CRAVING certain smells.......?????????????

[sunshine's mama]

Ok, a bit weird but I wanted to share....

Hopefully I am NOT the only one...

The past 2 weeks or so.......I am just LOVING how my laundry detergent smells, the dryer sheets (bounce with febreeze...smells sunshiney), the stuff Dh used to shampoo the carpet last night....

Just to clarify I am NOT opening the bottles and standing there sniffing them.... I just take a quick sniff when they are open..before I put the lid back on, or before I put the dryer sheet in the dryer.....and then when the laundry comes out wet or dry...

IT JUST SMELLS SOOOOO GOOD TO ME RIGHT NOW.....

I'm not crazy am I??? Getting loopy : at the end of the pregnancy...?????

It's not what they call PICA bc I'm not wanting to eat or drink said smells.....YUK

Just wondering if I'm the only one....

My friend dropped by with some pretty flowers the other day and normally I LOVE the way they smell but they smelled like dirt to me (didn't tell her that...lol) but man, the laundry smells fantastic....

My Doula dropped off my rice sock with the citrusy smell she knew I liked but now I'm wishing it was the laundry detergent or Bounce smell......:

[~pi]

I had this while pregnant. I loved chemical smells -- gasoline, markers, our furnace coming on, city smells while bicycling, etc.

It is considered PICA even if you don't want to eat dirt.

[lorijds]

If you aren't taking a multivitamin, now might be the time to start. Alot of strange cravings (taste or smell) stem from a nutritional deficiency.

The strangest craving I ever heard of was a woman in our practice who craved the smell of tires to the point that she bought a tire and put it in a closet in her home so that she could go in there and take a whiff every once in a while.

We definitely encouraged to minimize that, and to add a good multivit and mineral supplement; b ut otherwise, not a big deal. We did tell her, though, that if she started to crave the TASTE of the tire, we wanted to hear from her!!!

[Redifer]

Originally Posted by ~pi

I had this while pregnant. I loved chemical smells -- gasoline, markers, our furnace coming on, city smells while bicycling, etc.

It is considered PICA even if you don't want to eat dirt.

Bolding mine. That was me. I went on a near-fiendish search throughout my SIL's house because I was craving the smell of bug spray.

[mom2lotsofkids]

Originally Posted by ~pi

I had this while pregnant. I loved chemical smells -- gasoline, markers, our furnace coming on, city smells while bicycling, etc.

It is considered PICA even if you don't want to eat dirt.

Oh my!!!!! This is ME! I've never mentioned it, EVER, b/c I thought I was crazy!! I love the smell of gas, markers, the dirt outside - but only when I'm pregnant. It's like it smells so good, I want to eat it. I've heard of PICA but never taking the time to research or anything. Should I? Very hard to explain, but when I smell a marker or gas, I'd like to eat it - well not really, that would be totally disgusting - but like you want to take a bite.

Don't really know how to explain. The cravings for these smells have always disappeared after pregnancy and I've never really thought about it much. I've just figured pumping gas was one of those chores I actually didn't mind doing during pregnancy, otherwise I always make dh do it. Oh, except for the 1st trimester where nothing smells good. I just wish I was craving fresh laundry smells, that seems so much better.

[sevenkids]

Bell peppers, kippers, and leather. I used to carry a bell pepper in my purse to sniff, couldn't do that with the kippers, carrying around a dried, smoked fish was upsetting to too many people ("Who smells like fish? Ugh!"), but I smelled it at home.
And my little leather changepurse, mmmmmm, aaaahhhh! So wonderful.....

[Charmie981]

Originally Posted by lorijds

The strangest craving I ever heard of was a woman in our practice who craved the smell of tires to the point that she bought a tire and put it in a closet in her home so that she could go in there and take a whiff every once in a while.

I have always, since I was a little girl, loved the smell of the rubber in new tires and cheap shoes. DH bought a rubber mallet for doing body work on cars and I kept it by my bedside until it lost its "new" smell. My kids have inherited it, too, and love to walk through the tire section at Sam's Club. I figure there are worse things to sniff, but yeah, we keep it to a minimum .

