A baby has bad breath for a number of reasons. First of all, you need to analyze the nutrition of the crumbs and revise the rules of hygiene, in particular, the oral cavity. If these measures are not enough, you need to visit a pediatrician in order to exclude pathologies of internal organs.
Child
Bad breath
Usually, young parents immediately notice if the baby's mouth smells strange. There are many factors that lead to an unpleasant odor. Usually, it is not difficult to eliminate it if you monitor oral hygiene and offer only healthy food to the baby. However, a visit to the doctor will never be superfluous. An unusual smell can be a symptom of a serious illness. Treatment is more effective at an early stage in the development of pathology. In order not to harm the health of the crumbs, you need to go to the pediatrician.
Bad smell after sleep
Unpleasant odors provoke a lack of hygiene, uncomfortable indoor conditions or illness. If it appears after waking up, then, most likely, dry air is to blame. When the room is hot and stuffy, especially since the child has a runny nose, and there is a stuffy nose, he has to breathe through his mouth. This reduces the amount of saliva and leads to unpleasant odors. Tips for additional moisturizing will help to exclude its origin:
- Instill saline into the baby's nose. It moisturizes and prevents the mucus from drying out, which accumulates in the nasopharynx overnight;
- If it is not possible to purchase a device that humidifies the air, place bowls of water around the room. This is especially true during the heating season. Then it is also recommended to hang wet sheets or diapers on the batteries.
To get rid of the unpleasant odor in the morning, it is usually enough to brush your teeth and give a little water. Oral hygiene also includes taking care of the tongue - bacteria and food debris also accumulate on it.
Note! You can remove plaque from the baby's tongue with a sterile bandage by wrapping it around a finger and soaking it in boiled water.
Tongue cleaning
Smell depending on the age of the baby
As the baby grows up, with the introduction of complementary foods, the aroma from his mouth changes:
- A newborn will smell like milk if it is breastfed. When fed with adapted mixtures, a pronounced aroma does not appear;
- After getting acquainted with adult food, which is not recommended to be introduced before 6 months, a pungent smell may appear if the child eats certain foods, for example, onions or cabbage;
- Closer to one year old, some kids get acquainted with sweets. Uncontrolled eating of them, as well as the abuse of foods rich in carbohydrates, lead to bad breath.
As soon as the child has the first tooth, it needs to be cleaned. There are silicone brushes that mom puts on her finger and starts the procedure. It is better to teach your child to a healthy habit as early as possible. A one-year-old baby can be given a toothbrush and taken to the bath. Looking at the parents brushing their teeth, he will repeat after them. If the rules of hygiene are respected, the baby eats healthy food, and the unpleasant smell persists, you need to go to the pediatrician.
Caries odor from the mouth
If the child is in comfortable conditions, in his room there is optimal humidity, the baby does not have a runny nose, and the strange aroma persists, it is worth contacting the dentist. Perhaps the smell appeared against the background of the development of caries.
Causes
In a small child, the tooth enamel layer can be damaged. If you do not respond in time, the defeat will spread further.
Caries is provoked by:
- food rich in carbohydrates;
- genetic predisposition;
- low immunity;
- poor oral hygiene.
It is useful to teach your child not only to brush their teeth, but also to rinse their mouth with warm water after eating. Even a dark or light coating that forms leads to an unpleasant odor. You can get rid of it with a carrot or apple. The kid will chew on them while brushing their teeth.
The crumb gnaws a carrot
Early caries often appears in premature babies and babies who are early transferred to adapted formulas.
Note! Dentists advise to stop breastfeeding at night after a year, it is better to offer the baby water. This will reduce the risk of tooth decay.
Symptoms
With caries, in addition to an unpleasant odor, symptoms appear:
- The kid refuses to eat or cries when he starts to chew or drink;
- There is a large amount of plaque;
- Yellowish or dark spots are visible on the enamel.
The defeat of the teeth in babies usually begins in the same sequence in which they erupted. It can also develop in a six-month-old toddler, at first it proceeds without complaints from the crumbs. When the child begins to be capricious, the disease has already spread.
Acetone aroma
You cannot get rid of the acetone smell by brushing your teeth and rinsing your mouth. Usually this is one of the signs of a serious pathology that requires a visit to a doctor.
Causes
A strong smell of acetone can appear with kidney disease. He also accompanies acetone syndrome. Timely therapy will avoid urolithiasis, tachycardia, diabetes. During an illness, the number of ketone bodies in the body increases. They are excreted along with urine, which is why it also acquires a specific smell of acetone.
Usually acetone syndrome develops against the background of infectious diseases, but it can accompany digestive problems, diabetes mellitus.
Note! Ketones can form even during stress and diet disturbances.
Symptoms
The appearance of the smell of acetone may be accompanied by symptoms, these are:
- Decreased appetite, including refusal to eat;
- Tearfulness, capriciousness;
- Apathy;
- Vomiting that occurs even if you just get the child drunk. The condition is dangerous in that it threatens dehydration;
- Stool disorder;
- Temperature rise;
- Excitement followed by drowsiness;
- In rare cases, convulsions are possible.
Important! When parents notice the smell of acetone, which is felt not only from the mouth, but also comes from the urine and skin of the crumbs, it is necessary to call an ambulance.
Sour smell from the mouth
In rare cases, a baby under one year old may experience serious digestive problems, leading to an unpleasant odor from the mouth. Komarovsky claims that they explain only a few percent of cases of detecting a strange smell. If a runny nose, dental problems, dry air and lack of saliva are excluded, you need to visit a gastroenterologist.
