Smell of student is making me nauseous. Need advice!
Hello all, I am not sure how to handle this situation.
I (23f) am an early childhood teacher and I am fairly used to smelling things unpleasant since apart of my job is changing diapers. With that being said, we have a new three year old boy from Nepal who is very cute and I enjoy having him in my class. I’m trying to be careful with how I word this because I do not want to be insensitive, but whatever fragrance or spice that is used at home has began to make me nauseous. I don’t know how to combat this because the scent travels, so even if I open the window it is still very pungent. I wore a mask and halfway through the day my mask began to smell like that scent. I was laying awake in bed one night and the thought of the smell literally made me almost throw up.
I don’t think it’s necessarily just the scent of some spice, the child sometimes comes in quite sweaty and wears the same few outfits multiple times in a week. I think the mix of the sweat, slightly dirty laundry and whatever smell that comes from home is too much.
I am very careful with this stuff but I genuinely need advice because it is making it hard for me to teach. I have a headache and I feel nauseous, and once the smell is clear from my nostril I am right back there the next morning!
What advice would you give me? Is there anyway to deal with this?
Also, air fresheners are not allowed in my classroom or candles obviously. I’ve been trying to just maintain open air flow and the classroom is very clean.
Thank you.