Infant Thrush

Hi V.!

My response probably won't tell you anything that you don't already know, but here it goes...

All I know, is that Thrush is a VERY uncomfortable for the baby. My little nephew had it for a long time when he was 4 months old. We babysit him 2 days a week. It took 3-4 bouts of antibiotics to finally get rid of it. In order to get any comfort, we would let him chew on a cold, wet baby washcloth, but your daughter might be a litte young for that. His little tongue was so numb that he would always be chewing on it. My sister was told by the Dr that there wasn't much she could do for him other than antibiotics.

I'm sorry for her discomfort.

:o) N.

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Its been many years (about 7-1/2) but my triplet daughters had thrush too. I did cease the breast feeding and use the presecribed medicine and I was back breat feeding in no time. I continued to pump and the doctors said that I could give them the milk (that was after I freaked out and got rid of all the milk that I had stock piled!). I did continue to to give them what I pumped plus formula. Good luck. Before you know it will be all over with.

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Hi- My little girl got it pretty bad when she was only a few weeks old...I wasn't sure what it was at first. You will need to see your dr (if you haven't already) and get Nystatin ointment/cream. If you are breastfeeding you'll need it there too so you don't just give it back to her. Since then my now one yr old has had yeast on her privates a couple times....I also didn't know what to look for at first...so be aware of red little dots or red blotches appearing down there. Could be a sign and the Nystatin saves her from getting raw...stay on top of it cuz' it can get painful quickly for them if it does get raw. I have to watch my little one close cuz' apparently she has a tendency for it...poor thing!
Hope that helps....

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When my son (now 11) was a baby he had this alot. I was told it is a form of yeast, unfortunately for us he had it both in the private area and then in the mouth so if you are breast feeding be careful because we passed it back-and-forth and finally I deveoped mastitus (very painful)from it and had to stop nursing all together. Doctors gave us creams and different meds. to rub in the mouth. I went through alot of pacifiers and bottle nipples to keep things sanitized because this stuff tends to linger. We fought this for a long time before we finally got rid of it-good luck

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Thrush is quick and easy to treat. Antibiotics do not treat thrush! Your doctor will prescribe a little bottle of Nystatin and you will administer is orally with a dropper. If you are breast feeding you need to treat yourself too. Over the counter cream placed on your breasts will work after feedings. Ask your doctor for advice. Your baby needs Nystatin, though, so be sure to visit your doctor.

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My oldest son had thrush when he was only a few months old. The doc said it's usually from breast feeding (although he was on the bottle only. Doc said kids can get it from other kids at daycare/playgroups too). It's a yeast infection that causes white spots in the baby's mouth and can lead to bleeding if not treated. My son was put on an oral medication to treat it and it was gone after a few days. The hardest part is that you have to disinfect everything baby puts in their mouth to prevent it from coming back. I put all his plastic toys in the bath tub with hot water and a little bleach and let them soak for an hour. Then I laundered all the cloth covered toys and bedding in hot water with a non-chorline bleach. I also boiled all his bottles and nipples and pacifiers too. Hope this helps!

p.s. If baby got the thrush from you, then you will also be put on medication.

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hi...my son had thrush when he was a baby and we went the all natural route and it worked just fine...before and after every feeding i would swab his mouth with baking soda and water and i would clean my nipple with plain yogurt. I also cut wheat and dairy (except for yogurt) from my diet until it was gone. This worked great for us hope it does for you!!

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My daughter and I had thrush (her mouth, my nipples) when she was about 16 weeks. We tried a lot of things, but what finally worked was Gentian Violet. I can't remember exactly the directions for using it, but I imagine you could find them on the web. Good luck.

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My son had thrush for a while, too. The pediatrician prescribed antibiotics which helped a little but it didn't totally go away. It did not seem to be causing him any discomfort so the pediatrician wasn't too worried. My nipples had a little stinging sensation so it is basically being passed back and forth. The pediatrician recently told me to try taking probiotics which you can find at Walgreens or Longs. Whole Foods has a wide selection and the staff know about the different ones. I have been taking them for about a week and have seen a big improvement. All of the white in my sons mouth has broken up and is just about gone. My nipples no longer have the stinging sensation. From what I understand thrush is a bacteria caused by yeast in the body. I'm not an expert but the probiotics seem to be working for us and it is much easier than trying to administer antibiotics to an infant. I hope that helps you a little. You could ask your pediatrician about it, too.

