Thrush Problem

Are you treeting yourself as well? Thrush gets pasted back and forth from baby to mom to baby. You should be using an antifungul cream (over the counter is fine) on your nipples. Ask your pharmasist or doctor what to use.

K.,

Hey there! I would talk with your doctor. I see thrush is a common problem for some, but for me it was the first sign of an immune problem. My daughter had thrush and we couldn't get rid of it, then she had her first round of vaccines and became very very very sick. Once we ended up in the hospital they said that the first sign of her disease was the unability to treat her thrush. Mention it to the doctor and go from there. I wouldn't treat him without a doctors guidence. My daughter had SCIDS (sever combined immunio deficiancy) her paticular disease was very rare, so I don't want to scare you, just listen to the doctor!

My son's pediatritian also gave me a prescription for a creeam for myself since I was nursing him.

Are you nursing? If you are nursing you need to treat yourself as well. Even if you don't show any symptoms, you can still pass it back to him, and he to you. Treat yourself and him with the gentian violet, and make sure everything he comes in contact with, bottles, pacifiers, toys, are cleaned throroughly.

Get some acidophilus caplets, the kind you can break open, and put the powder on your finger and let him suck it off, and you take 2 caplets 3 times a day. Acidophilus is a probiotic, meaning it will help the good bacteria in your body grow, and flush out the bad.

Also Nystatin contains sugar.... and yeast thrives on sugar. So using it after using hte gentian violet could be your culprit as well, allowing the yeast to thrive back up.

Hi,
You need to make sure that you are being treated as well, I assume that you are nursing. You may also want to check the website of Dr Jack Neuman. He is a doctor in Canada who has done extensive research on nursing. La Leche League may also have good information for you. With our hot weather it may take a little longer to get rid of it.
C.

If you are nursing you need to treat yourself too. You could be passing the yeast on to your son even if you don't have symptoms.

I feel for you. My 8 year old had a battle with thrush when she was a newborn and it turned out we were passing it back and forth through breast feeding. I'm sure things are different today, but back then my doctor had me rub an anti-fungal cream on my nipples (tasteless), that cured us both. Once we were both cured we never got it back. Good luck!

I will have to agree with Stephanie. I had this problem as well when my 15 month old was only a couple weeks old. I used a yeast infection cream and made sure to wipe it off before nursing again.

The doctor also told me that most babies will get thrush when the nursing mother is not taking care of her breasts. You need to make sure that you are letting them either air dry or clean them off before snapping your nursing bra back together. Letting them air dry with a little bit of milk on them also helps with your nipples becoming dry and iritated. Putting your bra right back on will cause fungas to grow and that is what thrush is. Taking good care of yourself while you nurse will help out a lot.

All of the stuff these other moms have advised, especially the probiotics, staying away from sugar, whole plain yogurt and add to that Aquaflora. You'll find it at health food stores. A great way to fight candida, which is what your child has. My baby was on antibiotics and ended up with a yeast diaper rash that lasted months. I tried all the prescription stuff and it didn't work. In the end I had to quit drinking dairy since I was breastfeeding and also take her off all dairy to get a handle on it. No more antibiotics for minor ear infections for my girls!

Hi K.,

I've seen this remedy work on thrush a number of times. Plain Yogurt. It's so easy. You can put a little yogurt, or even just the water that separates on the top of the yogurt, in the baby's mouth. The natural bacteria in yogurt will destroy the thrush bacteria. Do it several times a day. You will probably notice a difference in just a day or two.

You don't have to worry about the baby having "food" at an early age. Yogurt is so good for the digestion that is should be fine, even calming for the baby's stomach.

