The Power of Scent

[abdilly]

I just posted about diaper cream - but I thought of a related topic - and that is the power of scent as a trigger for a little headspace.

So many memories involving diapers are tied to olfactory elements. Baby powder, diaper cream/ointment, baby lotion, J&J Baby Shampoo, the smell of Pampers, freshly laundered cloth diapers/plastic pants, etc. Perhaps less glamorous is the smell of a wet diaper mixed with the above. These scents are very powerful in invoking memories and feelings - longings of things desired in the past. All of these are tied to "being a baby" - and oh how I wanted (still want) to be a baby/toddler. This has long been the case regarding scent - but only recently have I really acknowledged and leaned into it.

When at home or and environment I can control - I use a lot of scents - namely J&J baby powder and A+D ointment. These scents while being diapered really help me feel little and trigger memories and feelings. It allows me to suspend adulthood far more easily than without them. I really wish Pampers hadn't changed the scent in their wipes. (If memory serves me) I seem to remember wipes having a distinct "powder" scent that didn't quite smell like powder but in the best possible way. I may have found a brand that has a powder scent that I may splurge for at some point due to memories tied to a particular wipe smell. (though if anyone has any leads...let me know!)

I don't mean to be gross - but walking back into the room where you changed and smelling the mixture of wipes, powder, ointment, and used diaper is a very distinct smell that calls back to years of my mom doing daycare or the church nursery or being around family with babies. Very vivid, very specific. I mean, that particular smell you wouldn't want all the time...but occasionally it stands as a reminder of what a baby you are/that you need your diapers. (at least for me)

With all that said - I'm reminded of how scent is a powerful memory anchor - and I am now thinking about how that will play into future little time. I also find myself trying to drum up sensory items from my past. I only share because it's somewhat recent that I would make a concerted effort to focus in on that element...which is kind of shocking it's taken me this long to do that...though I'm grateful for a "fresh" approach.

What scents trigger you (in a good way)?

 

[DLBIG]

Agree with you, scent is very powerful
Love the scent of baby powder

 

[abdlchristian12]

Totally agree, scent is a huge factor for my brain’s ability to get into little space.

I have a few different baby powder sprays/oils that I will use on diaps, stuffed animals ect.

If only we had the vintage pampers and luvs scent…

 

[ChristianDiaperLover]

I love the baby scent. I wish I could have my room smell like a nursery. If I could I would but I don’t live alone. Dirty diapers can smell okay or bad in my opinion. I don’t mind the faint smell of a wet diaper but not a wet diaper or dirty diaper that’s been sitting for a while.

 

[abdilly]

I love the baby scent. I wish I could have my room smell like a nursery. If I could I would but I don’t live alone. Dirty diapers can smell okay or bad in my opinion. I don’t mind the faint smell of a wet diaper but not a wet diaper or dirty diaper that’s been sitting for a while.

I certainly had in mind a fresh change and the combination of scents...nothing that has been sitting awhile...that is not pleasant.

 

[DiaperedCherub]

Somewhat in the same vein of thought, as far as scent goes. Since Janurary I've had a sleep machine. Part of having a sleep machine is of course maintenance of said device. It was recommended to use gentle soaps for cleaning like Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo. I clean my sleep machine once a week.
For a couple days after having cleaned my mask, air flow tubing & water reservoir, at night when I go to use my sleep machine it smells a little bit like Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo. I like it! Helps me settle down for a comfy night's sleep.

 

[musicbaby]

I love the scent of the old baby diapers in the 80's and 90's when you were in the stores and walked down the aisle and the scent. I love when the package of frsh pampers opened up and the smell. Now days the baby diapers don't have that scent anymore and I miss it a lot. However, I recently found the scent that matches that smell of fresh vintage pampers from the 80's and 90's. I found out that there are ways to make your diaper smell like the sweet smell of the vintage pampers. 1.) If you buy some P&J Baby Fresh essential oil (on Amazon) and mix a lot of drops into a 20 oz bottle of Johnsons baby oil, and put some a lot of drops into your diaper before putting it on then it smells just like the old pampers. 2.) Secret Powder Fresh deoderant has that same scent as the old pampers. I bought 2 sticks of the deoderant and I generously put a lot of the deoderant on the inside of my diaper along with some drops of the essential oil mix as well. Both of those makes my diaper smell like the vintage 80's and 90's baby diapers that everyone remembers.

