Does your baby smell sweet? Possibly like maple syrup? If you’re like me, you probably assume that your little one got into the pantry again. Declan is always getting into something, and for about two weeks recently, I could swear I was smelling maple syrup. As any mom would, I chalked it up to him exploring the kitchen.
But something kept happening. Day after day, he kept smelling like syrup. I was pretty sure I put the syrup out of reach, so why was this happening? Well, if you’re like me, the next steps are to consult Dr. Google. Typically, Dr. Google tells me that I’m dying of cancer no matter which way you slice it when you search for symptoms. However, Google usually gives me about 6 different explanations as to why I have that bump on my arm and more than likely, none of those reasons are valid.
Do me a favor real fast, Google “Why does my baby smell like maple syrup?” I’ll wait.
Did you do it? Because if you did, you’ll see that there really isn’t ANY explanation on the internet, other than your kid must have “Maple Syrup Urine Disease.” I’m sorry? There is a disease that is THAT specific. That your kid’s urine quite literally smells like maple syrup? Due to the fact that I already have a rare medical condition, this Google search sent an already dizzy me into a spiral.
If you were too lazy to search this, here is what it is:
Maple Syrup Urine Disease – MSUD
Maple Syrup Urine Disease is an inherited disorder in which the body is unable to process certain protein building blocks (amino acids) properly. The condition gets its name from the distinctive sweet odor of affected infants’ urine. It is also characterized by poor feeding, vomiting, lack of energy (lethargy), abnormal movements, and delayed development. If untreated, maple syrup urine disease can lead to seizures, coma, and death.
In case you missed that last sentence, this disease can cause SEIZURES, COMA, and DEATH. And maple syrup is the tip-off of this? I bet you don’t need to imagine too hard how I reacted to this search. I scoured the internet to find another possible reason (which doesn’t seem to come up) and called my doctor panicking. The nurse started running through questions about MSUD and told me we needed to come in.
They quickly brought us in to go over the symptoms I described about Declan. I noticed that every morning when I got him, he was smelling like maple syrup. I assumed at this point, it must be his urine and the sky is most likely falling. After all, this wasn’t my first rodeo learning something SO random about our bodies that turns out to be completely rare.
I had spent the whole morning Googling what his diet would have to be like with this disorder and felt so sad for him that he wouldn’t know what a cheeseburger would taste like. This condition is SO rare, much like when I was first diagnosed with VM, there wasn’t much personal experience on the internet – just doomsday info.
This brings me back to my doctor’s appointment. I was prepared for the worst. When the doctor walked in, I was ready for her to lay on the bad news. She took his vitals, ran a few tests, and then said to me, “Does Declan sleep in fleece at night?”
Uhm, lady, I told you my kid smells like syrup. It’s not like Declan is popping out of his crib at night and having a waffle party downstairs.
My answer: “Well, no. He wears cotton pajamas but with a fleece sleep sack since it’s been cold out.”
Doctor: “So, this is going to sound weird. But, when a baby sweats, something makes baby fleece material smell like syrup. There is some property in it that causes this smell to happen.”
And this is the moment where I felt dumb. I dragged Declan into the doc, created this monster of doom in my head to find out that he just has syrupy-smelling baby sweat from fleece. Yes, I felt dumb, but also SUPER relieved. My doctor laughed and said that we weren’t the first case to come in for this and that it’s rarely talked about, but something about ANY type of baby fleece can cause this smell. She also let us know that they continue to check for this in bloodwork and he was fine. That IF he did have the rare condition that can show up later in an infant’s life, he would have had other symptoms BESIDES the maple syrup smell.
This, my friends, is exactly why I’m sharing this ridiculous story on my blog. If you have found yourself down the rabbit hole of “why does my kid smell like syrup?” don’t jump right to MSUD. They do screenings at the hospital right when your baby is born to check for this condition. It’s very rare and even more rare for your babies to develop it later in life.
Sure, I know it can happen, but I hope that this post provides some relief for a future stressed-out family. There’s always a possibility that something could be wrong, so please, take your kid to the doc to get it ruled out. However, also know, it is possible that your kid just smells like syrup.
