sweet smelling breath in children--update: why salami would cause it?

[midnightwriter]

It is similar to breasmilk smell, but they don't nurse anymore, and lately it has become more intense.

It is not daily, but almost daily (ages 8 and 5). I just read it could be related to diabetes, but they also say that a child will be unwell. They are both feeling well, and have been feeling well.

It is hard for me to say whether it is acetone-like. The closest I can think of, is breatmilk. Come to think about it, they both have had this smell for a long time. DH used to remark that DS still smells like a breastfed baby, after he weaned.

They don't seem to be having any other diabetes symptoms. DD has a finger prick for blood sugars 2 years ago, when she had a UTI, and it was normal. DS went through a frequent peeing episode a month or two ago, but it lasted only 4-5 days, and he is back to normal now.

how urgent it is to see a doctor? anyone has experienced something similar?

[columbusmomma]

I would have blood sugars tested again. I would call this week.

[Marnica]

You could retest for piece of mind, but the chances of this occurring in BOTH your children at the same time is pretty slim IMO. But it doesn't hurt to recheck.

[midnightwriter]

marnica--I talked to DH, and he feels the same. Besides, I read up more, and if it were diabetes, then it would be in a rather serious / late stage, with other symptoms. They'd be pretty sick. They have no other symptoms in any significant way.

So if not diabetes, what the heck can it be???? DS's is less, overall, but DD's is way worse. I can barely tolerate it. Maybe I'm just more sensitive to it? DH hasn't noticed it much, or at least is not alarmed by it. He just thinks they all smell of babies = breastmilk

[midnightwriter]

bump...anything else other than diabetes can be going on? i'm making an appointment with a naturopath today...

[Llyra]

This is a shot in the dark-- but have you had their teeth looked at? Could there be decay?

[Koalamom]

I thought that a sweet smell was a good thing?

[PeachBaby]

I could be waaaay off track, but the title of your post caught my attention: "sweet smelling." Could it possibly be yeast? My DS had sweet smellling poop (but take note, it wasn't his breath) and when I was told it was yeast, and started to really treat that, it correlated. If DS started to eat more fruits or starchy foods, it got worse, but if he went back to eating less sugary foods, it went away.

[Dmitrizmom]

How's their balance between proteins and carbs? If they are eating a high protein lower carb diet, they could be in a keto-acidotic state... treatment is simple - increase their carbs... I've found that for my kids - they need way more carbs than I do because they are very active and burn it off fast.

[midnightwriter]

Thank you for all the replies!

She does have tooth decay, we are seeing a dentist, but from my understanding tooth decay is not sweet smelling.

Their carbs are decent.

How would i know if it was yeast?

Possible finding: I don't know if this is a coincidence, but it seems to be correlated with her eating salami? At least this is how it seemed, but I can't be quite sure. Would it even make sense?

DS hasn't smelled in several days, but DD's is alternating beween nothing, and excrutiatingly (for me ) sweet.

[hibana]

I think it could be salami. After I eat salami my breath seems to smell sweet for the rest of the day. Same with my dd.

[midnightwriter]

Originally Posted by hibana

I think it could be salami. After I eat salami my breath seems to smell sweet for the rest of the day. Same with my dd.

oh my goodness! really? how odd. I'm going to pay more attention to this. sometimes she goes through salami binges, so to speak. (evil, evil salami! we are trying to wean her and dh off salami, but it is a slow process)

[midnightwriter]

So I'm quite certain now that it is related to salami! Any ideas why? What's going on? Dh doesn't get the same smell from it. I don't eat salami.

[hibana]

I don't know what's going on, but the salami we eat is slightly sweet-tasting and sweet-smelling as well. I think that's why my dd likes it. The smell is not so noticeable when it's cold, but if I warm a piece up and sniff, it smells very sweet.

I googled a bit and it seems like salami is supposed to cause bad-smelling breath, but maybe not all salami is created equal?