[mwherbs]

sometimes the smells can tell you a bit more about what you might be craving-- Iron is the common pica thing but calcium and magnesium come right on in after---

[mothragirl]

lat pregnancy i loved the smell of my friend's old hotrod garage. i've always loved the smell of car exhaust and when i'm pregnant i can't get enuogh.

[sunshine's mama]

I am taking a really good vitamin and just had my iron checked last visit and it was ok...

I have always enjoyed the way these things smell but this is borderline ridiculous!!

I did put a dryer sheet in my pillowcase last night.....

Heehee...I've always like the smell of gasoline.....

SO HAPPY I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE!!!

[celestialdreamer]

I had something like that in my last pregnancy. I craved the smell of lemon pinesol. I would clean every day with it because it smelled so good. Only *lemon* pinesol would work, not the pine kind or any natural lemon cleaners. I don't even normally use mainstream chemical cleaners! : I think my iron levels were fine but I tend to have a problem with too low levels of magnesium. I guess I'll keep up with my supplements for it this time so I don't end up needing weird chemical cleaning supplies!

[sunshine's mama]

I know when my mag levels get low bc I get metal mouth......

Gotta go get a new dryer sheet though to tuck in pillowcase toninight!!!!

[Redifer]

Originally Posted by Charmie981

I have always, since I was a little girl, loved the smell of the rubber in new tires and cheap shoes. DH bought a rubber mallet for doing body work on cars and I kept it by my bedside until it lost its "new" smell. My kids have inherited it, too, and love to walk through the tire section at Sam's Club. I figure there are worse things to sniff, but yeah, we keep it to a minimum .

MMMMM I love the smell of tires, cheap shoes, and new plastic. It's bad, I know. I love going to Walmart just to hit up the automotive aisle to smell that heavenly rubber scent.

Gas, exhaust, coolant, grease, motor oil... great smells. Loved em since I was a kid! Then again, my grandparents owned an excavation company, and I distinctly remember being at the shop every day with my mom, smelling those smells on the machines and trucks, and on my mom when we went home. And then I married a mechanic. I guess those are just smells I associate with comfort and warmth and family.

[michiganmidwife]

cravings

Originally Posted by Redifer

MMMMM I love the smell of tires, cheap shoes, and new plastic. It's bad, I know. I love going to Walmart just to hit up the automotive aisle to smell that heavenly rubber scent.

Gas, exhaust, coolant, grease, motor oil... great smells. Loved em since I was a kid!

What about rubber cement?? That was my favorite as a kid.

I've had clients tell me all kinds of stange things over the years. One woman wanted to eat her powdered laundry soap. Another woman wanted to eat the branches of her christmas tree. Instead she chewed on toothbrushes.

[balancedmama]

I had it during pregnancy and I called it 'smell pica'. I'm sure that's not the technical term. My faves were bike tires, the garage--especially when really hot, and rubbing alcohol. Shoe leather. I never wanted to taste or eat those things at all. Just smell them. It was a really overpowering desire to smell them. I *was* anemic but even once I got my iron levels back up, I still had the cravings. My MW joked that one comfort tool in labor might be opening up the garage door and taking a whiff.

DH was pretty mortified when I would lumber through the bike shop sniffing tires.

[junamoss]

I loved the smell of home depot with both my pregnancies. But I felt it was to dangerous so settled on the smell of the health food store. But I would have huffed just about any chemical smell....i feel really good remembering that.
I am glad to see that I am not the only person this has happened to.

[sunshine's mama]

I like the smell of plastic things too..like new out of the package pool toys plastic...

I think I am going to take something with me to the hospital that smells strongly of my laundry detergent......my dryer sheet has kept me sleeping soundly all night the past few nights......

[crh'smama]

Wow, this is crazy. My sis has had 7 kids. With the last one she told me how much she loved the smell of tires so much she wanted to eat them. K, forgive me if I'm just stupid, but what is PICA or what does it stand for?
I have always liked the smell of tires and gasoline. But I especially like the auto parts store, like Pep Boys or Checker. I loved the smel of my DH's deoderant so much while pregnant, I wanted to eat it! Or him! Ohh la la!

[NJ*Doula]

My mother craved the air from squeaky toys when she was pregnant with me. I think she might have inhaled too deeply. :

[junamoss]

Tea tree oil. I knew turpentine was off limits.