3 yo ds super sensitive to smells

amother

Sun, Feb 04 2024, 10:35 pm

I never encountered this and wondering if anyone has any insight. My barely 3 yo is always commenting/complaining about smells. He complains when I change diapers, he complains when he’s in the bathroom, when he smells food he’ll either complain or comment about it. He’s constantly commenting about smells. Most kids aren’t so aware of smells at such a young age. He’s been doing this since he’s two.

Any ideas?

amother

Cadetblue

Mon, Feb 05 2024, 1:23 am

I was that child. It's not a bad thing in and of itself, but I would highly suggest trying sensory therapy (is that what it's called? I forget) within the next few years if it doesn't go away. I never had any help coping with that, and as an older child I had meltdowns over the smell of dinner cooking... would make mom open all the windows of the house... would have a day ruined by someone's perfume...

As long as he is able to function and it doesn't cause those issues, nothing to worry about - it can even be a strength. Does he also seem to particularly enjoy good smells?

amother

Lemonchiffon

Mon, Feb 05 2024, 4:09 am

My kid is like this. If an environment smelled bad enough, she would even throw up.

The most important thing I taught her is that she can hold her nose. I know that seems obvious, but not to a 3 year old. Giving her that option gave her control and that helped her. Also, for extended stays in places with strong smell (for instance she thinks our car smells, I smell nothing), we give her something that smells good to keep in her pocket- a lemon, a small bag of besamim (cloves) or cinnamon, vanilla extract on cotton balls. This way she can smell something good whenever she wants.

I also constantly tell dd that it is ok go be uncomfortable, it is ok to smell a bad smell. I even made her a sticker chart for handling being uncomfortable and gave her a prize when she got a certain number of stickers. This helped, because it isn't just that her sense of smell is super sensitive, but she has trouble handling feeling discomfort, so this gave her motivation. In parallel, I also taught her things to do when she feels uncomfortable (deep breathing isn't good for a smelly scenario though) but other tips like brief mindfulness to focus on other senses, squeezing a stress all, drawing a picture, listening to or singing a song, just something to help them.remove all of their focus from the smell.

Lastly, tell your child that smells do not always need to be commented kn - just because he smells something, doesn't mean he has to mention it. Again, this may seem obvious, but 3 year olds have no filters. It may not help much now, but is a good life lesson for down the road.

Basically, my dd is very sensory. This seems to go along with that.

myname1

Mon, Feb 05 2024, 4:47 am

amother Lemonchiffon wrote:

Thank you so much for sharing this. You have some great ideas! I am going to save your post for when my sensory dd starts driving me nuts!

amother

Navyblue

Mon, Feb 05 2024, 5:12 am

amother Midnight wrote:

Check out the guttman sisters @handsonapproaches they talk about sensory see sensitivities a lot

Here’s an article the Guttman sisters wrote on this topic: https://handsonotrehab.com/the.....mell/

They are giving a course on this in March which I am taking as a parent: https://handsonapproaches.com/.....sory/

I’m not instagram either but I know they post in a what’s app group. Don’t know the link though.

Definitely reach out to them.

amother

Fuchsia

Mon, Feb 05 2024, 5:12 am

My daughter was like this. She was two and holding her nose saying it smelled like ketchup when I used vinegar in anything.
She’s five now and a terrible eater. She has since learned not to comment about people’s breath or body odor or any bad smells when I told her it’s not a nice feeling to be told that and she was old enough to understand.
She’s still very sensitive and has a sense of smell like one wouldn’t believe, but has learned to function with it without constantly holding her nose everywhere.
Good luck!