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my daughter had thrush at 6 weeks old and I never had to treat her with medication or stop breastfeeding. There are natural ways to treat thrush! Go to your local health food store and ask for probiotics specifically formulated for infants. This is a common item and it is usually refrigerated. I made a paste that I applied to my nipple right before putting her to the breast to nurse. This method works wonderfully, you just have to be patient. It restores the yeast balance naturally, and I have seen this work with many other breastfeeding mothers (or bottle fed, I assume, as well!). Good luck.

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My 8yr old had thrush when he was about a month old, he had it very very bad and we were given Nystatin to swab in his mouth... I had to also put the medicine on my nipples before and after feeding as well as on his binki. It took quite awhile to go away but it did go away. Just make sure you give your baby the medicine as prescribed. Good Luck.

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Plain yogurt should do the trick

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Both my babies have had it...my 3 month old got it last month. Just go to the doc and get the meds. It takes about a week or so to go away. I know that ot os not comfortable.

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I was a week late and really uncomfortable, so the Dr's decided to induce. Still nothing, so they broke my water and realized my daughter had already had a bowel movement in utero, so they gave me a c - section. Both of us got a round of antibiotics, her for the poop and me for the catheter (but they didn't tell me.) I don't know who got thrush first, but we got it pretty much right away. However, I had never heard about thrush, and even though my daughter's tongue was clearly white at the hospital, no one said anything.
Needless to say the infection got really bad, and when I finally realized (after about 2 weeks, it was really hard to get rid of. I went through a course of the medication, but giving this stuff to a 2 week old was challenging to say the least. It appeared as though everything was normal again, until about a week after I stopped the medication, when the infection reappeared, so we did another round. Unfortunately it was one of the (many) reasons why I stopped breast feeding at 2 months.
If it were now, I would go to Whole Foods or another natural grocery store and talk to the pharmacist there. Having it so early into being a first time Mom, I felt like I didn't research it the way I would've because of the lack of sleep, etc.
Good luck.

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Hi V.-
My daughter also had thrush at about that age. She was treated with Nystatin, as was I. I actually develped it before her and it was extremely painful, actually causing me to quit breastfeeding. She didn't develop it to the full degree and never experience much discomfort. Sterilize everything, get the medication, and life will be good again. :)
Good luck!

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Hi V.,
My daughter had thrush at 2 weeks old. I saw my pediatrician and he gave us a topical liquid anti-fungal medication that we would put on a Q-tip and scrub the sides of her mouth and gums, it seems to be the only thing that worked. It got better witin a week. Also, make sure you put some of the medicine on your nipples if you are still breastfeeding because you can keep giving it to the baby if you don't treat your nipples. You do have to watch that it doesn't get too bad because it can give them a severe diaper rash also if not taken care of. There is something called Violet (can't remember the second part of the name) but I saw it at a maternity store. I didn't use it because it can turn things purple but I heard it works well.Be careful about home remedies since your baby is still so young. Good luck! Gabby

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My baby has this right now. We had Nystatin left over from when he was a newborn. IT is a liquid that you put in their mouths and it clears it up pretty good. If you are breastfeeding, you will more than likely need to also get a cream for your own breast otherwise, their is a chance that you'll just keep passing it back and forth.

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My daughter and I both had thrush - undiagnosed for so long that I actually had to stop breast-feeding her when it had gone on for so long that it could not be cured unless nipple to mouth contact ceased.
Thrush is a very common in infants, and is caused by an overgrowth of the bacteria in the mouth - it is a yeast infection of the mouth essentially. But you knew that, because you've done your research already! She may have white lesions in her mouth, but in infants, it may also just look like a white coating of the tongue/roof of mouth/insides of cheeks. I never saw any visible lesions in my babies mouth and she never seemed "bothered" by it, but then again, she was a fussy baby already because of early diagnosed acid reflux (funny, they never mentioned it looked like thrush in her mouth!).
Take her to the pediatrician, and he can give you a prescription for a medicine called Nystasin- its a cream, and will get rid of the babies thrush. My little one had a pretty severe case, but it cleared up within a couple of days using the medicine. Many of my friends had have the same experiences with thrush and treating it with Nystasin - its pretty much the safest go to non-toxic quick cure.
As for you, YOU need to talk to either your OB or your primary care if you suspect you have thrush. I had no idea that "we" had it - since my daughter was exclusively breastfed, I just assumed that the whiteness of her tongue and inside of her mouth was because of all the milk she was receiving. But then, my nipples started to become VERY sore all of a sudden, after I had been breastfeeding for 4 months - they started to crack and eventually bleed. When the baby would spit up after a feeding, I was noticing that her spit up was tinged with brown from the blood getting into her tummy from my nipple. I tried pumping only, and that made it worse, so it was actually my symptoms that led to our diagnosis. It took a LONG TIME for my thrush to go away - I used the Nystasin on my nipples, but it did not cure my case. I ended up taking the oral medication Diflucan - it is a single dose pill that works in one day (used for yeast infections of the below the belt variety). Unfortunately, I had let it go for so long by then that I had all but stopped nursing the baby because I was in such discomfort.
Its a SIMPLE thing to cure, just talk to your doctor soon if you suspect your child has passed it to you.

