Help with Thrush

M., back in the day, when I had my son, my mother would take a clean warm wash cloth and every day, especially after each feeding, use your finger covered by one end of the wash cloth and wipe out his mouth. It worked during that time. Praying much that you get this resolved soon.

When my daughter had thrush it was a pain and she only had it once.Before I gave her the medicine I would take a warm wash cloth and clean out her mouth real good.And then give her the medicine.And after the thrush went away,After every time she feed I cleaned out the inside of her mouth with a warm cloth.
Also ask your doctor if theres something else you can give your baby because the nystatin isn't working.

Yeast. the health food store sells a probotic for babies.
It will totally take care of that. It probably in his whole system and the probiotic will make him real healthy!!
I've dealt with it!!
Try a formula that has the live good bacteria in it!
I think I've seen it!!
Enjoy your circus, it don't last long!!!
I had five and they are almost all grown!

Hope this helps...
http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/go/index.php/258/natur...

Nystatin kills friendly as well as unfriendly bacteria. I wouldn't continue giving it to him.

I know how helpless you feel. We fought with it on and off for the first 4 or 5 months too. I think we went through 3 rounds of nystatin when I finally decided to do something different. I don't know really any natural methods but just wanted to tell you what I did.

Along with the Nystatin for the baby, I had something that was compounded for me at the pharmacy. It's called Canadian Nipple Cream and is really expensive and am not positive it helped all that much. But maybe it didn't help very well cause sometime I would forget. (I wasn't as serious as I should of been in the beginning). When the cream was all used up, I ended up rubbing the nystatin on my breasts after every nursing session. I also was told to give it 4 times a day to the baby. I actually started giving him less than of the dose but given it more often as in every time I fed him instead of only 4 times a day. (I'm not a dr so don't try this unless they say so). So it probably was about the same amount of the medicine per day I just gave it more often. Also the dropper that comes with the bottle, I washed it in hot water everytime I put it into the babies mouth and I would wait atleast 20 min. before he nursed again so the solution had time to sit in the mouth and not be washed out. My Dr. said it is not absorbed into the body so it is ok for the baby to swallow it cause it doesn't go through the blood stream. Also wash anything that comes in contact with your nipples in hot water, like your bras, your t-shirts you sleep in. Wash all of his toys he puts in his mouth. I know it's a pain but you got to do it. When I got it the 4th or so time I got serious about it and did all these things I'm telling you and it just up and dissappeared. I've also read but not tried; the genetian violet & cutting out sweet foods in your diet. I wish you luck, I remember how stressful it was for me and everytime it came back I felt defeated but it will work itself out. Try contacting the La Leche League.

I'll second the diflucan. My niece had thrush from about 2 weeks old until 6 months. She was on the dye & then Nistatin. Neither did anything. When she got the diflucan it went away.

we have this problem every time my son is on antibiotics.....and a one-time dose of Diflucan is all he needs, and it clears completely within about 12 - 24 hours. Definitely call your ped. and ask about this or any other recommendations they have. I have had thrush a few times while nursing my daughter and it really hurts!!! If you are nursing, there is a natural remedy called gentian violet that you and baby both use for 2-3 doses....I did this with my daughter and it worked for us. Be advised it will turn both your nipple and baby's mouth purple and does stain clothes, but it works like a charm. Good luck!

My second son and I struggled with thrush so I feel your pain, though we were lucky and it didn't last as long so I can't imagine how you are still hanging in there. Definitely hats off on this one. I really wish you well.

We tried Nystatin but it didn't help. What finally worked was gentian violet. You can get it over the counter (you may have to ask the pharmacist, but no perscription required). I got the help to use this from a lactation consultant.

To use gentian violet, you swab it in your son's mouth and on your nipples as well. Then you let your son nurse as usual. Everything will be purple so be careful with clothes etc. I was told to do the treatment once a day for 4 days and then stop to see how everything is. You can run a second round of treatment if necessary.

If you need more info or if I didn't make sense, please let me know. It worked well and the best part is that it is over the counter.

Good luck and best wishes with this.

Both of our kids had Thrush as well. WE tried the Nystatin and it did not work then they gave us dyflucan which again did not work but the Gentian Violet work right away. You may have to ask your Dr. about it we had to and then they prescribed it within about 2 days it was gone. It can be messy nad it turns their mouth purple and of course anythign they suck on but it really does work.

