Questions about body odor

[stenapost]

I recently had a beautiful baby boy five weeks ago and I am successfully breast feeding. I've noticed that despite putting on deodorant and getting a shower I am producing a terrible body odor under my arms by mid day. I was never a big sweater and sometimes didn't even need deodorant. I this normal? Is there anything I can do differently? I use Tom's brand. Along the topic of odors, I've also noticed that my baby's mouth smells like my milk by the end of the day. Normal? 

[laohaire]

I think the hormonal changes you are going through make body odor changes quite normal. All I can say is that DD thinks my BO smells like roses. No, really. She is offended by all sorts of odors but my underarm stink does not offend her in the slightest. I suspect it's due to her early and happy times stuck near my armpit :) Baby breath smelling like milk is definitely totally normal.

Not all BO is the same. Some is just a natural musk and sweat smell. Some is lingering bacteria in your armpit. If it's the latter, you may benefit from taking a little rubbing alcohol and swabbing your pits a bit after a shower. That will have no effect on hormonal odors but if you have bacteria nesting in the pits, the alcohol will help kill them off. Don't go overboard on alcohol applications, though (it could eventually backfire) but a little swabbing a few times should be fine.

[JudiAU]

It is pretty common to have different BO post-partum. I was never able to use Tom's after I had my first kid. It seemed to react with my skin and produce a nasty odor that was actually worse than regular ol' BO. I also really had to wash well in the shower and sometimes use a different soap. Taking a shower before bed was really helpful too. I finally found success with Soapwalla deodorant fro etsy.com .