 

[dbot99]

J&J products have such wonderful and nostalgic scents! Lavender is a powerful trigger for me since my mother would spray my bedding with lavender oil to help me sleep; It's used in many baby products too.

 

[MiddleJacob]

Lavendar is not a big thing for me. I am on the Dreft 2 Scent Beads.

 

[MikeDJ]

That baby diaper scent which is pretty much gone nowadays. The diaper aisles were saturated with that scent back in the day. Diaper wipes and creams also were baby scented. Everything is now unscented or has more clean or flowery scents now. Totally unappealing now. Diaper aisles have no real scent anymore either. Baby powder is essentially the same at least. As a whole though its not the same and long for those scents from my younger years.

 

[Bigbabybret]

Yes, the sense of smell is a HUGE trigger as relating to memories and IMHO is the second most powerful sense we have, only outdone by sight.

I think in evolution most mamals have a great sense of smell and use it for everything from telling wether foor is good or bad to sensing danger (scent of another/adversary/threat) to the smells associated to mating/sex and even the scent of your family/mother/clan/home.

We have IMHO lost some of out sense of smell over the many many years out species has been around and these days are overloaded by scents buy all the artifical scents in the environment from "good" smells to chemicals and pollution in the air.

Think about this, you can smell if someone you know has been around, like you SO's smell in bed or on the couch, can smell breakfast cooking/coffee, or a fire, or even the smell of clean fresh ozone after a storm.

The smells are super associated with out memories, when you smell roast beef you remember the times youve had that for dinner, or a campfire, or the smell of yes pamers from the 80's

And unlike the seemingly changing visual memories the smells seem to be locked in and you know them usually exactly as they were.

I think its evolution that has given us this long term relational detailed static memory with smell to allow us to know the things that are good and bad over out lifetime and what we have been taught throughout our lifetime.

I'm sure that most of us can remember the smell of things like diapers as a kid, or the lotion, or even the perfume you mother had on as a kid that all bring back vivid memories about your childhood, good and/or bad.

Now, we all need a way to recreate the smells we know so well to rmemebr thoes memories and are disapointed when we cannot find the exact smell to recall them, and to fully recall the memory takes the exact "key:" in the way of a smell.

Nature is amazing in its complex yet simple ways to relate our minds and memories, and we all should be grateful for having the ability in the senses, remembering some have lost and/or dont have the same or at all the sense of smell, wether through harm from smoking or trauma that has dulled the sense or some that were born with less or no sense of smell.

Be thankfull for the sense you have and try to get that smell someplace and recall the memories that are stored in the mind, have a good time doing so, and enjoy it.

 

[RaawrrrPincess]

Wonder wafers makes a baby powder scent that I love, I keep them in my drawers and in the diapies closet.

 

[MikeDJ]

I remember well the scent of Baby Magic lotion. It had a nice babyish scent and went well with the fragrance of the Pampers I was changed into as a child.

 

[eu38foot]

That baby diaper scent which is pretty much gone nowadays. The diaper aisles were saturated with that scent back in the day. Diaper wipes and creams also were baby scented. Everything is now unscented or has more clean or flowery scents now. Totally unappealing now. Diaper aisles have no real scent anymore either. Baby powder is essentially the same at least. As a whole though its not the same and long for those scents from my younger years.

That is unfortunate with a lot of new products that gave off overpowering scents in the grocery store aisles; not just diapers, but also cleaners and detergent aisles back in the day. There was/is a small minority who have allergenic reactions to them, and manufacturers were forced to either limit the amount, or reformulate the ingredients so not to emit as much scent. I also miss those days.

 

[stnkydiaperboy91]

Baby diaper scent, baby power, the smell of Balmex diaper rash cream, a full diaper pail, poopy wet diapers, every single smell is heavenly.

 

[dogboy]

The sense of smell is amazing in how it can trigger long past memories. I wrote a story and I think it might still be on this site, "Long Walks On the Beach" and in the story is the memory of the smell of flowering Mimosa trees. Where my parents and I lived, our street was lined with Mimosa trees and they smelled like peaches when they were in bloom. The memory centers around my walking down that street every day in the summer to see another boy who lived a couple of blocks away. I was so in love with him at the time (we were both young) but he was straight and I knew nothing would come of it, but we had so much fun together, just being boys. Our houses were along a resort river which emptied into Barnegat bay and the ocean, so we'd swim and surf and had the best of times. The smell of Mimosa brings back all those wonderful memories.