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Dear V.,
I'm sorry you are going through this with your new baby. But rest assured, although it's upsetting, it's not a serious illness. Fortunately for me, neither of my two children had thrush. They had just about everything else under the sun, but not that. However, I had it, as an adult, after my wisdom teeth were extracted. It's very uncomfortable and bothered me far worse than having my teeth pulled. I didn't know what was happening. The good news is, all I had to do was describe the symptoms by phone to my oral surgeon and he phoned in a liquid prescription that provided, literally, almost instant relief. The medicine starts working right away and is not harmful at all if swallowed. Your struggle, with an infant, will be making sure that it really gets to all the affected areas of your baby's mouth. You can use gauze, or even your own finger to apply the medicine. Just make sure you wash well. And if you are nursing, make sure your nipples don't become affected. Depending on how long your pediatrician said to use the medicine, for instance 7 days, use the medicine the entire duration even if it seems to have cleared up sooner. I know from personal experience the medicine really helps with the discomfort so just making sure the baby gets plenty of it will provide a great deal of relief.

I wish you all the best!

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They have liqued medication for this, you have to sterilize everything and I would by new pacifiers. It is hard to get rid of, and when it starts clearing up make sure you still use the medication the entire time it tell you or it will reappear. Good Luck.

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Here some info I found on medical website.
Thrush is caused by forms of a fungus called Candida. This organism lives in your mouth and is usually kept in check by healthy organisms that also live there. However, when your resistance to infection is low, the fungus can grow, leading to lesions in your mouth and on your tongue.

There is medicine to treat it. I think its from sharing the nipple from the bottle. like canker sores.

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my now 8 year old son when he was a baby used to always get thrush, it just looks like dried up milk on the tongue, had to take him to the pediatrician and get a antibiotic for it. usually the medicine is a gel that you put on the tongue and it would dissolve.

I am also a preschool teacher who took care of infants and toddlers, had a little boy that got it about once a month his doctor gave him a antibiotic that was blue so if your baby ends up getting this medicine you might want to warn people LOL

I hope this helps

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Hi V.,

When my 18 yr. old was an infant he had thrush, too. His, though, was from a weak immune system. I know sometimes babies can get thrush after a course of antibiotics. Since your precious daughter is only 11 weeks old and probably has not been on medication, you should call her pediatrician. There's probably a simple answer to this, and the doc will know!

Good luck,
Deb

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Hi one of my kids had it as well, and the doctor just gave me some purple medicine that made the itching go away and made the thrush go away. All it is is a bacteria that gets in there, and causes itching and annoyance to the baby. It is able to spread though. Boil the nipples, and pacifers if she uses them. It keep the germs off and her from getting it again. If you breastfeed wash all the time after feedings. It's nothing to really worry about. Alot of babies get it. Hope this helped.
H.

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Both of my sons had this when they were babies. It never got very thick on their tongue and didn't bother them or me nursing so we just let it run it's course, and both times it just went away on its own. Interesting though that when my older son was 2 1/2 he got it again after being sick and so the doctor told me to give him yorgurt and it went away on its own. If it is not hurting you or her I would just keep everything really clean, clean pacis everyday and any bottle nipples or your own very clean too. It can develop into a yeast infection on her, so be on the look out for that. It should go away soon!

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Since I haven't seen any herbal remedies for thrush mentioned, I thought I would put in my two cents. My younger son, who is now 26, had a terrible case of thrush when he was about 11 months old. I was breastfeeding, and my nipples were raw and very sore from it. I tried several rounds of Nystatin, with no change. I happened to run into a famous herbalist called "Herbal Ed," and asked him what to do for thrush. He told me to use tincture of spilanthes. I put a few drops in a spoonful of water and gave it to my son. I put it on my nipples as well. It cleared up his throat and my nipples within a couple of days. I believe spilanthes comes from Africa--in any case it is available online.