Neck cheese

[jojo2324]

Why does it exist? Is it only my children who fall victim to it? Oh, I hope others know what I'm talking about and don't think I'm some vile person now. (I swear that's a term I learned here, but now I'm not so sure it wasn't my mother...)

Gannon's was GROSS. But, he was absurdly chunky and it was (sorry) July, so I could explain it away. (Heat, sweat...ew, ew!!)

Sorrel is not so bad, but...I can still sense it! And while she does have some cheeks, she doesn't even come close to Gannon in the neck department. And it's January.

No matter how I clean her neck, it's not going away! I don't want stinky kids!

People have said powder under their necks, but that freaks me out. With all the warning about small particles causing pneumonia, and that's just with diaper changes...I don't want to sprinkle around the neck. (Not even, I would put it on my palm first and then pat...Still worries me!) Then for some reason I feel like others have suggested Aquaphor.

Please, it's gross!

[NancyJ_redo]

My sister had a baby - her first - two months before we did. After seeing the baby the first time my DH commented that she was kind of smelly around the neck. At about the two week point I asked my sister how she would bathe her baby. Her reply "um...we haven't really bathed her yet. We just wipe her down with a cloth". DH and I thought that was kinda weird...until we had one of our own.

I'm afraid to admit how long it was before we got the nerve up to give DS a real bath. And let me tell you, up to that point and well after it, DS had the smelliest neck in town. Oh, and he was and still is a skinny baby. No way was anyone gonna believe that the cheese was due to neck rolls.

[etwahl]

joanne, lauren didn't get what sounds like sorrel has, but she did get a rash in the fold of the neck (when she was really small, same age). what i started doing was washing it with a wash cloth frequently (especially first thing in the morning and before bed) and then applying some baby eczema cream (because she had eczema also) and it cleared it right up. i kept that routine up all the time and it never came back.

Tammy,
Mom to Lauren Genevieve
03/12/2003
www.evantammy.com

[jojo2324]

Thank you!! I was kind of regretting posting, but your company makes me feel better. :D

We gave Gannon a bath at two weeks. I'll cop to not giving Sorrel a bath yet. I do a sponge bath every other day or two. It's too cold, and I don't see it as overly necessary when they're this little.

But it was driving me insane!! I would hold her, smell something funky, check her diaper, check my shoes (;)) and nothing! And nobody else can smell it, not even DH. (He is SO tired of me and my nose...It drives him insane because I'm always asking, "What is that?!?!" ) Finally clicked the other day. Don't know why it took so long, considering my previous experience.

[khakismom]

Kathleen had the cheese too. x( I just kept cleaning it and cleaning it. Eventually, when she was around 6 months I think, it went away. Maybe it's when she could really hold her head up and it wasn't always burrowed in her neck. Sorry, I'm probably not much help, but wanted to commiserate!

Also, my nose is very sensitive too and I pick up so much more than DH and am always asking "What's that smell?" too.

[Marisa6826]

Sophie had it too. And she had about as much fat on her as a capon. :P

I put cornstarch on a cotton square and then dabbed it on. If the cotton square is too big, dip a QTip in the corn starch and then rub that in to the folds. Corn starch isn't a "poofy" as talc, and I found it doesn't fly around as much.

Give it a shot!!!

-m

[Jacksonvol]

I am so glad to know I am not alone. It is so hard to get in to that particular area. I am afraid she will start to sprout potatoes and daycare will report me to children's services! I usually go with a Q-tip, but it is really hard to get that big head on that skinny neck to cooperate! I think I'll try the cornstarch.

[wendmatt]

Too funny you call it neck cheese! Emily would sometimes get really stinky when she was a baby and I couldn't work out what it was, it would come and go. I thought babies were supposed to smell divine! She was a chunky baby so I finally figured out it was the milk dribble under her chin and wiped well with a washcloth. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it still smelt! I did give her regular baths and if I used wash on my finger and put it under her chin that was usually the only way to completely get rid of it (till the next time!)
Lots of baby powders are cornstarch now and not talc so that might be worth a try.

[sweetbasil]

At almost 8 mo, my lots-of-folds baby still has this occasionally- and his belly button has similar problems. Like, how am I supposed to get in there? Ugh. I swear, I'm trying to keep him clean, but there are all these hidden places his thinner big brother never had. Diaper changes at the beginning were such a challenge- fold, after fold, after fold, recheck that fold, did I miss a fold, was that from this change or the last....Poor kid- he'd probably be scarred for life if he only knew!

[friedmana1]

Ugh! Leah had that too - and I kept trying to clean it, but she hated that and always cried. So, I didn't want to hurt her, but I didn't want the smell either. And then, she got a rash there because of all the moisture. It's sort like athlete's foot - I know, a great thing to think about in your baby's neck. LOL! Anyway, a but of lotrimin cleared the rash thing right up. Try the drying stuff first, like cornstarch or even powder, if you are careful. But if it gets out of hand, try lotrimin. HTH!

Aimee
Mother to Leah 10/26/02

[llcoddington]

While holding Lauren, my mom commented that she smelled bad. I was mortified, as I had just given her a bath. I thought it was the neck thing, so I started making sure to wash that area often. Well, it ended up being that she has reflux and burps up yucky smell. Fortunately, that is happening less often...

Lana
mommy to Lauren 12/5/03

[egoldber]

Sarah has this too (although I never noticed an odor) and had the mortification of having my ped point it out to me! LOL! He just suggested getting in there really well with a cloth and using Aquaphor if the places seemed irritated. Like someone else mentioned, it stopped as soon as she could hold her head up really well.

HTH,

[doubleL]

We don't have neck cheese here, but DD has occasional behind-the-ear cheese... what is that!?! Yuck!!!! And yes, I bathe her regularly. I thought the whole, "make sure to clean behind the ears" was some control-freak 50's mom thing. And now that's me! Plus, we never had this with DS so it's always funny to find new things with a second child... the good and the GROSS things.

Lou
~David 5.01
~Elisabeth 6.03

[votre_ami03]

Joann, I think another mom I know said she used Lansinoh on her girl's necks. It acted as a barrier.


Christy, mommy to Nolan 7/22/03

[jennifer13]

Oh how I hated the neck cheese! I assumed it was from breastmilk and spit up getting in there, and boy did it stink. I used a q-tip, and although I didn't use it I can see that aquaphor after the q-tip would help the skin from getting irritated. You are not alone!!

Jennifer
Mom to Norah 5/23/03

[jennifer13]

We have behind the ear cheese too! I can't figure out how to get rid of it! Water/washcloth doesn't seem to work. Any suggestions?

Jennifer
Mom to Norah 5/23/03

[miki]

My kid's got under-the-arms-cheese. And feet that smell like gym sock feet--even though she is not mobile, has no shoes, and doesn't even wear socks for most of the day.

[starrynight]

Alex had the neck cheese and so did Daria. I think the only reason Eliza was spared is I learned how to keep it away. And also she is so dang nosey she always has her head up ;).

And we have like crust behind the ears, but it's not stinky just dry. hmmm

[sbaker]

Too funny! Here I thought only my kids had that funky smell. I actually give my kids baths every night. DH comes by and holds up the Charlye's four chins, so I can wash out the cheese. Rayce had six chins at this age, so his cheese was worse. You might want to check other folds of skin too. Tonight I found cheese in Miss Charlye's armpits. Yuck!

Just my two cents...
:) :+ :)
Sara
Mom to:
Rayce 02/09/02
Charlye 12/20/03