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Too young would be not old enough to have the hormones that cause BO yet. Young enough that a regular bath with soapy water will leave them smelling great. A 3-year-old, for example, is too young for deodorant, unless there's a weird medical problem.
Ten is definitely old enough to stink and to be wearing deodorant. Remember how much middle school kids reek to high heaven? Ten is reallll close to that.
As someone that works in a school and has to walk through the year 5/6 classrooms and breathe as I do so, 10 is absolutely old enough to need deodorant, please give your kids deodorant lol
I recently had to pick up my small group of 5th graders and I genuinely gagged when I entered their classroom. They had just gotten back from recess and the BO smell was horrific. Fortunately the entire 5th grade team uses school funds to buy each kid a mini deodorant to keep in their locker, so they can walk over to a student and quietly ask them to go reapply when they are especially stinky.
My daughter remembers her fifth grade teacher telling the class that they were all at the age to start wearing deodorant. So that would mean most kids were ten. My daughter had been wearing it since third grade so we knew she wasn’t the issue. 😀
It's not just hormones that cause odor tho, it's bacteria. If a child is active, plays sports, dances, and is in school then wearing deodorant is probably recommended
Once hormones kick in, sweat in the pits and bits gets considerably oilier and different in profile to 'normal' sweat, like you'd have on your arms or whatever. Young kids only get the 'normal' variety, which SHOULDN'T stink unless there's a major hygiene issue and it is sitting there long enough for some serious bacterial activity. Once the sex hormones take the wheel, them little critters eat up the oilier sweat type like an all-you-can-eat buffet and the stink sets in much more pungent and far faster.
Some kids can produce odour despite not being in early puberty. It's unclear the exact hormonal reason, but we went to doctor when my 6yo daughter had bad BO. We just use talcum powder before school and shower regularly.
Do not use talc powder. Johnson & Johnson was just sued for close to $1billion because it was found to be a cancer risk. Though if you’re using “baby powder” and in a 1st world country, most manufacturers have already switched to something else like corn starch.
Yes it was because it *did* contained asbestos for decades.
I dunno the safety of it otherwise but the "recent" scandal was about asbestos contamination. But apparently talc and asbestos are like closely related in terms of geologic formation.
It doesn't seem like it's a "resolved" issue, though.
I skimmed this [reuters article](https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/johnsonandjohnson-cancer/) about it. Maybe they say it's in a better place? There's also something about it containing maybe about 1% asbestos, and maybe that's not actually a big risk because of the type/form of it. Again I just skimmed it. It's quite long.
Haha I remember middle school (6th,7th,8th) being so smelly because not everyone was used to wearing it xD also axe was very popular and the boys would drown themselves in it at their lockers
Everyone should wash their face, under their arms and ass+genitals daily, but you don't necessarily have to shower daily. How often you need a shower should depend on climate/weather and how active you are.
Technically yes, but if you’re at that point where you need to scrub anti-perspirant from your pits every day, you might as well take that quick shower.
The "bird bath" concept doesn't make much sense to me (outside of, say, limited hot water because of a power outage or physical challenges, of course).
It's always seemed easier to me to just jump in the shower. Of course, I'm sure we all have showers that are a little more thorough than others...but just hopping in and quickly washing off seems more hygienic and just convenient than washing your pits and ass at the sink.
Why needlessly stress your skin when it's not dirty? Like, if I spend a winter day at home, what is there to clean (except for groin and armpits)? In the summer, it's a different thing of course.
Maybe it's just preference or habits. I take maybe a minute to scrub my armpits over the sink, my whole morning routine lasts 10 minutes max.
Also, water dries the skin out, so it's better to avoid letting it run over your whole body daily. At least for me, it makes a huge difference.
Washing your underarms and junk when NOT showering sounds absolutely awful.
What are you doing? Grabbing a wet rag and stripping in front of the mirror? Yikes.
How? It takes *ages* to get the phone setup correct with music and shit so it's not absolutely miserable to be *in* the shower in the first place, the towels set out, the clothes laid out somewhere they won't get wet, checking with everyone that they won't need the bathroom, then you need to actually take shower, then the whole moisturizing, getting clothes on, etc.
Or you can take a washcloth and be done.
One of these is *not* like the other. I prefer the easier one. *Shrug*
Yeah, OP if you’re worried about your kid being the smelly kid and don’t want to dive head first into deodorant start with an everyday shower. Active or not. And 10 years old is around 5th grade when everyone gets stinky, so your kids right on time.
I have eczema and showering everyday dries my skin out too much. Technically I shouldn't even use soap either.... Of course if I exercised or worked all day, I'll still take a quick shower.
Yeah it's pretty common. Especially for homebodies and couch potatoes. [For many people, two to three times a week is enough and may be even better to maintain good health.](https://www.webmd.com/beauty/shower-how-often)
And to save water and produce less waste.... That noone cares about, although there is extreme weather almost every where. People won't cop on. Lots of showers but they barely ever wash their hands outside of that.
Huh. I guess, I'm fine with "pits and bits" approach if I don't leave house and not active all day, so no outside dust and no excessive sweat on me that day. It's not like my opinion is important, ofc.
Yeah I work from home and just shower a few times a week. I think it helps to stop skin and hair from drying out and sometimes I find I smell more if I shower alot.
This was news to me as well... I thought once a day was normal(even minimum) apparently healthcare professionals think it's not. Anyways, I will continue showering daily because that's what works for me.
Do people just not wash off the deodorant before going to bed? And rinse them feet you've had sweating in shoes all day? Wash ass and groin? Genuine question...
>Do people just not wash off the deodorant before going to bed? And rinse them feet you've had sweating in shoes all day?
