The breath of babies (or at least babies over a couple of months old) is another one of those things they never tell you about before you have kids.
To preface: newborns supposedly have this "new baby smell" that's the greatest thing in the world. While Dorothy did smell nice at times, to be honest I never noticed any super-amazing great smell. On the "bad smell" side there is, of course, also the smell of the pee and the poop, but it should be obvious to anyone that you'll be getting those smells with a tiny person who hasn't yet learned to control her evacuation system. But within the last couple of months, I have noticed another smell: her breath. And while Dorothy is the most lovable baby in the world, her breath ain't pretty.
It makes a certain amount of sense, I guess. After all, you don't brush babies' teeth before they have teeth, and you don't give them Listerine to gargle because they might not spit it out. So there's nothing beyond their saliva's own natural defenses to kill bacteria etc. in the mouth. And to aggravate what would, for adults, naturally lead to bad breath (i.e., never washing out their mouths), babies are also well known for vomiting or at least "spitting up" milk, often after it's been half-digested. And guess what digestion does to milk? Curdles it, would be my bet.
So, to sum up: A baby's mouth regularly sees curdled milk going by, and clinging to the walls. And it's never cleaned out with Listerine or toothpaste. So I shouldn't be surprised that at times I notice Dorothy's breath smells bad, qutie like stale milk. I can just hope that things improve somehow before we add the smorgasbord of other smells that will come with solid food.
Posted by Tom Nugent at August 8, 2004 09:22 PMSome babies drink water - maybe that helps?
The "new baby smell" is usually from baby powder and other similarly scented baby products. Put a tiny bit on her neck and maybe you won't notice her milk breath ;)
Posted by: Nanna at August 9, 2004 01:03 AM