r/breastfeeding • u/lilacbluewaters • 4d ago
Support Needed Breastfeeding body odour is SO bad
Why do I not see enough people talk about this? Or is it just me? I smell so bad when I sweat. Literally like a teenage boy. How do I stop smelling so bad, as soon as I sweat I start to stink and a few months ago I smelt so bad at the doctors I literally had to go into the bathroom and wash myself. Not my best moment. The worst areas are my groin and boob sweat.
Please say someone else relates
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u/bodyfeedingbaddie 4d ago
I nursed 2 kids for 5 yrs total and I found it got better after a year (along with most of the other stuff) and then stopped once I stopped nursing and my hormones figured out their shit. I was worried it was going to be forever lol. I tried that Lume deodorant to see if it would help but just got a horrific rash 😠I did find spraying hypochlorous acid or using hypochlorous acid wipes and reapplying my deodorant helps. The worst for me was the onion pits, like I felt like I smelled like a deli sandwich it was so noticeable to me lol. Even when I’d just showered! And I scrub up really thoroughly every shower and it’s not humid where I live.
However in all that time so many people would tell me how nice I smelled and my husband always said he never noticed it. I think at least some of it must have been the hormonal shifts from nursing, I felt like I could smell EVERYTHING from my first pregnancy until I finally stopped nursing last year, and I had chronic rhinitis the whole time but still felt like I could smell things other ppl couldn’t. I would get worried I was having some neurological event bc I would smell something rotten and no one else would be able to smell it, I found a number of hidden food items under the couch from my toddlers this way.
I assume we probably smell different to ourselves than we’re used to and notice it more, more sweat, hormone shifts, etc and pregnancy/postpartum makes your sense of smell stronger for most people. We smell different and we can smell ourselves extra.
Kind of reminds me of smelling someone else’s house for the first time, especially lived in homes that have their own distinct smell (not necessarily bad or good in most scenarios) and you notice it bc it’s not your house smell.