What is the reason for the baby's bad breath? Mothers should pay attention

Many parents have found that their babies occasionally have bad breath, and the smell is very strong. This puzzles parents. Why would such a young child have bad breath? What exactly causes bad breath in babies? Mothers should pay attention.

What causes bad breath in babies?

1. The reason for bad breath in babies is reduced saliva

Water and saliva in the mouth can lubricate the mucous membrane, remove microorganisms, and maintain the oral environment. If the water and saliva in the baby's mouth are reduced, it will lead to dry mouth, bacteria will decompose and release, volatile products will increase, and the mouth will produce bad odor. Therefore, mothers should try to let their babies drink about five glasses of water a day to replenish water and avoid reducing saliva.

2. Causes of bad breath in babies: oral hygiene

If the baby does not develop a good habit of rinsing and brushing teeth, or suffers from dental caries, bad breath will occur. This is because there is milk accumulation or accumulated food residue in the mouth that has not been cleaned in time, or the food stuck in the gaps between teeth and in dental cavities ferments and rots, thus emitting odor or bad smell. Babies with growing teeth are more likely to suffer from dental caries. Generally, pit and fissure sealant treatment can seal these pits and fissures to prevent dental caries. This preventive treatment can be performed in the dental department of a regular hospital.

3. Causes of bad breath in babies: dietary stimulation

Generally speaking, babies who eat dairy products as their main food, or who prefer meat to vegetables, are prone to bad breath. Because these foods are rich in protein, the ammonia produced in the gastrointestinal tract will increase, making bad breath more likely.

4. Diseases that cause bad breath in babies

1. Stomatitis

Stomatitis is an inflammation of the oral mucosa and is one of the important reasons for bad breath in babies. Stomatitis is mainly caused by bacteria, viruses and fungi, such as thrush, herpetic stomatitis, bacterial stomatitis, etc. These diseases can occur alone or secondary to systemic diseases such as diarrhea, malnutrition, acute infection, long-term illness and weakness.

2. Oral ulcers

Oral ulcers are usually found on the oral mucosa and the edge of the tongue. They are usually white ulcers with a red halo around them. They are very painful, especially when eating sour, salty, or spicy foods. Babies with oral ulcers are prone to bad breath and often have blood in their saliva. Oral ulcers in children are often related to picky eating.

3. Respiratory diseases

If the baby suffers from diseases such as tracheitis, pneumonia, lung abscess, bronchiectasis, etc., these diseases will affect the function of the digestive system, leading to gastrointestinal dysfunction and indigestion causing odor, or the disease itself may cause the exhaled gas to have a rotten odor.

4. Rhinogenic diseases

If your baby suffers from nasal diseases such as rhinitis and sinusitis, this will also cause bad breath. In addition, some babies with otitis media will also have bad breath.

How to clean your baby's mouth

Some younger babies like to fall asleep while drinking milk, and some older children also have the habit of drinking milk before going to bed, which causes milk accumulation in the mouth and the milk produces a bad smell after fermenting overnight.

Treatment method:

Babies under 1 year old: After breastfeeding, you can give your baby some warm water to rinse his mouth, or every night, wrap gauze around your index finger, dip it in warm water, and use a horizontal brushing method to gently wipe the baby's tongue, gums and oral mucosa to clean them.

Babies aged 1 to 2 years old: Drink some warm water or rinse your mouth with light salt water every night. You can also try brushing your teeth with a finger toothbrush.

Children over 3 years old: brush their teeth with children's toothpaste, because adult toothpaste contains fluoride and is not suitable for babies.

Tips: Generally, a good time to clean your baby’s mouth is after eating or before going to bed.

Classification of baby bad breath

Sort by smell

1. Rotten eggs

Liver problems such as fulminant hepatitis can easily induce this type of bad breath. This type of bad breath has a special smell, which is very similar to the smell of rotten eggs. The medical name is hepatic halitosis. This type of bad breath is also a manifestation of serious liver dysfunction, and parents need to pay attention to it.

2. Corrupt odor

Most of them are caused by oral problems and not cleaning teeth properly.

3. Rotten apple smell

It is a strange smell that occurs when diabetes is very serious and has reached ketoacidosis. It emanates from the nasal cavity and tastes like rotten apples.

4. Purulent halitosis

If there are other objects in the baby's nasal cavity or there is inflammation (atrophic rhinitis, purulent tonsillitis, etc.), and pus and ulceration appear in the nasal cavity and bronchial diseases, then this kind of bad breath will be caused.

5. Sour taste

It is mostly due to the child's gastrointestinal dysfunction.

6. Bloody Smell

It is mostly caused by nasal bleeding or gastrointestinal bleeding in children.

7. Sweaty feet

The human body lacks an enzyme called isovaleryl dehydrogenase. The lack of this enzyme will cause the isovaleric acid substance to be unable to be metabolized normally and be retained in the blood. Therefore, there is less enzyme, and the child will have foot sweat and bad breath. The symptoms of this type are mental retardation, occasional vomiting and coma.

8. Cat urine smell

It is mostly caused by hyperglycineemia, which is an amino acid metabolism disorder. Hyperglycineemia can cause the body to lack glycine decarboxylase, leading to abnormal glycine metabolism and inducing glycine retention in the blood, cerebrospinal fluid and urine. At this time, the baby's bad breath smells like cat urine, and the symptoms are low intelligence, easy infection and bleeding.

9. Urine smell

When a child's kidney disease reaches the stage of chronic renal failure, some toxic substances cannot be excreted and are retained in the body due to the lack of urine. The child will therefore have urine odor and bad breath, which is also a sign of a serious condition.

10. Garlic smell

If the human body accidentally comes into contact with organophosphorus pesticides, it can cause organophosphorus pesticide poisoning, and children will have garlic-like bad breath.

11. Fishy smell

It often occurs in patients with trimethylaminuria, a rare metabolic defect. At this time, the child will have fishy bad breath, which is generally called "fish syndrome".

Expert reminder:

Not all bad breath is caused by disease. For example, if the baby eats food with strong smell, such as garlic, leek, etc.; there are undigested residues in the baby's mouth; the baby does not clean in time after eating a lot of snacks, etc. However, the above situations are all temporary bad breath, which can be solved by adjusting the diet.

How to prevent bad breath in babies

It is very common for babies to have bad breath. Sometimes it is caused by indigestion or some kind of disease. So how can mothers prevent bad breath for babies in daily life? Here are 7 tips to help your baby get a nice mouth!

1. Develop good eating habits, eat at regular times and in regular amounts, and eat less fried or pan-fried foods.

2. Maintain good food hygiene and make sure the food is fresh and clean.

3. Prevent various common diseases and infectious diseases and improve children's gastrointestinal digestive function.

4. Drinking tea in daily life can not only prevent and improve bad breath, but also regulate the balance of human body mechanisms, clear away heat and detoxify, reduce inflammation and fight bacteria, and enhance human resistance.

5. Prevent dryness and keep the mouth moist. When you sleep at night, saliva secretion decreases and the mouth is relatively dry. This is the best environment for bacteria to multiply, and bad breath will appear the next day. Therefore, if you want to prevent bad breath in the morning, the most important thing is to keep the mouth moist.

6. Improve the ability of the oral cavity to secrete saliva. Chewing more when eating can improve the ability of the oral cavity to secrete saliva, which can increase the humidity of the oral cavity.

7. Put a humidifier in the bedroom. The weather is dry in winter. If you put a heater in the bedroom, you can increase the humidity and avoid excessive dryness in the mouth. You can also put a glass of water instead.