Why does my 13 year old smell bad?

Question

He showers daily, uses deoderant, cologne, but by the end of the day he smells bad? Some mom's tell me that teen boys just smell. What's the deal!?

Answer 1

Hormones!

Answer 2

Some teens do just smell bad. See if he is willing to take a shower in the morning and in the evening, or maybe try switching his deodorant. Also if he is wearing only a deodorant and not a deodorant/antiperspirant, that may be part of the problem. My 19 year old stepson smelled to high heaven when he was 13. It got to where I would wash his sheets twice a week and go in and deodorize his room in the afternoons. He eventually grew out of it, but still there are times he still smells.

Answer 3

Heck, I smell bad at the end of the day too.

You didn't say what the smell is, I am assuming sweat? Is it him? Or his clothes?

For most people, the underarm hair absorbs a lot of the sweat so the smell is there, but not as bad. For a thirteen year old, that hair may not be there yet, and so the smell stays on his skin or even in his clothes.

If he showers in the morning, he may need to change to a nightly shower. And make sure he changes his shirts daily, I know its a struggle to get my thirteen year old to do that.

If he sweats abundantly, you may try an antiperspirant instead of deodorant. Deodorants only hide odor, antiperspirants clog the pores and stop the sweating.

If nothing helps, get him checked by the doctor. Overabundant sweating can be caused by many things such as hypoglycemia, thyroid problems, certain foods and medications.

Its most likely just hormones and becoming a man, but, it doesn't hurt to check.

And also, I'm sure you don't do this, but please, please, don't tease him about it. By all means, do something about it, but its normal and natural, don't make him feel bad about it too.

Answer 4

Try better deoderant. Mitchum's is very powerful; so is a great brand called Lavlin that is expensive initially but only has to be applied weekly. You have to either mail order it or buy at a health food store. Many products just aren't strong enough.

Also make sure it's not his shoes or some other area of his body.

Answer 5

For a boy should be normal to smell bad in the end of the day!
Evidently, you just don't realize what he does during the whole day and how high can be his metabolism. Usually he should wash again when at home or before going to sleep.

Answer 6

You might have to go for a different deodorant. Try Mitchum. It's one of the strongest over the counter deodorants, and yes there are prescription strength deodorants that your m.d. can prescribe.

Make sure he's using a super soapy wash cloth and really scrubbing those underarms, too.

Best of luck!

Answer 7

He is going through his preubreuty he is gonna smell maybye spray him with cologne when he is not looking if it really bothers you. My brother who is 12 STINKS I just avoid him. But you are his mom maybye tell hime to deotroise . Then again he is growing it is body making those deadly smells . Hope it helped!!!

Answer 8

I know the smell well. It's called "boy stench". LOL at least, that's what I call it. I think your friends are right, they all stink at the end of the day, especially when they've been running around playing.

Answer 9

My brother was the exact same way, and in fact so was I. It's the hormones helping him become a teen to an adult. Don't worry. He'll just have to get more showers, but the phase will pass shortly.

Answer 10

Deodorant wears off. So does cologne and these two things only mask odors rather than eliminate them.

One solution is diet which many people misperceive as something special you do but is actually the ordinary things you consume. Macrobiotics. Look it up.