Elizabeth
July 24, 2021Thank you so much for this. My fiancé and I noticed our baby smelling like maple syrup, and yes I started to Google and freak about the urine disease. But I KNEW that it’s checked for at birth! I couldn’t figure out what it could be!! However, I recently started putting my baby in Halo sleep sacks that are micro fleece. I guess that must be the cause! It was mostly around her neck, which is wear the sack would come in contact with her skin I guess. Anyway, this is such a relief.
Mindy
October 1, 2021Yesss, haha. I was just going down this rabbit hole thinking, ‘my child has zero symptoms, besides smelling like maple syrup’ and getting pretty freaked out by the rabbit hole I found. This makes me feel much better.
Kelsea
November 3, 2021I am dying laughing as I type. My son smelled like maple syrup today and I freaked out afraid! Then I found this and sure enough … he wore fleece. By the way, he was adopted so those fancy newborn blood testing things they do? He had his done multiple times. So I’m confident MUSD is ruled out. But there I was – freaking out!
Laura
November 21, 2021Found this whilst laid next to my sweaty strangely sweet stinky baby clad in a fleecy onesie also suddenly concerned about MSUD, thanks for the heads up!!!
Tynille
November 24, 2021So thankful for this post! I was about to freak out… our story began much the same, woke up multiple occasions to my son smelling like syrup and came to google… thankfully your post came up during my search after reading a few MSUD articles! Makes sense as he has a fleece blanket wrapped around his mattress he sleeps on each night… from one panicked mom to another, thank you!
Macy
December 16, 2021Oh my gosh. Thank you for this. I was literally about to call the doctor haha! She’s got fleece pajamas on right now when I came across your article. Makes total sense. And she wore a fleece sleep sack. First time she has woken up smelling like syrup but of course I went down the rabbit hole and panicked.
Jade
March 16, 2022THANK YOU! I’m sitting here mid tears and guess what he’s wearing fleece pjs XD
Mike merideth
April 3, 2022Thank you so much for this I noticed my son smelling like this and googled it as a goof and. Bam started to freak out, thank you for sharing your experience
Eva Podhajecka
April 26, 2022Very thankful, I got to your post by googling 5months old sweat smelling sweet. Of course, maple syrup disease came up. I got hysterical and then I found your life saving post. I realized he never smells sweet unless he has his fleece pyjama on or unless he uses his little pillow that is from some cotton+elastan+god knows what. Thanks a lot for this amazing sincere post.
Lyndsie
April 27, 2022Thank you so much. I woke up this morning and got my baby and thought to myself that I must be going crazy because I keep smelling syrup. Throughout the morning I realized I was only smelling it when holding my son (also named Declan). So of course I search the web and come across your blog. My son does wear fleece to bed! And his back was damp from sweat this morning when he first woke up. Haha who would have thought. I wish this wasn’t just for babies, wouldn’t it be nice if we all smelled like syrup when we sweat?!
Mary
October 23, 2022Thank you so much for this!
My baby is always smelling like maple syrup and I’ve googled it many times coming up with the same thing. I never pulled the trigger on calling the doctor because he didn’t have any other symptoms of MSUD. I thought surely he wouldn’t have just one symptom. Surely it must be something else!
This needs to come up more when parents google this!
Cherise
November 1, 2022Hi, thank you so much for sharing your experience. My son woke up this morning and his hands smelled like maple syrup. He has no other symptoms of MSUD. I’m almost positive after reading your article it’s from his fleece Halloween costume from last night. We don’t usually dress him in any fleece material. I’ve washed his hands but the sweet smell is still there. How long in your experience did the smell last?
Jess
December 23, 2022I just found this tonight after going down the rabbit hole on google all day. We are waiting for blood and urine tests to come back, but thank you for the peace of mind leading up to Christmas.
Andrea
January 8, 2023Thank you so much for posting this! My baby tends to smell like maple syrup quite often but hasn’t had a single other symptom of the disease. Google has been driving me nuts with not having a single other article not related to MSUD. You have saved me from any future worries.
Casey
January 15, 2023I was going around the google rabbit hole when my 2 year old woke up smelling like syrup and panicked! He wears fleece Jammie’s!
Allie
February 9, 2023Thank you so much. This brought a HUGE sense of relief for me. I have a regular Dr appt for my soon coming up so I’ll bring it up then and hope that it’s just because of fleece!