Child at the gastroenterologist
Causes
Strong sour breath is usually caused by:
- Increased acidity of the stomach;
- Throwing the contents of the stomach back into the esophagus.
The unpleasant smell can be explained by frequent regurgitation. Curdled milk, once again entering the oral cavity, no longer has such a pleasant aroma as before.
Note! A strange, sweet odor may indicate liver problems. Its appearance cannot be ignored, it is better to immediately make an appointment with a doctor.
Symptoms
Problems with the gastrointestinal tract will affect the behavior of the baby. He may experience pain, develop heartburn. The baby becomes restless, capricious, while crying, he can press his legs to his stomach.
Rotten egg scent
The smell of rotten eggs is produced by the hydrogen sulfide accumulated in the intestines. Normally, it should leave the body with other decay products; in case of problems with the digestive system, it is not excreted naturally.
Causes
The factors provoking the appearance of the smell of hydrogen sulfide include:
- Lack of gastric juice, due to which food is not digested on time and remains in the stomach for a long time. As a result, it begins to rot;
- Overeating leading to food accumulation. In excess, it does not have time to leave the stomach, decomposes and rots.
Such manifestations accompany the disruption of the stomach, gallbladder. In order to prevent the development of gastritis, cholecystitis, you need to contact a gastroenterologist in a timely manner and follow the prescribed treatment.
Symptoms
Failure to comply with personal hygiene, dryness of the oral mucosa increase the unpleasant rotten smell. A lack of saliva indicates that a microbial infection is taking place. Their spread is accelerated by diseases of the nose, rhinitis, sinusitis, when the child has to breathe through the mouth. By clearing the congestion and nasal discharge, fresh breath is likely to return quickly.
Digestive problems caused by the smell of rotten eggs in the mouth may be indicated by symptoms:
- Yellowish coating on the tongue;
- Dark colored urine;
- Stool disorder;
- Belching;
- Discolored feces.
If one of the signs is found, you need to see a doctor.
Note! A yellow coating on the tongue is noticeable with dyskinesia of the bile ducts, while a bitter taste appears in the mouth, the side hurts on the right side. A small child is not able to describe his feelings, so any changes in his behavior and condition cannot be ignored.
The kid is naughty, refuses to eat
The smell of rot
If the terrible putrid smell does not disappear after brushing your teeth, and the baby's mouth continues to stink, you need to make an appointment with the dentist. This is usually a sign of dental or gum disease. If the doctor excludes the pathology, you need to visit a pediatrician, who, if necessary, will refer you to a gastroenterologist or ENT.
Causes
Why is there a smell of rot, what pathologies provoke its appearance:
- Caries in an advanced stage;
- Inflammatory gum disease;
- Disorders of the esophagus;
- Diseases of the ENT organs.
When teething occurs, gums can become inflamed. The child's immunity decreases, so there is a possibility of a bacterial infection. The inflamed area may fester, and an unpleasant rotten smell will appear.
Symptoms
The signs accompanying the appearance of a putrid odor depend on the cause that provoked it. So, with dental diseases, plaque, stains will appear on the teeth, the child's appetite will change. If the baby has digestive problems, this will affect his stool, nausea and vomiting may begin. Diseases of the nasopharynx are accompanied by difficulty breathing, sore throat, and redness.
The reproduction of pathogenic microflora leads to an unpleasant odor. It intensifies if the disease is accompanied by purulent processes. Usually they affect the adenoids, tonsils. In the latter case, even parents can see pus by examining the throat of the crumbs.
How to get rid of bad smell
To return the child to fresh breath, you need to use the following tips:
- Monitor oral hygiene. Brush not only your teeth, but also your tongue;
- Rinse your child's mouth after eating, offer water more often;
- If possible, exclude night feedings;
- Reduce the amount of sweets and protein foods in the diet.
If following the recommendations does not help, and the smell remains, you need to see a doctor. If necessary, he will take tests and refer you to narrow specialists. Usually the dentist will solve the odor problem. If the cause is in the digestive system, the gastroenterologist may need ultrasound results to make a diagnosis. When it turns out that the cause is in diseases of the ENT organs, children under one year old are prescribed nasal lavage, with the instillation of saline solutions. If a bacterial infection is diagnosed, treatment is carried out with medications. It can be carried out only under the supervision of a doctor.
Prevention
How to prevent bad breath from your baby:
- Take care of the immunity of the crumbs, follow a healthy diet;
- Do not teach your baby to sweets. Sugar is not recommended for infants;
- To prevent the formation of plaque, give the child a gnaw on an apple, carrot;
- Timely visit the pediatrician, report all changes in graying and the baby's condition;
- Maintain a drinking regime, do not restrict the baby in liquid. The exception is drinks containing sugar;
- Moisten the nasal passages, create comfortable conditions in the baby's room;
- Do not ignore oral hygiene after the first tooth appears.
Hygiene
If a child has a bad breath in the morning, you need to brush his teeth and get him drunk. Hygiene rules must be observed at any age. Problems with teeth and gums can begin even in a six-month-old baby. It is imperative to visit a doctor if a child develops additional symptoms or feels unwell. A strong unpleasant odor can be associated with a malfunction of the digestive system, kidneys, and liver. Self-medication in such cases will only harm the child's health.