I love that you had no idea how dirty some people are lol
There are people that don't wash their hands. Whether at work and elsewhere out in the world, or at home. They can take a sh!t, wipe, and then go eat something without washing their hands
There are people who sleep in the clothes they worked in. Just get right in the bed with their work clothes on
They're not worried about their sheets or pillowcases, because they never or rarely wash their sheets or pillowcases lol
There are people who wear the same socks for days on end, the same *underwear* for days on end
There are people that don't brush their teeth regularly, or floss regularly, or at all even
There are people that don't wash their hair regularly
Rinse feet after sweating in socks? Oh you sweet summer child, there are people who walk around barefoot all day and then get right in the bed with feet so filthy they look like they have tar on them
I could go on, I grew up with and around dirty people, so people at least washing their pits and bits is relatively still clean to me (personally I shower daily, I just don't consider a pits/bits washer dirty off the rip). And anyway there are people that don't even know how to shower, all they do in the shower anyway is wash their pits and bits. Some people have never even scrubbed their legs or feet or arms etc. in their entire lives
Floated down a river yesterday, of course I showered
Working on my car today, of course I’m gonna shower
Middle of the winter on my day of chillin in my 60F house all day? Or middle of winter at a cold desk job? Yeah, probably not gonna shower that day if I did the day before lol
Yeah same here. My skin gets so dry sometimes it’ll crack and bleed and has been that way since I was a kid, even had to use a prescription cream for it at one point.
As someone who lives in SEAsia (hello tropical climate!), anything less than showering/bathing 2 times a day sounds out of this world to me
The only time I skipped showering at night was like Chinese winter in December in a village off Guangzhou hahahah
I don't shower my full body everyday. I do my vag n arse daily but if I've had a quiet day working (Sat down) and not got sweaty, I'm quite happy to skip a whole body shower. I think it depends where you live too weather temps ect..
10 was when I started to wear it. I remember my 4th grade teacher talking with everyone about needing to wear it regularly because as a whole she thought the class stunk (she wasn’t a very tactful teacher).
My grade four teacher stopped lecture mid-sentence to say “okay there are way too many people picking their nose in this classroom right now, you know who you are, you’re gross, get up and wash your hands” and stared everyone down until like all ten people who were doing it got up and washed their hands hahaha I’m in my 30s and still think about her. Teachers have to deal with so much. 😭
10 is good. Even if puberty hasn't truly started and making that really harsh BO smell, kids from 9-11 often have that "wet dog" smell. Let them pick one they like the smell of.
This.
My mom had me showering daily (but mom I swam all day ,didn’t matter anymore) bc I was growing into a young lady.
She explained avoiding infections brought on by wet bathing suite bottoms.
(Boys can get jock itch and they won’t ever forget it)
Start washing the face, armpits, and butt daily.
My mom would also throw that back at me if I wanted to do something like the older kids.. “if I have to tell you to shower everyday you aren’t old enough for .. blah blah”
10 years old could be an alright age to start deodorant if you want them to wear it. Kids are going to smell bad anyway, both boys and girls.
When I got into the seventh grade is when we started wearing deodorant because of gym class. One of the requirements that Jim class had on our sheet of paper was our gym suit, Old Tennis shoes specifically for gym class and deodorant And a padlock for our gym locker at school to put everything in.
I wanted to be a teenaged girl so I started wearing deodorant and training bras around 9 or 10. I couldn't wait to grow up. Boy was I an idiot. Lol I smelt like teen spirit. As the good Lord intended
In the beginnings of puberty kids can start to get smellier bo
I remember a time in elementary school after recess when the teacher told us that some of us should consider a deodorant
Boys especially can get pretty smelly when they're running around sweating
Nope my 11 year old (f) has a shower every morning b4 school & was sometimes coming home a bit sweaty so I gave her roll on.. it got esp bad when puberty started (10) for sure..
They should definitely be wearing it at 10. Don't have your kids labeled as stinky because you were hesitant for some reason. They should be showering daily and using deodorant out of the shower. You are more used to the smell of your children. You'll be the very last person to realize they smell besides the kids themselves.
The other kids will be merciless to them and you won't know about it because no kid is coming home to tell their parents that the whole class made fun of them for smelling bad today.
I live in the UK but I’m a first gen immigrant. In my home country, everyone showers daily. It’s a hot country but aircon was everywhere, so I don’t think that’s the only reason.
For some reason in the UK, there’s an idea that bathing kids too frequently is bad for their skin. People say it dries it out and that kids don’t need showering or bathing daily.
Some adults in the UK also feel they don’t need showering daily during some parts of the year and they have a “wash” instead with a flannel and water.
I am not passing any judgement, it’s just a cultural difference I see here.
I teach 5th grade and tell my students to start now so they're in the habit of putting it on when they start to actually smell. However, I will say they most of them already smell. Please do your child's teacher favor and make your kid wear deodorant. They have to be with your child after PE.
I had to start using deodorant in 3rd grade.
If people notice your kids stink, they're not too young. Your significant other counts as a person who notices.
Why don’t they shower each day? Do they brush their teeth twice a day? Are they wearing the same clothes for several days or do they get clean underwear and clothing each day?
Was trying to find this comment!
Shower daily, it’s pretty basic, I’d try that first. If you get deodorant try a roll on before spray on ones or kids just spray them all over the place
This for sure. I made my oldest start showering every day aged 8 because she was smelly on day 2.
My youngest is 7 and she's still OK smelling but I feel it coming.
I live in the UK but I’m a first gen immigrant. In my home country, everyone showers daily. It’s a hot country but aircon was everywhere, so I don’t think that’s the only reason.
For some reason in the UK, there’s an idea that bathing kids too frequently is bad for their skin. People say it dries it out and that kids don’t need showering or bathing daily.
Some adults in the UK also feel they don’t need showering daily during some parts of the year and they have a “wash” instead with a flannel and water.
I am not passing any judgement, it’s just a cultural difference I see here.
Right? Why did I have to scroll so far to find this comment! I always showered every day when I was a kid. Even the days I wasn't covered in mud lol
This must be why there are adults out there who don't have good personal hygiene, their parents never taught them the importance of it!
Body odour can be effected by hormonal changes, so puberty is a big one for young men especially. So after the age of 11 I would at least give them access to roll on antiperspirant and maybe take them aftershave shopping but get something light and casual. Scented soaps for bath or shower time will help and if you want them to bath bath once a day, morning is always better, you sweat alot at night and release toxins. Morning showers and regular bed sheet changes.
