My Son Smells like Maple Syrup

That is weird, and I have no advice to offer, but it is kind of awesome....I would love to smell like maple syrup! :) Things could be worse and as long as everything else seems normal I would be happy if my child smelled that good all the time. Let us know if the doctor has any news - that is very interesting!!

C. T.
If this continues, I would see his pediatrician. A generalized "sweet smell" and even a sweet taste to the skin can be an indicator of diabetes. (Have you licked your baby lately?) :) Otherwise, I'm as confused as you are. Hope this helps. BTW, I'm a nurse and mom of 6, and I have seen this before.

I was wondering what in the heck is maple syrup disease so I Googled it, and went to the Wikipedia site. Among other things, it said "Variant forms of the disorder may appear later in infancy or childhood and are typically less severe, but still involve mental and physical problems if left untreated." Since it appears to be such a distinctive identifiable odor, I think I would get to the doctor again for testing if you haven't done it since the odor appeared recently. Hopefully it isn't this disease, but better to be safe. Good luck!

has the child been checked for diabetes ??
that alone would explain the smell.
also tylenol and motrin has never been tested for safety
in use of small children, so that might also be causing the maple syrup smell. stop giving the child tylenol first, then wait two weeks, if the smell is gone then you know thats what it was, if the smell is still there, then stop the motrin, then if the smell is still there, have the child checked for diabetes or liver problems. but he needs to drink at least the minimum requirement of water or liquids ( try popsicles or juice ) to help flush out the tylenol and motrin.hope it helps
K. h.

i have no idea, but i do know when child wets his undies or diaper that their clothes smell like syrup. maybe wash his bed linens?

you don't mention if he's bf or bottle or cup fed. Is there something new in his diet? Has he had a cold lately? I would just touch base with the nurse/dr. and ask their opinion.
M.

You said that he has been getting Tylenol and Motrin lately. Check the ingredients list, I bet you will find and ingredient that ends in -ose. It's a sugar like additive, that in some form or another is added to many foods. If you check the other ingredient lists, you may find other -ose's listed. All of these add up to sugar overload, which may explain the maple syrup smell. ALso, you may want to have him checked for diabetes. I don't want to scare you, but sometimes diabetics have a sugary smell when the body doesn't process sugar and all of the other sugar like substances found in processed food.
People need to get better about reading the ingredient panels on the food that they put into their bodies. Many will be very surprised at the amount of sugar and salt that is in processed foods, when they know what the ingredients mean.

I've never heard of maple syrup disease, but my son had a very sweet smelling diaper at one point... it's been years ago, but it was because he was drinking too much apple juice. I was giving it to him whenever he asked... and he always asked. I thought I was ok because I diluted it 1/2 and 1/2 with water. When I took him off apple juice, and stuck with milk and water, he was just fine! The smell went away within a day or so and there was no worries about anything else. BTW~ I did ask the DR. about it and that's how I found out. Dr. didn't mention maple syrup disease at all. So if he's drinking juice of any sort, it may be making his urine smell sweet... and his clothes (like he's emitting the smell through his skin!).

Good luck!
~J.

I have a friend whose 2 year old was tested for maple syrup disease on the basis of the fact that that he wasn't gaining weight ans had a slight odor. I think they are still waiting on the results. It is very unlikely, but I wouldn't rule it out unless you have spoken with the doctor.

My son is 7 1/2 and has smelled like that for years. The doctor checked and he has slightly elevated levels of the amino acids associated with this disease but no other problems. You might consider a trip to the pediatrician just to save you some worrying. Good luck!

You wrote that you know he doesn't have maple syrup urine disease, so I am assuming you have taken him to the doctor and had the test done. What did the doctor say? It's something that should be brought to his attention. Meanwhile, I found this online: http://tnation.tmuscle.com/free_online_forum/sports_body_.... With children, though I wouldn't self-diagnose. Too many things can be happening at such a young age, and you don't want him to experience developmental issues later.

I have a two year old son who has had a strong maple syrup odor intermittently throughout his life. We just received negative test results back for two blood tests that were organic urine acid, and branched-chain amino acid (BCAA)- which is used in identifying maple syrup urine disease. He did have a perfectly fine Newborn Screening at birth and I did breastfeed my son the first year of life which is thought to have kept most symptoms at bay. There are different forms of this disease- classic, intermittent, intermediate, and thiamine responsive. With the intermittent form a child can be of variable age when onset of the disease occurs. Also, they can have the maple syrup odor off and on, normal early growth and development, episodic decompensations that can be severe. The child can have normal BCAA blood levels when well, and when the child is sick they can have BCAA levels like in the classic form of the disease. So, if the child is tested when they are feeling well, there is a chance the test will come back perfectly fine. My advice is to seek the opinion of a pediatric metabolic specialist and as soon as you notice the maple syrup odor or your child is sick in any form; run to the lab and get the tests right away to avoid a false negative result. I am currently waiting for my son to wake up one morning with the strong odor of maple syrup so I can get the blood work done immediately after. My pediatrician agreed to this since I brought her evidence of the odor on my son's warm sleeper pajamas. It seems that he sweats badly at night and the odor comes through his sweat- when the levels are expectantly high at variable times.

Check out this very technical webpage: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK1319/

I hope this helps. Take this seriously, even if it doesn't seem to be serious at the moment, it can be at a later time (with the forms that occur at variable ages and left undetected unlike the classic form).