BO at 8 yrs

I wouldn’t think he needs it, unless he’s hitting puberty very young perhaps if he’s a active sweaty kid and I guess he wants to do what his older brother does and no bad thing to get into the habit of being a nice smelling man

I would have thought, children do sweat and therefore do have BO....just a thought.

Have you noticed a problem?

In answer to your question, it would be a little unusual at 8 imv. But you wouldnt want him to be avoided by school friends, so needs must....

Boys can start puberty at 9 so he could be early. I would definitely give him his own deodorant.

It's does happen with children as young as this I know. Encourage your grandson with daily showers and I think there are probably some mild chemical free deodorants around.

A daily change of clothes is also needed.

My 2 GC are 9 and 5, both shower daily, have clean clothes on twice a day (school then home clothes), yet their feet stink! It must be because when they've had school shoes on all day (their mum is a key worker so both kids started back at school a couple of weeks ago), they must get sweaty.

I bought them some roll-on deodorant (not aerosol in case they spray it and get it in their eye or anything)

Both my GDs were a bit on the smelly side by 9 yrs. Both use a deodorant

Boys hitting puberty is quite easy to spot, they start getting obvious hair where formerly there wasnt hair; legs, chin, underarm are all quite easy to see.

Pinkcakes yes! It’s quite often their feet, especially when they wear trainers or non leather shoes.

Have you or anyone else noticed the BO?

I used to work with a 10 year old boy with terrible BO even though he showered everyday and wore deodorant. It turned out to be a medical condition so if he does smell it might be worth checking it out with the GP.

If he smells, a fragrance free and as natural deodorant as possible! Clean clothes. Air shoes outside. It's strange that at 8 kids smell.

Is your daughter an anxious person? If you can't detect a smell, I wonder if there's some displaced worry here. Do the boys mind? If they don't, there's no great harm, but I would be a bit concerned about your daughter. What is she going to be like when they're teenagers?

Is it him or are his clothes already impregnated with the odour? It doesn't seem to wash out in some cases - I guess where the garments have been worn too many times between washes. In which case any amount of scrubbing him won't help - he needs different / new clothes

I was brought up in very poor estate in sixties.... lots of kids smelled... but usually due to owning just two pairs of pants ( one on and one off... two school shirts and two pairs school socks! Just one bath a week ( Sunday ... ready for school)... but as we were all the same it sort of went unnoticed! Wash down at sink was best that was on offer rest of time, and that was only if mum/ nan noticed grubby knees or necks! Sometimes think we were all the better for it and didn’t seem to be as ill as kids are these days. But kids have to live in THEIR time and deodorant is a must. My 13 year old grandson has just begun to use it.... the 8 year old , not yet.

Quite young to start using deodorant. I hope its aluminium free.

My niece was a bit smelly at that age, as I recall. Her Dad is too, so think she inherited it from him. Good habit to shower and deodorise every day!

I work in a primary school and have noticed that some children definitely need to use antiperspirant long before others. Both boys and girls. Perhaps ask your DD to check with her GP as some children have overactive sweat glands. My eldest DD was like this - she was given some sort of rock thing (my personal technical term - it was a couple of decades ago and I have no idea what it was really called!!) to use on her armpits and it worked.

Yes, children do have BO - I worked in a school, so I know it full well.

Unless you find it so offensive then say nothing as I am sure D is aware of what you describe.

My gs started using deodorant at 11 as he was starting to pong a bit. Puberty wasn’t really early as he is now13 and voice is just starting to rumble

I remember a child at school who stank. Not because she didn't wash, but because her mother insisted she wear her school jersey for a week before it was washed.

So change clothes after a bath, please.

And yes, girls as young as nine are menstruating, so why shouldn't eight year old boys being prepubescent or actually starting puberty.

Seems a bit early to be smelly! Do the children use shower gels etc? Perhaps it's those that develop into an unpleasant smell once on the body. One of my friend's GC developed a problem with a toenail. Podiatrist dealt with it (kicking a ball problem). Mother wondered if shoe or sweat problem could be cause. Perhaps shoes but not sweat. Boy is 10 and apparently smelly feet don't develop until around 14 in boys. It's a shame if children as young as 8 are needing deodorants, hitting puberty, when they haven't even got their permanent teeth!

Possibly start with a roll on rather than a spray and look for one which doesn't contain aluminimum.