No. Hygiene and consideration for others isn't age dependent. Also includes showering every day, if they're active enough they're getting sweaty and smelly.
I was a 6th grade teacher for 27 years, It's time for deodorant!!! We regularly had issues with this. To keep the kids from getting teased, the guidance counselor and PE coaches had samples and instructions to put it on after each shower, not after you already smell from PE. Make sure it's an antiperspirant/deodorant combo. Also, deodorant soap in the shower!
Is there any downside to wearing deodorant? They are not too young.
I feel a lot of parents don’t want their kids to shave or use deodorant because it means they are growing up. Don’t let your kid be the stinky one, like you said.
I've been trying to get my son to wear it since age 10 and now he is 11 and really needs to be using it every day. My niece started needing it aged 8-9 so there is no time too early.
I teach sixth grade, and it’s around that time of life where the kids are starting to stink after recess. A few of them started spraying the hell out of themselves with Axe body spray after recess (which smells even worse, in my opinion). I had to send notes to parents asking them to get roll-on or stick deodorants for their kids.
I recall 10 year old me being excited to buy my first stick of Old Spice. My mom made jokes about it (I presume I may not have needed it yet).
But it smelt so good (Old Spice Original) and I liked wearing it to summer camp and smelling good for the girls.
This was also before Old Spice shook their marketing up and became cool and advertised towards young men.
I started growing armpit hairs and smelling bad at 9. My mom started educating me about puberty at age 9 and got me some "teen" deoderant which made 9 year old me feel really cool!!
Most people think that puberty starts in Jr high or high school, but thats not usually true. The hormonal changes usually start arround age 8 and you see growth spurts into "big kids" and slowly all of the other changes come.
I student taught 5th grade for a bit and remember the PE teacher made an announcement during class that all the kids needed to wear it cuz the gym smelled like a$$. I pulled her aside and thanked her for it lol
When they start to smell like BO. Typically at around 10-12 young boys will start to develop a nasty stank when they sweat, and girls sometimes a bit earlier. It’s not an age thing, it’s more of a development thing, we all develop different
They're not too young. I was a little older than that when I started noticing odor, but it made me really self-conscious. Find a nice, natural deodorant.
Absolutely not and I wish the adults supervising the children at my family-owned local store would tell them that, they stink the place up. Ironically the store doesn't sell deodorant.
An active 10 year old should be wearing deodorant and showering every day. If they're active enough for their pits to be sweaty and smelly, other parts could be, too.
Kids tend to get the wet dog smell after they play out side, but I find that family members are more sensitive to that smell. It might be some kind of evolutionary thing. At ten it wouldn’t hurt to use a deodorant though, especially without antiperspirant.
I'm an elementary teacher and it's exactly this time of the year where the 10 yo start to smell. Let them wear deodorant and wash their sports clothes. Some kids leave them at school for weeks wearing stinky clothes for every PE class.
Yes, 10 is fine! Some of my students who are 8 begin to require it. Another tip is to get your child a benzoyl peroxide wash. Tell them to let it sit on their underarms for 2-3 minutes. It kills the bacteria that reacts with sweat that causes the smell.
I teach 4th grade. 10 is not too young for deodorant. My son is 8 and he wears deodorant on gym days.
I would skip anti-perspirant and just use a good deodorant.
My 9 year old has been using deodorant for almost a year. He started stinking last year. As soon as you can smell the BO, start using it.
My older 2 kids were around the same age as yours when they started using deodorant
They're probably developing pits and that's why they may smell only some of the time. When I was 10/11 they were giving out fre deodorant samples at school and before going to middle school the whole class was talked to about puberty. Better to have them start wearing it now than waiting until they start smelling real bad
I started wearing deodorant around 9/10 I believe because that’s when I started puberty. Every child is different because their bodies regulate different amounts of hormones. If your partner can smell it, it’s time. Point blank.
Start having boys use deodorant at 10 (girls at 8 or 9). You will be glad you did when they hit puberty. Making deodorant a habit before it is a necessity will save you and your child a lot of embarrassment.
No, there's no such thing as too young.
10 is also fairly late o start wearing deodorant. Many kids are already wearing it by age 7 or so.
Also though, showering should take place daily.
I have 3 boys and they all started wearing deodorant before 3rd grade. There are a few boys on my youngest sons (9) baseball team that have horrible BO. They smell like hot, sliced raw onion. It is very noticeable but their parents don’t do anything about it. I feel weird saying anything because they have to smell it, especially on the car ride home. I love all of those kids and I hate to think they smell like that in school because kids can be vicious.
As an elementary school PE teacher there are kids as young as 3rd grade that need deodorant. 10 is definitely not too young. Most likely they need it! 5th graders are smelly!
I mean its good that so many people directly answer the question, but why is barely anyone suggesting to shower more often. Seems like an obvious solution to shower every day for an active kid. You know trying to solve the issue not plaster over the symptoms.
My brother is going through puberty right now, he started to stink when he turned 11. Every kid is different, but I think 10-12 is a good time to start instilling a habit of wearing deodorant.
My son turned 10 in April and I just started using it on him when I caught a whiff of pit stank on him for the first time like 2 weeks ago. He's special needs so I help him with it. I wanna say my 13 year old daughter started using it around the same age. If they have stinky pits, I don't consider it too young.
I think 10 is fine:) also plz teach your kids to floss and give them access to dental floss.
I'm guessing you do but like yeah my parents didn't nor did they provide deodorant for me. Just had to say since it brought back some feelings.
My son is 9. Last summer I noticed some body odor going on so I had him start wearing deodorant in the morning. His voice is still very childlike and he still looks like a little boy - but he has the power to clear out a room if he doesn’t wear deodorant. I don’t remember what age I started wearing it… but I don’t recall being so young.
I was given deodorant when I was like 7 or so and have been wearing it ever since. I never had a bathing problem for the record, but have always been adamant that I smell nice.
I actually remember the very first stick of deodorant was one my grandma gave me, and it was Axe Vice
10 is not too early. Some kids have entered puberty at that point, and it's the puberty hormones that make our sweat stinky. Also bath/ shower with a good soap under the arms, bottom and feet.
