A Smelly Situation: A Search for Kid Friendly Deodorant

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A while back some friends and I went out for dinner and they were talking about how their daughter's, (who are about the same age as Addy), needed to start wearing deodorant.

I was all, "Oh, Addy doesn't have that problem yet.  Good luck with all that."

And, of course, about 2 weeks later, Addy was sitting on my lap and I got a whiff of something that smelled like a boys locker room.

And since I was pretty sure she wasn't hanging out in the boys locker room, I knew our moment had come.

Time for deodorant.

I knew that she should definitely not be wearing antiperspirant, (because Deodorants neutralize odors while antiperspirant block pores), but beyond that, I didn't know what was okay for children to wear.

I did a little digging, and here's what I found out:

Aluminum, which is in most deodorants, is bad.  Apparently, the compounds can accumulate in the brain and it's been associated with Alzheimer's. Parabens are another thing to watch out for.  They have been linked to breast cancer, and since we have a family history already, I'm thinking we should definitely avoid those!  And Propylene  Glycol is a neurotoxin that can cause dermatitis, kidney and liver damage.  None of that sounds fun to me.   Basically, you should try to look for a deodorant with all natural ingredients.

So, with that info., I started searching. 

Wowzers!  Almost everything on the grocery shelf had those ingredients in it.  Even in the "Natural" section, almost every one of them had at least one, (mostly, Propylene Glycol). 

Sigh.  I ended up choosing one that *did* have Propylene Glycol, only because the two other choices without it had strong fragrances added which would have made my 8 year old little girl smell like a 60 year old sailor.   The brand is Kiss My Face and it is fragrance free. 

But I'm still not comfortable with it. 

So tell me, have you found one that you like that doesn't have any of these harmful ingredients?  If so, PLEASE SHARE!