try a med and see if it works. thanks!
Could she be snoring? Maybe she has a little sinus congestion and has been snoring? Snorers tend to have more problems with bad breath.
Just a thought... good luck
bad breath is usauall a sin of sinus, but if she hasn't really had it before, I would take her to the doctor. Sometimes kids stick things up the noses and this could cause a bad smell that bathing, brushing and nothing will get rid of. I know it happened to me and a nerf toy.:) Good luck...
I would advise you to call your doctor and at the least talk to the nurse. Some breath odors can be from a chemical reaction of specific foods your child is eating. Do you smell this all day or just after meals? My own child's breath smelled sweet and it was related to blood sugar levels and a reaction to grape juice. I was really surprised because I had always diluted all his juices to 3/4 to 1/2 water and still he had this reaction. We had to go through some tests to discover this, but all is well now. So in my opinion, as a mom and a health care professional if you have concerns related to any development or illness, always make sure you check them out with a medical professional.
Is she brushing her tounge and gums and the roof of her mouth? THey have some children's mouthwash at walmart and the like. Have her drink water during the course of the day and have her swish it around in her mouth for the first couple of sips. Otherwise, I think a trip to the dentist may be in order.
Bad breath is usually a sign of an ear or sinus infection for both my boys. Has she had a cold or sinus drainage lately? YOu might want to get her checked out just in case!!
Good luck!!
Has she been tested for diabetes? Diabetics will have a sour smell.
It could be anything from nothing to infection to a disease. I know if the breath is sweet and like alcohol it's a possibility of diabetes. Check it out with your pediatrician.
L.,
My 3.5 year old little girl had the same issue. I thought how can someone so little have such bad breath. When I took her in to the doctors for her 3 year well check they checked her ears, throat, etc. and everything was fine however they said that if there was anytime of drainage from her sinuses, etc. due to allergies that could cause the problem.
They started her on Zyrtec and Nasonex (Nose Spray) and it is 100% better. I can even tell a difference if I forget to give it to her for a few days the smell tends to return. So in my daughters case it was definately allergy based.
Just another thought to pursue.
C.
Perhaps your daughter has a change in milk tolerance. My son had a similar problem where his breath and bowels smelled the same. We had to switch from regular milk to a soy base. That solved the problem. Yes take her to doctor and tell him what you have observed. Whenever you have a noticeable change, start a little journal. I found this to be a blessing when answering questions from the doctor and all the nurses in hospitals (because in hospital you have 20 people asking the same questions so I made a photocopy of the family history and when the simptons spelling sorry about it started and what I did until hospital admittance)
When my DS was 18 months old he had the same problem. We only found the source by accident. He fell and bumped his head and when he was crying he through his head back and we saw his tonsils and they were HUGE!! My son had to have his removed and within a couple of weeks after surgery it went away.
Certain meds can do that- my allergy nose spray does it to me. Certain infections can do that. And some allergies themselves can do that.
The tongue is one of the bodies ways of trying to flush out impurities.
I would just take her to the doctor to confirm it is not caused by an infection.
We went through this for four years with my four year old. Finally her doctor sent her to an ENT and he said "My God the poor kids tonsils are huge". I strongly suggest you have her tonsils looked at. If her tonsils are bigger then normal bacteria can hide behind them and that causes the extreme bad breath. I would look at them as soon as possible. My daughters actually became a emergency surgery b/c the doctor discovered she had severe sleep apnea because of it. We went to the doctor on a monday and by wednesday she was having surgery. Since then no bad breath though and no more snoring.
It could be reflux. My dd has that and she has severe reflux. It's listed as a symptom.
Hi, L.! I was reading through "old posts" and saw yours about your daughter....
What ended up being the cause of your DD's sour breath?
You can email me at ____@____.com, or ____@____.com.
I'd love to hear from you!
~J.~
It could be an infection. I have worked in child care the last 12 years and have seen children that have stuck something in thier nose and it get infected and have a stange odor coming from it. So yes take her to the Dr. she probley has an infection maybe something stuck way up in her nose. Belive me it happens you would be amazed what they can put up there! Better safe than sorry.
i would just call the nurses to see what their input is. My daughter had that also for a few days and i couldn't figure it out either. i was brushing her teeth one day and the roof of her mouth started to bleed. i took her to the doctor and she had an infection so bad that she had 7 blisters in her mouth that i could not see. there may be some sort of infection... i would at least call the doctor to see what they say. good luck
Could also be the kind of toothpaste that you're using...I've noticed that if my kids are using any OralB toothpaste, they have horrible breath!! When they are using Crest or colgate, it isn't near as bad.
Make sure they check up her nose. She could have something stuck up there. Things like that cause bad breath. I would certainly go before the two weeks just in case. It's obviously something to get checked out by her doctor (not a dentist). Good luck to you.
Could possibly be reflux. Even silent reflux (wehn they dont actually throw or spit up it just refluxes into throat is often worse than actual spitting up reflux)
all 3 of my boyus had reflux and they always smelled acidy and sour
A.
I do not want to scare you. But my daughter had horrible breath. She also has kidney problems. The bad smell was a sign that her kidneys were not filtering out "creatine". my spelling may be wrong. But creatine is a byproduct that your body naturally produces and the kidneys filter it out. If you can smell it on the breath or if a blood test proves that you have too much in your system...your kidneys are not filtering right. Again anything could cause bad breath...but to be cautious....I would take her to a pediatrician. This will give you pease of mind. Hope this helps and doesn't scare you. Good luck R..
Acid reflux, high blood sugar (diabetes), throat infection, stuff on her tongue, thrush (yeast in the mouth)... it really kind of depends on what you call "Sour"... if only they had scratch and sniff computers.
S.
You probably should take her to the dr, sometimes it is a underlying cause of flegm or something with her lungs.... don't be scared it might not be anything
M.
I noticed a couple of weeks ago that my 4 year old twins had bad breath. Once I started brushing their tongues a bit while they brush their teeth, it got a bit better!