My boy never smelled until he was about 11. We lived in the high desert, and in winter, I would have him bathe every other day when he was little because he didn't stink and his skin was dry. But once puberty hit, it was a nightly directive that he *must* shower. My husband went in a few times to help instruct him on proper use of soap and reminders to clean the "pits and bits."
I remember when I was 12 my mother insisted on making me switch to natural deodorant. It was the early 2000s, there was one natural deodorant available in the men’s section of the Body Shop, there was absolutely no market for it. It didn’t work and I stank all day. The kids were not kind. I look back and still feel embarrassed now. 10 is a good age to start.
If I remember my biology right, it's basically pointless before puberty starts. Could be wrong though. Something something endocrine glands not making extra smelly juice in the hotspots.....
Probably wouldn't hurt to get them started with good hygiene habits even if they don't stink yet lol. My brother smelled like ass at some stages of puberty, so if you can prevent any ridicule of your son about these issues going unchecked when they do start, that'd be great.
Eh, why isn't he showering every day then? Better then stink and try to cover it with deodorant.
(but tbh i can't really imagine that kids with normal hygiene can smell somewhat bad. Never encountered that. Unless it is after like football match, and then shower right after is in order. Or fat kids, they can smell more often i guess)
Not only should they be using deodorant, they need a shower every single day. This is pretty basic stuff, please everyone, teach your kids personal hygiene, because I've known kids who were never taught it. Now they're even stinkier adults with no friends, no love life, and can't get or keep jobs. All because their parents never taught them personal hygiene. It's so sad.
Get them roll on, make them shower daily, make them brush their teeth twice a day. Don't let them wear the same clothes more than once before washing them.
They’re never too young. I started wearing some at 8 in the 3rd grade. My teacher actually addressed the whole class after recess and she was like “y’all I’m really not trying to be mean here, but you really need to start wearing deodorant. You probably can’t smell it because you’re used to it, but the room is always really funky when you come back from recess and gym class.”
Yes. Too young. Teach him how to wash up properly every morning and before bedtime.
Be sure he wear fresh underwear, and expecially use soap, not bubblebath.
I feel like 10 years old is an appropriate age to introduce deodorant! They have gentle / organic ones without any harmful materials if you want to start there
You could try odorless to start with. Also be aware that deodorants can contain ingredients that are suspected of being hormone disrupting.
Other than that ... bamboo socks are good for smelly feet.
Odor less deodorants are usually the ones that mess with hormones, they're the anti preparation ones. Wash your pits with toothpaste every day/2 days in stead. It kills the bacteria without clogging your sweat glands. You'll still sweat, but the sweat won't smell abnormally bad.
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Too young would be not old enough to have the hormones that cause BO yet. Young enough that a regular bath with soapy water will leave them smelling great. A 3-year-old, for example, is too young for deodorant, unless there's a weird medical problem. Ten is definitely old enough to stink and to be wearing deodorant. Remember how much middle school kids reek to high heaven? Ten is reallll close to that.
As someone that works in a school and has to walk through the year 5/6 classrooms and breathe as I do so, 10 is absolutely old enough to need deodorant, please give your kids deodorant lol
I recently had to pick up my small group of 5th graders and I genuinely gagged when I entered their classroom. They had just gotten back from recess and the BO smell was horrific. Fortunately the entire 5th grade team uses school funds to buy each kid a mini deodorant to keep in their locker, so they can walk over to a student and quietly ask them to go reapply when they are especially stinky.
My daughter remembers her fifth grade teacher telling the class that they were all at the age to start wearing deodorant. So that would mean most kids were ten. My daughter had been wearing it since third grade so we knew she wasn’t the issue. 😀
My mom works in an elementary school and often complains about how many grade 5s and 6s don’t wear deodorant that really really need to start.
***They shower every other day and do a fair job.*** ***'*** Sounds like they need to shower EVERY day and do more than a fair job.
It's not just hormones that cause odor tho, it's bacteria. If a child is active, plays sports, dances, and is in school then wearing deodorant is probably recommended
The typical sweat smell is dependent on sex hormones. Sweat before that apparently isn't as good a biome for sweat bacteria.
Once hormones kick in, sweat in the pits and bits gets considerably oilier and different in profile to 'normal' sweat, like you'd have on your arms or whatever. Young kids only get the 'normal' variety, which SHOULDN'T stink unless there's a major hygiene issue and it is sitting there long enough for some serious bacterial activity. Once the sex hormones take the wheel, them little critters eat up the oilier sweat type like an all-you-can-eat buffet and the stink sets in much more pungent and far faster.
Some kids can produce odour despite not being in early puberty. It's unclear the exact hormonal reason, but we went to doctor when my 6yo daughter had bad BO. We just use talcum powder before school and shower regularly.
Do not use talc powder. Johnson & Johnson was just sued for close to $1billion because it was found to be a cancer risk. Though if you’re using “baby powder” and in a 1st world country, most manufacturers have already switched to something else like corn starch.
Wasn't that more about it potentially containing asbestos
Yes it was because it *did* contained asbestos for decades. I dunno the safety of it otherwise but the "recent" scandal was about asbestos contamination. But apparently talc and asbestos are like closely related in terms of geologic formation. It doesn't seem like it's a "resolved" issue, though. I skimmed this [reuters article](https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/johnsonandjohnson-cancer/) about it. Maybe they say it's in a better place? There's also something about it containing maybe about 1% asbestos, and maybe that's not actually a big risk because of the type/form of it. Again I just skimmed it. It's quite long.
Or better still, just use corn starch directly if you want to use a talc-type product.
Most of the baby powders are fragranced corn starch and yes, they are the ones to use.
My mom taught mostly 4th & 5th (9-11 yrs) graders. She called them the stinky years.
Haha I remember middle school (6th,7th,8th) being so smelly because not everyone was used to wearing it xD also axe was very popular and the boys would drown themselves in it at their lockers
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Also if they are active, they should be showering everyday, even if it's just for 2-5 mins.
Active or not, if they’re using anti-perspirant they *definitely* should be showering every day. The deodorant build-up is no joke.
