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For serious? The top of my kids heads smelled intoxicating for the first 6-9 months. There is still a special scent but not quite the same. And I smell it on ot
by dr_dshiv 5y ago
For serious? The top of my kids heads smelled intoxicating for the first 6-9 months. There is still a special scent but not quite the same. And I smell it on other babies, too. It’s like smelling breast milk, but emanating from the Fontainelle
- conductr 5y agoI always just assumed it was some transition from vernix covered skin to skin with healthy bacteria which we distinguish as “no smell” but almost certainly has a smell. Baby skin is pretty awesome though, as alpha male as it sounds it definitely made me want extra cuddles /s
- colechristensen 5y agoTaste and smell are definitely not consistent between people.
- koolba 5y agoI’ve never tasted a baby but they definitely have a distinctive smell.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- jessaustin 5y agoI am not a father, but I have experienced this same effect from babies (related and unrelated) on numerous occasions.
- BiteCode_dev 5y agoIt would be funny if you could only smell it if it was your biological child. Although getting serious statistics on the matter is not easy, the estimated numbers can be surprisingly high (e.g: "One in 25 fathers is not biological parent": https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/aug/11/childrensservices.uknews https://www.theguardian.com/society/2005/aug/11/childrensser...) If suddenly we discovered an easy way to give a hint you should do a DNA test, it could do some serious noise.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- XorNot 5y agoTechnically 23 and Me monetized this as the fun holiday gift for everyone + the reddit thread you post in the aftermath.
- jasongill 5y agoMy wife is on a number of genetic genealogy Facebook groups, and this time of year is peak season for confused new posters who are desperately trying to get some rationalization as to why their father (or mother!) didn't match with them on 23andMe. Many just cannot accept reality and continue posting convoluted possible reasons ("23andMe messed up both me and my fathers tests, but we both still matched with lots of other people?"). It's quite sad at times
- FooBarBizBazz 5y agoI did hear a story about one of the genetic testing places accidentally rotating one of their sample trays 90 degrees.
- anotherman554 5y agoWhy do you think the 23andme results can't be wrong? Many years ago my father was once given hospital test results stating he was terminally ill with a heart condition. He knew he was somehow given a different patient's test result under his name when when his family doctor asked him if he exercises (he does) and the doctor said "That can't be your patient record. You wouldn't be able to exercise if your heart was as sick as the test result states." My father is still alive and exercising regularly today.
- bell-cot 5y agoIn a world which contains huge, systematic lab screw-ups (such as the FBI Crime Lab scandals), is there good reason to believe that 23andMe is particularly reliable and competent? Vs...one of our clients at $DayJob is a home mold inspection lab. Keeping their modest mold lab Officially Certified requires daily duplication, replication, etc. of dozens of individual test results, plus statistical analysis of those, plus...
- blarg1 5y agoHa I see my brother doing that to his youngest, grabs him as he's walking by and smells the top of his head, which really annoys him :)
- op00to 5y agoNever smelled anything on the top of my babies heads.
- loonster 5y ago>And I smell it on other babies, too. It’s like smelling breast milk, but emanating from the Fontainelle I wonder if its brains you smell, and a fully fused skull prevents the smell from escaping.
- naravara 5y agoI think bone is actually more porous than the skin barrier between your insides and the outside. Whatever it is, it’s likely to be coming from oil or sweat glands.
- neumann 5y agoOhmigod yes. But funnily enough only the first kid. The second, who was also breast fed and just as adorable had no particular smell, while for the first it was overpowering.
- Arete314159 5y agoProbably TMI, but I have a very good sense of smell. I once figured out my coworker was pregnant because she basically smelled the same as a baby's fontanelle (I kept this to myself, I'm not insane).
- meepmorp 5y agoTo be a fly on the wall for the hypothetical alternative timeline where you decided to have that conversation. "Not to sound weird, but you smell like babies..."
- cambaceres 5y agoHi Lauri, you smell like an infant. Wanna grab some lunch?
- RationPhantoms 5y agoTo be fair, there have been people (or specifically a single person) who have been known to detect Parkinson's so pregnancy, while social suicide, isn't that far from the table: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/23/820274501/her-incredible-sense-of-smell-is-helping-scientists-find-new-ways-to-diagnose-di https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/23/8202745...
- mr_overalls 5y agoAlso TMI (and let's be honest: mega-creepy) I can tell when women are menstruating with about 90%+ accuracy if we share small-ish indoor space for a few minutes. (As confirmed by female family members.) It's not so much an obvious smell as a perceived "sharpness" that feels related to the sense-modality of smell, but is not exactly equivalent to it. I wonder sometimes if it's a pheromone-based phenomenon.
- dr_dshiv 5y agoWoah. How do you use this superpower? I can often smell when my wife is in a bad mood (her breath literally smells sour). However, it isn’t a reliable indicator (many false negatives).
- sundvor 5y agoYes! Never thought of it from a scientific point of view, so this is very interesting to see. Agree with your statement.