T. T.
www.positiveoptions.fourpointwellness.com

Hi K.,
My son is now 6 1/2 months but we dealt with a mild case of thrush with him for three months! It has been gone now for almost two months thanks to Pau D' Arco extract that you just rub on their feet! Simple and not messy like gentian violet. The nystatin did not work for us at all so get him off of that! It was a waste of time and prescription refill co-pays.... I also found out that nystatin is sugar based and yeast thrive on sugar!
I finally talked to my friend's lactation consultant and this is what I did. The Pau D' Arco extract every three hours just rubbed into his feet(drops comparitive to baby's weight) and I took Pau D' Arco tea caplets and also Achidopholus tablets in case I was causing the thrush. I breastfeed and I was determined not to let my nipples get infected and they didn't. I hear that this is extremely painful.... Anyway, go to lactationinnovations.com and you will find all that you need there. You can click right on thrush treatments. The Pau D' Arco comes from the bark of a Pau D' Arco tree that grows in the rain forests of South Africa. Although it is in the middle of the rain forest this tree never gets fungus. This is not the cheapest way to do it but it's all natural and it worked! It also takes awhile but it was worth it. I think that it took about a month for it to clear up completely.
This lactation consultant told me that she no longer recommends the gentian violet because she had seen it burn some baby's small membranes in the mouth.... However, if this had not worked I had already bought some gentian violet and was going to try that next. Also, take heart in knowing that as your baby gets older and his immune system gets stronger it will be easier for him to fight the thrush. Also, breast milk has great natural antibodies to fight thrush. Good luck!
Thanks to everyone who posted suggestions when my boy had thrush! I haven't had a chance to post and thank everyone:-)

Melissa

Have you tried probiotics? Also an anitfungal would help. YOu should be able to find these at a whole heatlh or whole foods sotre

My son had it around that time as well. Our pediatric dr said Gyne-Lotrimin take a small amount on your finger & rub it around their mouth a couple times a day until it clears up should be around 5-7 days. worked like a charm.

Hi K.,
You've gotten some great advice. I had the thrush problem with my newborn. What worked for us is probiotics (powdered put in the babies mouth) I took them as well (capsules). And I used a homeopathic remedy for candida overgrowth.

One thing to do for sure, is stay AWAY from sugar. Yeast (thrush) thrives on sugar. All dairy and most processed foods are very high in sugar.

You are welcome to email me directly if you want specific names and brands of what I took.

Good luck.

I have been informed that Yogurt is one of the best things to use for thrush.

My son had thrush when he was just a couple weeks old. Its not fun to treat. If you're nursing you need to treat your nipples even if you dont have any symptoms otherise you'll keep giving it to him. Also ANYTHING that has been in his mouth needs to be sterilized. If he is on antibiotics that could be the cause, some kids get thrush anytime there immune system is weakend, so anytime they have antibiotics for something as simple as an ear infection. Good luck!

Acidophilus powder. Dip your finger in and let him suck it off. Do this a few times a day - it will go away completely.

However, if he has thrush it is an indication that his colon does not have enough healthy bacteria to process all of the sugars he is getting. Continue the acidophilus 1x/day for the next few months and eliminate the sugars - if you are bottle feeding: find a formula without added sugar or corn syrup. If you are nursing: cut out sugary foods and juice.

K.,
Have you tried using the Nystatin on YOU as well as in baby's mouth? I also had success using a small amount of tea tree oil on my breasts--not harmful to baby. (I'm assuming you're nursing and this is why the thrush is a continued problem). If the problem persists, you could also ask about a systemic medication that YOU take orally just to help prevent any "cross-contamination". It's been 10 years, but I used difulcan. I haven't read any responses if there have already been some. Hope this offers you another route for success. Good luck!

Does your son breastfeed? When I had my daughter, we had the same problem. The doctor we saw then failed to mention that I was carrying the cause on my nipples thus causing it to return. I simply had to treat myself as well as the baby and the problem was solved.

My baby and I had the same problem at about 6 weeks of age. My baby also used Nystatin for 10 days while I was being treated with topical creams (breastfeeding). We sterilized everything as others have mentioned. However, this did not work. We went back to the doctor, she said that about 40% of yeast is resistant to the nystatin. I was also experiencing sharp pains when my baby latched on, the yeast was in my milk ducts. No topical creams: prescription or natural would take care of this. So we were both treated with flucanazole (diflucan) oral medication for 14 days. This worked!! Also look for yeast on your baby's bottom as the yeast travels through your baby's body. Sterilize everything, let breasts air dry after nursing,also wipe out your baby's mouth after nursing or bottles, especially if you have a spitty baby.
Good luck! I can honestly say this month or so in my babies life was definitely the most challenging.

If you are breastfeeding you are likely passing it back and forth between you and baby. As other moms have said, both of you should be taking something. I've used the probiotics in the past. Good luck!