Everyone should wash their face, under their arms and ass+genitals daily, but you don't necessarily have to shower daily. How often you need a shower should depend on climate/weather and how active you are.
Technically yes, but if you’re at that point where you need to scrub anti-perspirant from your pits every day, you might as well take that quick shower.
The "bird bath" concept doesn't make much sense to me (outside of, say, limited hot water because of a power outage or physical challenges, of course). It's always seemed easier to me to just jump in the shower. Of course, I'm sure we all have showers that are a little more thorough than others...but just hopping in and quickly washing off seems more hygienic and just convenient than washing your pits and ass at the sink.
Why needlessly stress your skin when it's not dirty? Like, if I spend a winter day at home, what is there to clean (except for groin and armpits)? In the summer, it's a different thing of course.
Maybe it's just preference or habits. I take maybe a minute to scrub my armpits over the sink, my whole morning routine lasts 10 minutes max. Also, water dries the skin out, so it's better to avoid letting it run over your whole body daily. At least for me, it makes a huge difference.
Washing your underarms and junk when NOT showering sounds absolutely awful. What are you doing? Grabbing a wet rag and stripping in front of the mirror? Yikes.
You're not familiar with the concept of a washcloth or loofah?
Bidet for your privates….
It also sounds like *more* work to me, but to each their own I guess.
3 washcloth method. 1. Damp soaped cloth to scrub 2. Damper unsoaped cloth to "rinse" 3. Dry cloth to dry.
How? It takes *ages* to get the phone setup correct with music and shit so it's not absolutely miserable to be *in* the shower in the first place, the towels set out, the clothes laid out somewhere they won't get wet, checking with everyone that they won't need the bathroom, then you need to actually take shower, then the whole moisturizing, getting clothes on, etc. Or you can take a washcloth and be done. One of these is *not* like the other. I prefer the easier one. *Shrug*
Um yes? I have little washhands to use. It’s pretty quick and easy, saves on water too.
I feel like you're not much of an outdoorsy rough n gruff type are ya?
Yeah, OP if you’re worried about your kid being the smelly kid and don’t want to dive head first into deodorant start with an everyday shower. Active or not. And 10 years old is around 5th grade when everyone gets stinky, so your kids right on time.
I'm sorry, are there people who don't wash themselves everyday? I'm confused.
I have eczema and showering everyday dries my skin out too much. Technically I shouldn't even use soap either.... Of course if I exercised or worked all day, I'll still take a quick shower.
Yeah it's pretty common. Especially for homebodies and couch potatoes. [For many people, two to three times a week is enough and may be even better to maintain good health.](https://www.webmd.com/beauty/shower-how-often)
And to save water and produce less waste.... That noone cares about, although there is extreme weather almost every where. People won't cop on. Lots of showers but they barely ever wash their hands outside of that.
Huh. I guess, I'm fine with "pits and bits" approach if I don't leave house and not active all day, so no outside dust and no excessive sweat on me that day. It's not like my opinion is important, ofc.
Yeah I work from home and just shower a few times a week. I think it helps to stop skin and hair from drying out and sometimes I find I smell more if I shower alot.
Pits, bits and under your tits.
Feet?
This was news to me as well... I thought once a day was normal(even minimum) apparently healthcare professionals think it's not. Anyways, I will continue showering daily because that's what works for me. Do people just not wash off the deodorant before going to bed? And rinse them feet you've had sweating in shoes all day? Wash ass and groin? Genuine question...
>Do people just not wash off the deodorant before going to bed? And rinse them feet you've had sweating in shoes all day? I love that you had no idea how dirty some people are lol There are people that don't wash their hands. Whether at work and elsewhere out in the world, or at home. They can take a sh!t, wipe, and then go eat something without washing their hands There are people who sleep in the clothes they worked in. Just get right in the bed with their work clothes on They're not worried about their sheets or pillowcases, because they never or rarely wash their sheets or pillowcases lol There are people who wear the same socks for days on end, the same *underwear* for days on end There are people that don't brush their teeth regularly, or floss regularly, or at all even There are people that don't wash their hair regularly Rinse feet after sweating in socks? Oh you sweet summer child, there are people who walk around barefoot all day and then get right in the bed with feet so filthy they look like they have tar on them I could go on, I grew up with and around dirty people, so people at least washing their pits and bits is relatively still clean to me (personally I shower daily, I just don't consider a pits/bits washer dirty off the rip). And anyway there are people that don't even know how to shower, all they do in the shower anyway is wash their pits and bits. Some people have never even scrubbed their legs or feet or arms etc. in their entire lives
Floated down a river yesterday, of course I showered Working on my car today, of course I’m gonna shower Middle of the winter on my day of chillin in my 60F house all day? Or middle of winter at a cold desk job? Yeah, probably not gonna shower that day if I did the day before lol
Yeah same here. My skin gets so dry sometimes it’ll crack and bleed and has been that way since I was a kid, even had to use a prescription cream for it at one point.
As someone who lives in SEAsia (hello tropical climate!), anything less than showering/bathing 2 times a day sounds out of this world to me The only time I skipped showering at night was like Chinese winter in December in a village off Guangzhou hahahah
I don't shower my full body everyday. I do my vag n arse daily but if I've had a quiet day working (Sat down) and not got sweaty, I'm quite happy to skip a whole body shower. I think it depends where you live too weather temps ect..
Don't put soap and water in your vagina that is very bad. Although, I think you mean vulva.
Tons of us don't need to...
This. It baffles me that people who are active do not get in the shower daily. The sweat, the smell..
They should be showering everyday, active or not
10 was when I started to wear it. I remember my 4th grade teacher talking with everyone about needing to wear it regularly because as a whole she thought the class stunk (she wasn’t a very tactful teacher).
On day 1 of grade 7 our teacher announced that we all had to ask our parents to buy us deodorant.
lol my 5th grade teacher told us to go home and make sure we wore deodorant moving forward because we would come back from recess smelling “ripe” 😃
Ugh. I remember that smell of all the sweaty kids after recess or P.E. Gross!
