Parents of middle schoolers, or soon to be middle school students may be making an interesting observation about their young family member.
"As young as fifth grade sometimes we notice that all of a sudden that cute amazing adorable child, smells."
And while it's a touchy topic to bring up, Mia Redrick the Mom Strategist says it can be even worse for your kids if you don't.
"Sometimes when kids smell other kids will ostracize you, also or call you names, so it's a really great thing as a parent to support your kids in building great personal hygiene habits."
Body odor among adolescents is pretty common, but the good news is, it's fixable.
"Pack a small personal hygiene kit for your child. You can put it in a little zip lock bag. You can go to Bed Bath and Beyond and Walmart and get the sample sized deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, lotion, lip balm, whatever it is that you know your child would need. Keep something really small and put it in their backpacks."
Another tip, have the important conversation.
"Set expectations in terms of what our personal hygiene in terms of our hygiene, like do we want you to brush your teeth every day, are we expecting you to take a shower and use deodorant. While this might sound basic to most parents, it's not basic to kids."
And once they're exceeding or meeting those expectations, make sure they know you've noticed.
"When they are doing it right, acknowledge that they are doing it right so that we reinforce, that you're taking great care of yourself and as a parent you appreciate their maturity.
