bad breath in toddlers?

[musicalgrl]

DS (just turned 2) has some pretty funky breath all the time. My mother used to say bad breath in little kids was a sure sign of illness, but he's not sick. He has a 2 year well visit a few weeks ago and I mentioned it to the ped, who didn't seem concerned. But it doesn't seem normal to me. His older DD never has bad breath.

The main health issue we're addressing is his chronic constipation, which he's had on and off since he started on solid foods. Unfortunately he's a picky eater and most of what we can get in him (yogurt, apples, bananas, cheese, milk) is binding. We're working on finding ways to get him interested in other foods and 'sneak' things like flaxseed into his diet. His ped also has him on a prescription to alleviate the constipation. But I'm wondering if there's a correlation between the constipation and the bad breath??

[Katigre]

How is his dental health? Bad breath can be a sign of cavities or bad oral bacteria.

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[KpbS]

Bad breath in younger ones can be an indication of a sinus infection. Since it sounds like a constant thing for him, I would wonder about ear infections. Some kids can have them without the typical symptoms such as fever, indication of ear pain, etc. Also, does he snore or is he a "nosiy" sleeper? He could have allergies/post nasal drip/enlarged adnoids/etc. that could contribute. I would probably ask for a referral to an ENT if you wanted to get him checked out further.

For the constipation (and also breath) is he getting enough water to drink? It can make a huge difference. I would encourage him to drink more even adding a tbs or two of juice to a cup of water once or twice a day and see if that will improve things.

[musicalgrl]

Both good suggestions, thank you. I'm sort of dreading the first dentist visit because just brushing at night is challenging with him, but I think it's time to make an appointment. I've had his ears checked multiple times, so I don't think it's that, but he is a noisy sleeper. If it persists, we'll go the ENT route.

[TwoBees]

Both good suggestions, thank you. I'm sort of dreading the first dentist visit because just brushing at night is challenging with him, but I think it's time to make an appointment. I've had his ears checked multiple times, so I don't think it's that, but he is a noisy sleeper. If it persists, we'll go the ENT route.

Brushing only 1x/day could be part of the issue. Does he still take a bottle or use a sippy cup? Both could cause pooling of the liquid in his mouth. Definitely make a dentist appointment. A good pediatric dentist should make the child feel comfortable rather than fearful, and be able to deal with a wiggly kid. Brushing teeth is non-negotiable at our house, and yes, there were times we had to struggle with DD.

[Dream]

Bad breath in younger ones can be an indication of a sinus infection. Since it sounds like a constant thing for him, I would wonder about ear infections. Some kids can have them without the typical symptoms such as fever, indication of ear pain, etc. Also, does he snore or is he a "nosiy" sleeper? He could have allergies/post nasal drip/enlarged adnoids/etc. that could contribute. I would probably ask for a referral to an ENT if you wanted to get him checked out further.


I've been noticing bad breather on my DD2 and she's a loud sleeper, snores and sounds congested all the time. She does have wheezing and we use the nebulizer as needed. I thought it might be due to her sucking on the fingers but maybe its something else. I do brush her teeth twice a day.

[musicalgrl]

Brushing only 1x/day could be part of the issue. Does he still take a bottle or use a sippy cup? Both could cause pooling of the liquid in his mouth.

I hadn't thought about that. We do brush only at night and he gets a bottle with milk 3 times a day. I've noticed that he sometimes drools a lot at night, so it stands to reason that liquid may be pooling in there during the day. Good thoughts - thank you!

[echoesofspring]

FWIW my otherwise healthy 2.5 has dragon's breath in the morning, so I'm trying to brush twice a day. All the above suggestions about possible ENT issues are interesting.

[MSWR0319]

DS1 has had bad breath for a long time. Sometimes it's worse than others. We have an appointment scheduled with an ENT this week because the nose spray isn't helping a whole lot with his sleeping issues/mouth breathing like the ped thought it would.

[Kymberley]

I have noticed this with DS. Then one day he coughed up a tonsil stone. Those things are so stinky! He's a mouth breather at night and has had some sinus drainage. That's where his bad breath is coming from. It's worth getting it checked out.

[BabyBearsMom]

Whenever DD1 has bad breath, she has strep throat. I can smell it on her as soon as I get within arms reach of her and bring her straight to the pedi. It can be chronic (I had it for nearly a year when I was in 1st grade), so I would take him in to the pedi and have his throat and ears checked.

[musicalgrl]

Whenever DD1 has bad breath, she has strep throat.

Exactly - this was my first thought when I first started noticing it! But he's had ears and throat checked a few times and always turns up fine. That's part of the mystery.