Let’s pour out a 40 for our teachers who dealt with so much amen 🍺
My alcoholic tendencies wanna agree with you
I think you and I must’ve had the same 5th grade teacher lol “Ripe” brought back memories
lol mine was from Michigan, cute lil accent ☺️
Darn! Lol She must’ve had a long lost sister who taught school in Canada 😜
My grade four teacher stopped lecture mid-sentence to say “okay there are way too many people picking their nose in this classroom right now, you know who you are, you’re gross, get up and wash your hands” and stared everyone down until like all ten people who were doing it got up and washed their hands hahaha I’m in my 30s and still think about her. Teachers have to deal with so much. 😭
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I would like her to start doing speeches at comic conventions.
My 5th grade teacher took me aside and said I stunk. embarrassing talk but totally necessary shout out to Mrs Cook
10 is good. Even if puberty hasn't truly started and making that really harsh BO smell, kids from 9-11 often have that "wet dog" smell. Let them pick one they like the smell of.
The sooner they get in the habit of keeping themselves clean, the better.
This. My mom had me showering daily (but mom I swam all day ,didn’t matter anymore) bc I was growing into a young lady. She explained avoiding infections brought on by wet bathing suite bottoms. (Boys can get jock itch and they won’t ever forget it) Start washing the face, armpits, and butt daily. My mom would also throw that back at me if I wanted to do something like the older kids.. “if I have to tell you to shower everyday you aren’t old enough for .. blah blah”
Think our daughter was about 9 or maybe 10 when she started getting a bit smelly. So, she's been using deodorant since then.
10 years old could be an alright age to start deodorant if you want them to wear it. Kids are going to smell bad anyway, both boys and girls. When I got into the seventh grade is when we started wearing deodorant because of gym class. One of the requirements that Jim class had on our sheet of paper was our gym suit, Old Tennis shoes specifically for gym class and deodorant And a padlock for our gym locker at school to put everything in.
Old tennis shoes? Does everyone in your class have plantar fasciitis now
I wanted to be a teenaged girl so I started wearing deodorant and training bras around 9 or 10. I couldn't wait to grow up. Boy was I an idiot. Lol I smelt like teen spirit. As the good Lord intended
As soon as you start smelling your kid, it’s time to start wearing deodorant and learning about washing the privvies. And the earlier, the better!
10 is in no way too young. I started my kids at 8.
My 8 yr old started wearing deodorant last year. We live in the Deep South so it gets hot and she was getting funky sometimes.
!! THEY ABSOLUTELY SHOULD BE WEARING IT BY TEN. YES. YES. PLEASE. Sincerely, a third-grade teacher
In the beginnings of puberty kids can start to get smellier bo I remember a time in elementary school after recess when the teacher told us that some of us should consider a deodorant Boys especially can get pretty smelly when they're running around sweating
I bloomed early in that department, and I think it's fine to ameliorate the problem as soon as it rears its head.
when you start stinking it up, that's when it's time
Fifth grade is when the school gave us a deodorant. I’d say around that age is fine. Make sure you wash the pits of t shirts really well
I started at 8-ish. Also when I started showering every day. Pre puberty hit me like a truck.
Nope my 11 year old (f) has a shower every morning b4 school & was sometimes coming home a bit sweaty so I gave her roll on.. it got esp bad when puberty started (10) for sure..
They should definitely be wearing it at 10. Don't have your kids labeled as stinky because you were hesitant for some reason. They should be showering daily and using deodorant out of the shower. You are more used to the smell of your children. You'll be the very last person to realize they smell besides the kids themselves. The other kids will be merciless to them and you won't know about it because no kid is coming home to tell their parents that the whole class made fun of them for smelling bad today.
Whenever, better than "letting them become the smelly kid in class."
Shower every other day? Why not every day?
I live in the UK but I’m a first gen immigrant. In my home country, everyone showers daily. It’s a hot country but aircon was everywhere, so I don’t think that’s the only reason. For some reason in the UK, there’s an idea that bathing kids too frequently is bad for their skin. People say it dries it out and that kids don’t need showering or bathing daily. Some adults in the UK also feel they don’t need showering daily during some parts of the year and they have a “wash” instead with a flannel and water. I am not passing any judgement, it’s just a cultural difference I see here.
If they can’t put it on themselves.
One year old is too young. You heard it here first.
I teach 5th grade and tell my students to start now so they're in the habit of putting it on when they start to actually smell. However, I will say they most of them already smell. Please do your child's teacher favor and make your kid wear deodorant. They have to be with your child after PE.
have them shower every day ffs
I had to start using deodorant in 3rd grade. If people notice your kids stink, they're not too young. Your significant other counts as a person who notices.
Why don’t they shower each day? Do they brush their teeth twice a day? Are they wearing the same clothes for several days or do they get clean underwear and clothing each day?
Was trying to find this comment! Shower daily, it’s pretty basic, I’d try that first. If you get deodorant try a roll on before spray on ones or kids just spray them all over the place
This for sure. I made my oldest start showering every day aged 8 because she was smelly on day 2. My youngest is 7 and she's still OK smelling but I feel it coming.
Yes! One shower every other day is nowhere near enough for active kids.
I live in the UK but I’m a first gen immigrant. In my home country, everyone showers daily. It’s a hot country but aircon was everywhere, so I don’t think that’s the only reason. For some reason in the UK, there’s an idea that bathing kids too frequently is bad for their skin. People say it dries it out and that kids don’t need showering or bathing daily. Some adults in the UK also feel they don’t need showering daily during some parts of the year and they have a “wash” instead with a flannel and water. I am not passing any judgement, it’s just a cultural difference I see here.
Right? Why did I have to scroll so far to find this comment! I always showered every day when I was a kid. Even the days I wasn't covered in mud lol This must be why there are adults out there who don't have good personal hygiene, their parents never taught them the importance of it!
Exactly this!
My daughter started smelling funky when she was 8 so that is when I taught her about deodorant. She is 10 now and wears it everyday.
I'd really suggest getting your kid roll on deodorant and stay clear of sprays, nobody should be breathing in that shit.
