Smells everything

[grannieg]

A 5 year old boy has a habit of smelling everything, or touching items then constantly smelling his
hands, with recent emphasis on not touching anything, but holding his hands away from himself
so that he doesn't touch anything.  What do you think about this?

[MamaRose202]

My daughter is 6 and has done this for about 2 yrs. She's great at expressing herself, I asked why she smells things, she told me it smells like memories! And it's soothing. She's a just being a kid and taking in everything, building synapses in her growing brain. Let them sniff and touch and taste as long as it won't hurt them.

[specialmom]

Yes, lots of kids smell and agree that unless it is causing a significant issue for them or others, it doesn't matter.

[Tomitsunami]

If your child has had strep, it may trigger OCD. Talk to their pediatrician but another round of antibiotics might take care of it.

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-news/2006/how-strep-triggers-obsessive-compulsive-disorder-new-clues.shtml

[smellographer]

I have a deep smelling condition ..some people say I have this smellergraphic memory of scents.. if I smell anything I can tell where it has been and can locate to wear specifically that it has been or where and how close it .. I live in a huge handed family house and the washing has a vast amount of clothing including a lot of white t shirts that belong to my cousins and my uncles and mine.. we can wash bwt 15 white t shirts and I can still have the ability to tell whose is which and since my family knowing I have this ability.. all the white t shirts can now be washed all at once  and even be scattered but its crap lol because I gotta sort it out.. I love my ability and I think that its great..a lot of people claim that its a bad habit but with an ability like this ..a lot can be accomplished..

[fanofbilly]

Hello, I know this post is old, what did you find out about your son? You described my son exactly in your comments. He is 11 and I have an appointment in a few weeks to have him evaluated. Like you said about your son, mine is very intelligent.

[margypops]

I had kids that liked to smell everything ,,nothing other than normal in ,y opinion , I like to sniff now and again ...its usually roses or sweet smells now but when I was a kid I would sniff anything  and I think I am normal ...lol.

[MamaRose202]

Children are supposed to be tactile! These sensory behaviors are NOT destructive and dont become an issue until neurotic parents make them feel strange and wrong because of them. If it isn't causing ACTUAL hate, just love your kids quirks and all.

[specialmom]

Gosh, I hope I'm not neurotic. lol.  I have a son with sensory integration disorder.  He does have tactile sensitivity which caused fight or flight responses.  Occupational therapy helped him tremendously.  He was diagnosed at 4 and went to occupational therapy for over six years.  He's now 14.  Still has sensory integration disorder but by not ignoring it and trying to help him learn how to deal with it, he learned coping skills that he uses.  He's doing really well.  Every child is different and a lot of things are normal.  And sometimes the degree to which a child does a normal behavior is indicative of something more going on. As in, if it interferes with their daily life.  Looking deeper into things saved my son, in my opinion.  So, every parent has to make their choice on how to handle situations and most are doing the best they can.  

[lovemykids3680]

My four year old daughter loves to touch her three month old brothers head and then smell her fingers.  She does it every time she touches him, and she acts like she can't resist touching him, like she has to do it.  It bothers me because she will not leave the poor baby alone.  She also hoards her toys instead of playing with them, and will not let her other brother touch them. She also thinks she is the boss of the house and trys to boss her brother around.  This all might be because she is the first born, but sometimes her habits seem obsessive.

[proudmomofjacob]

My son who is just about 6 has had sensory issues his whole life. At 3 yrs old he was washing hs hands up to 20 times a day, which dissapeared eventually only to be replaced by him clearing his throat all the time. A few months ago he started to smell his hands after touching anything and it has really become a problem (meaning he does it a lot).

He is very intellent, having no problems in school but I am wondering what I should do about this? I am starting to worry that he may have Tourette's. They thought he might have Asperger's when he was smaller. We obviously need another trip to the Dr.

Thanks for reading... any feedback is welcome.

[angiehenry]

I am having the same problem with my eight year old son. He smells everything and even our pets. We have a 100 lb dog and a 3 lb dog that he smells all the time. He smells food,toys,books what ever his hands touch he smells.Is this a form of ocd? I need answers so bad.

[shellz75]

Im having that problem with my 7yr old daughter, it's starting to drive me insane, which is probably no fault of hers, she smells everything which has been on her hands, eg itches her nose she smells it, touches something 3 seconds later she smells her hands and everything she puts in her mouth... hoping it's not some sort of ocd, could anyone else enlighten the matter please.....

[Agiesmom]

I smell everything--my family always joked about it growing up.  My sister does it, too, but not as much as me.  Our kids also smell everything.

I have a very acute sense of smell and always smell things before others or the smell is more intense (like a skunk while driving--I always comment first that I smell one and it takes others in the car several seconds to a minute longer to smell it).

Also, because my sense of smell is so acute, I prefer bland foods (smell contributes greatly to taste).  I'm overly sensitive to strong flavors and spicy foods.  So, if your son also doesn't like onions or garlic or thinks things are spicy when you don't, he's probably not exaggerating.

Regarding not touching things, perhaps he had an odor on his hands that he didn't like that he could not get rid of.  Ask him about it.  Ask him to help choose hand soaps (so it's a scent he likes) --there is a lemon Softsoap called "Kitchen Fresh Hands" that it's made for neutralizing odors.  Sometimes the smell on my hands after cutting onions will actually wake me in the night, so I can understand that he may be reluctant to get his hands smelly.

[rebbecca]

sadly my husband smells everything too. maybe it is a male thing,lol