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Dealing with the Sour Milk Smell in Baby’s Neck

One of the worst things is to snuggle up to your baby and get a whiff of sour milk. This seems to be worst in the mornings, at least at my house. My baby goes to bed with skin fresh from his bath, but wakes up a bit sour. I think it has to do with the two night feedings in the dark. It’s hard to get the milk wiped up well if you can’t see it.

That being said, here’s how I handle sour milk.

1. Block it. I know Brian is an fickle eater. He’ll suck it down and then stop. When he stops, it dribbles down his chin into the folds of his neck. If I remember, I’ll stick a burp cloth right under his chin to catch the dribble.

2. Wipe it. As soon as he’s finished eating (for the last time each feeding – don’t get me started), I wipe up all the milk that spilled with my handy burp cloth. Make sure you gently separate the folds of the neck to get in between.

3. Clean it. Despite my blocking and wiping, that stinky milk still gets into those folds. During the day, I’ll occasionally grab a diaper wipe, tilt his head back and clean the neck creases. It helps keep the neck folds clean and reduce the smell.

4. Bathe it. Brian has a full bath every other night. On those nights I make a point of getting into the neck folds with soap, water and a washcloth. Non bath nights I just use a wet washcloth to wipe off his face and try to wipe out any milk residue, too.

5. Rinse and repeat. Milk is a major food source for at least a year, so I keep cleaning. Eventually he’ll learn to eat more neatly, and then I’ll be dealing with carrots and peas in his hair.

August 19th, 2007 Posted by Rebecca | Infant Issues, All Parenting Articles | 6 comments