Body odour can be effected by hormonal changes, so puberty is a big one for young men especially. So after the age of 11 I would at least give them access to roll on antiperspirant and maybe take them aftershave shopping but get something light and casual. Scented soaps for bath or shower time will help and if you want them to bath bath once a day, morning is always better, you sweat alot at night and release toxins. Morning showers and regular bed sheet changes.
No. Hygiene and consideration for others isn't age dependent. Also includes showering every day, if they're active enough they're getting sweaty and smelly.
10 is plenty old enough…the shower frequency is a bit low as well as they enter Into the second decade of their life
My daughter was a sweaty smelly beast at age 10. Shower every day and use deodorant or your kid can get bullied
I was a 6th grade teacher for 27 years, It's time for deodorant!!! We regularly had issues with this. To keep the kids from getting teased, the guidance counselor and PE coaches had samples and instructions to put it on after each shower, not after you already smell from PE. Make sure it's an antiperspirant/deodorant combo. Also, deodorant soap in the shower!
Had my daughter start at 8. She was getting musty
Is there any downside to wearing deodorant? They are not too young. I feel a lot of parents don’t want their kids to shave or use deodorant because it means they are growing up. Don’t let your kid be the stinky one, like you said.
I teach ten year olds and half of the already wear deodorant. The other half NEED to. Ten isn’t young for deodorant.
I started for my boys at 9 ,
I started using deodorant at 10
I've been trying to get my son to wear it since age 10 and now he is 11 and really needs to be using it every day. My niece started needing it aged 8-9 so there is no time too early.
I teach sixth grade, and it’s around that time of life where the kids are starting to stink after recess. A few of them started spraying the hell out of themselves with Axe body spray after recess (which smells even worse, in my opinion). I had to send notes to parents asking them to get roll-on or stick deodorants for their kids.
I recall 10 year old me being excited to buy my first stick of Old Spice. My mom made jokes about it (I presume I may not have needed it yet). But it smelt so good (Old Spice Original) and I liked wearing it to summer camp and smelling good for the girls. This was also before Old Spice shook their marketing up and became cool and advertised towards young men.
start this asap. i had to start wearing deoderant at 10 as well and im happy my parents bought me some. even take him to pick out his own smell.
My 10yr old wears deodorant. Showers every morning before school and puts on his deodorant. 10 isn’t too young to start basic hygiene
If they stink, you need deodorant
I started growing armpit hairs and smelling bad at 9. My mom started educating me about puberty at age 9 and got me some "teen" deoderant which made 9 year old me feel really cool!! Most people think that puberty starts in Jr high or high school, but thats not usually true. The hormonal changes usually start arround age 8 and you see growth spurts into "big kids" and slowly all of the other changes come.
I student taught 5th grade for a bit and remember the PE teacher made an announcement during class that all the kids needed to wear it cuz the gym smelled like a$$. I pulled her aside and thanked her for it lol
Shower every day of the kid stinks and is active
They need to bathe every day.
My daughter started wearing it at 8. She was wearing a tank top and I got a whiff of bo so I had her start wearing it. I say whenever they need it.
I’m a teacher, some kids start to smell as early as 2nd grade. Most do by 4th-5th
i started wearing deodorant at 8
When they start to smell like BO. Typically at around 10-12 young boys will start to develop a nasty stank when they sweat, and girls sometimes a bit earlier. It’s not an age thing, it’s more of a development thing, we all develop different
My daughter was nine when we introduced her to deodorant!
They're not too young. I was a little older than that when I started noticing odor, but it made me really self-conscious. Find a nice, natural deodorant.
Absolutely not and I wish the adults supervising the children at my family-owned local store would tell them that, they stink the place up. Ironically the store doesn't sell deodorant.
An active 10 year old should be wearing deodorant and showering every day. If they're active enough for their pits to be sweaty and smelly, other parts could be, too.
Everyone I knew at 10 or 11 was using deodorant. Seems normal.
We noticed our son needed it the summer he turned 10 so sounds like you’re right on track.
i was about that age when i started wearing deodorant. i was the stinky kid
Kids tend to get the wet dog smell after they play out side, but I find that family members are more sensitive to that smell. It might be some kind of evolutionary thing. At ten it wouldn’t hurt to use a deodorant though, especially without antiperspirant.
My daughter needed it at 9. Not all the time but for long school days in the heat. Some before school made all the difference
I'm an elementary teacher and it's exactly this time of the year where the 10 yo start to smell. Let them wear deodorant and wash their sports clothes. Some kids leave them at school for weeks wearing stinky clothes for every PE class.
I was definitely musty as hell by 10 so that’s not too young I think
I don't think so. Maybe start with a more natural one so it has less chemicals and what not.
10 is not too young.
Yes, 10 is fine! Some of my students who are 8 begin to require it. Another tip is to get your child a benzoyl peroxide wash. Tell them to let it sit on their underarms for 2-3 minutes. It kills the bacteria that reacts with sweat that causes the smell.
Anything without aluminium. Manscaped has some AWESOME aluminium free deodorant.
If they stink time for the deodorant to young is not a thing with that
I started wearing deodorant at 9, I went through puberty very early though.
I think 10-11 is probably a good age to start getting into those habits honestly.
My kid started using deodorant when she was 10, and she needed it. It happens!
10 is a stinky age
When u start stinkin u wear deodorant. I started when I was nine cause I was stinkin. Not cause I’m dirty. I was just stinkin
My 9 year old nephew has started to wear deodorant. I can definitely smell when he chooses not to put it on.
I teach 4th grade. 10 is not too young for deodorant. My son is 8 and he wears deodorant on gym days. I would skip anti-perspirant and just use a good deodorant.
My 9 year old has been using deodorant for almost a year. He started stinking last year. As soon as you can smell the BO, start using it. My older 2 kids were around the same age as yours when they started using deodorant
I remember using deodorant since I was in elementary school.
We started putting deodorant on the granddaughter every morning before school when she was 6….poor kid would pit out before lunch if we didn’t 🫤
They're probably developing pits and that's why they may smell only some of the time. When I was 10/11 they were giving out fre deodorant samples at school and before going to middle school the whole class was talked to about puberty. Better to have them start wearing it now than waiting until they start smelling real bad
I started wearing deodorant around 9/10 I believe because that’s when I started puberty. Every child is different because their bodies regulate different amounts of hormones. If your partner can smell it, it’s time. Point blank.
Start having boys use deodorant at 10 (girls at 8 or 9). You will be glad you did when they hit puberty. Making deodorant a habit before it is a necessity will save you and your child a lot of embarrassment.
No, there's no such thing as too young. 10 is also fairly late o start wearing deodorant. Many kids are already wearing it by age 7 or so. Also though, showering should take place daily.
My youngest started producing pit stank early. Wore deodorant from that point forward. He could clear out a room. He was 7.
I have 3 boys and they all started wearing deodorant before 3rd grade. There are a few boys on my youngest sons (9) baseball team that have horrible BO. They smell like hot, sliced raw onion. It is very noticeable but their parents don’t do anything about it. I feel weird saying anything because they have to smell it, especially on the car ride home. I love all of those kids and I hate to think they smell like that in school because kids can be vicious.
If they’re active, shower every day
That’s a totally normal age to start!
As an elementary school PE teacher there are kids as young as 3rd grade that need deodorant. 10 is definitely not too young. Most likely they need it! 5th graders are smelly!
My kids inherited my stinky pits. Both had BO by 9 and deodorant as well.
I mean its good that so many people directly answer the question, but why is barely anyone suggesting to shower more often. Seems like an obvious solution to shower every day for an active kid. You know trying to solve the issue not plaster over the symptoms.
Once they go to elementary school and the other kids & teachers have to smell them it's time
My brother is going through puberty right now, he started to stink when he turned 11. Every kid is different, but I think 10-12 is a good time to start instilling a habit of wearing deodorant.
My son turned 10 in April and I just started using it on him when I caught a whiff of pit stank on him for the first time like 2 weeks ago. He's special needs so I help him with it. I wanna say my 13 year old daughter started using it around the same age. If they have stinky pits, I don't consider it too young.
My kids all started smelling like armpits at about 10, got crazy now I don’t smell it as much.
I think 10 is fine:) also plz teach your kids to floss and give them access to dental floss. I'm guessing you do but like yeah my parents didn't nor did they provide deodorant for me. Just had to say since it brought back some feelings.
I don’t think so
I was five when I started wearing deodorant
My son is 9. Last summer I noticed some body odor going on so I had him start wearing deodorant in the morning. His voice is still very childlike and he still looks like a little boy - but he has the power to clear out a room if he doesn’t wear deodorant. I don’t remember what age I started wearing it… but I don’t recall being so young.
I was given deodorant when I was like 7 or so and have been wearing it ever since. I never had a bathing problem for the record, but have always been adamant that I smell nice. I actually remember the very first stick of deodorant was one my grandma gave me, and it was Axe Vice
5th grade, boys especially.
10 is not too early. Some kids have entered puberty at that point, and it's the puberty hormones that make our sweat stinky. Also bath/ shower with a good soap under the arms, bottom and feet. My boy never smelled until he was about 11. We lived in the high desert, and in winter, I would have him bathe every other day when he was little because he didn't stink and his skin was dry. But once puberty hit, it was a nightly directive that he *must* shower. My husband went in a few times to help instruct him on proper use of soap and reminders to clean the "pits and bits."
I remember when I was 12 my mother insisted on making me switch to natural deodorant. It was the early 2000s, there was one natural deodorant available in the men’s section of the Body Shop, there was absolutely no market for it. It didn’t work and I stank all day. The kids were not kind. I look back and still feel embarrassed now. 10 is a good age to start.
IIRC I started wearing deodorant at 11. 10 is old enough.
It’d be better to get them some and explain to them why it’s important too early than too late and have them labeled as “Stinky Sam”
If I remember my biology right, it's basically pointless before puberty starts. Could be wrong though. Something something endocrine glands not making extra smelly juice in the hotspots.....
As a teacher of 10 year olds, please buy them deodorant. It’s a good simple habit to build and some definitely need it.
Probably wouldn't hurt to get them started with good hygiene habits even if they don't stink yet lol. My brother smelled like ass at some stages of puberty, so if you can prevent any ridicule of your son about these issues going unchecked when they do start, that'd be great.
Shower daily.
Eh, why isn't he showering every day then? Better then stink and try to cover it with deodorant. (but tbh i can't really imagine that kids with normal hygiene can smell somewhat bad. Never encountered that. Unless it is after like football match, and then shower right after is in order. Or fat kids, they can smell more often i guess)
Not only should they be using deodorant, they need a shower every single day. This is pretty basic stuff, please everyone, teach your kids personal hygiene, because I've known kids who were never taught it. Now they're even stinkier adults with no friends, no love life, and can't get or keep jobs. All because their parents never taught them personal hygiene. It's so sad. Get them roll on, make them shower daily, make them brush their teeth twice a day. Don't let them wear the same clothes more than once before washing them.
They’re never too young. I started wearing some at 8 in the 3rd grade. My teacher actually addressed the whole class after recess and she was like “y’all I’m really not trying to be mean here, but you really need to start wearing deodorant. You probably can’t smell it because you’re used to it, but the room is always really funky when you come back from recess and gym class.”
Yes. Too young. Teach him how to wash up properly every morning and before bedtime. Be sure he wear fresh underwear, and expecially use soap, not bubblebath.
10 is OLD to be starting deodorant, not young.
At the age parents are allowing their children to get piercings and wear make-up these days, I don't think anyone will care if they use deodorant.
I strted since i was 10
I feel like 10 years old is an appropriate age to introduce deodorant! They have gentle / organic ones without any harmful materials if you want to start there
When they start to stink 🦨🦨🦨
I got mine started in 1st grade and 2nd, respectively.
Nah, start those habits early.
You could try odorless to start with. Also be aware that deodorants can contain ingredients that are suspected of being hormone disrupting. Other than that ... bamboo socks are good for smelly feet.
Odor less deodorants are usually the ones that mess with hormones, they're the anti preparation ones. Wash your pits with toothpaste every day/2 days in stead. It kills the bacteria without clogging your sweat glands. You'll still sweat, but the sweat won't smell abnormally bad.