Gentian Violet, you can get it over the counter at the pharmacy. If you're breastfeeding, put it on your breasts as well.

You can also get probiotic (baby version) powder to mix in with liquid and feed that to her

Our daughter had thrush on and off the first couple of months she was born. We used the Gentian violet and gave her the probiotic, and it eventually went away for good.

I found information about this on the la leche message boards.

Good luck!

has he recently had antibiotics? they could cause thrush or yeast, same thing......get him on PROBIOTICS to restore the beneficial bacteria.....can't hurt and should help:
http://www.shaklee.net/lookandfeelyounger/product/80638
you can read the Product Info Sheet as well

Give you son water to drink. Continue to sterilze nipples after each use at least until this is cleared up.

My 15-week old son had thrush for 8 weeks. He got it around 3 weeks and it finally cleared up at 11 weeks. We went through 2 bottles of nystatin and used the Gentian Violet as well. His thrush got so bad that black stuff was on it....it looked like black fiber but the doctor said that was the actual yeast (yuck!). We finally decided to use the gum/teeth cleaner that came in an infant health/grooming kit. It's a plastic tube that goes over your index finger. It has very soft bristles at the end of one side. My husband stuck his covered index finger in my son's mouth and allowed him to "suck". My husband would move it around his tongue, too. And, viola! The white coating was GONE! We did this a couple of days and it completely cleared it. I think if we had done this brushing sooner, then we wouldn't have gone through so much medication. My mother told me in her country, doctors and mothers would literally brush the stuff of the tongue. I don't know why we didn't listen to my mother sooner :-) Anyways...good luck with the thrush.

Dear M.,

One of the reasons why children seem to get thrush is because their GI tract has not fully developed, and their good intestinal bacteria that keep yeasts from growing has not developed yet. One suggestion I would make is to get a probiotic Pediatric formula. You can order these online through Nordic Naturals. I have no interest in this company, but i know their products are high quality. You might check with your local health food store and see if they carry a Pediatric probiotic supplement. It should do the trick.

HI M.,

Throw away your Binkies. Thrust is a yeast, as you know.

Genetian violet was used 40 years ago for thrust. The doctor can order it for you.

Hope this helps. D.

Since your son is old enough to eat yogurt, try to find a good plain yogurt - Wegmans has their Super Yogurt. When not eating yogurt, a probiotic mixed in his food or milk 1-2 times a day should help also. Then there is always the tried and true gentian violet. Good luck!

M.,
The Nystatin will make things worse. That is because it just treats the symptoms.
Acidophilus will help to normalize the bacteria in your child's digestive tract and help this. You can take it and give it to your child. They have powder for babies. If you are nursing, stay away from processed sugars. Those will encourage the yeast growth and that will make the thrush worse.
If you have more questions, please feel free to email me.
Hope this helps.
L.

Hi M.,

The good bacteria that live in the mouth help keep the bad bacteria under control. It has been my experience that thrush comes from a lack of good bacteria in the mouth. Therefore, the bad bacteria grow without being controlled by the good bacteria.

Yogurt can remedy this situation. Put the yogurt in the baby's mouth and let it sit there for as long as the baby will allow it to sit. Then put some more. Do this as often as possible(10+ times a day). You should notice a very big difference within a day or two. If this works it will mean that your baby's intestinal flora probably needs to be built up as well.

Let me know if this helps.

T.

GENTIAN VIOLET!!! It works. We've used it. Beware though b/c it stains. I got it from Walgreens but you have to ask the pharmacist.

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/t083100.asp

I know this link has a lot of bf references but it has good advice.

Oh and get a good probiotic. Even if you use adult capsules that you can open just dip your finger in and let baby lick it off.

I have been through the same thing. I used some over the counter stuff called Gentian Violet. Take a q-tip and swab the mouth with it three times a day. The stuff is really purple, it will stain everything, but my middle child when he was a baby got over it in three days. Oh, and buy all new binkies. Good luck

We fought thrush for eight months before it finally COMPLETELY abated. I often screamed when she latched on, it hurt soooo much. But I was determined to b-feed, so we stuck it out and did what we had to do to make the thrush go away.

Please email me offlist for the documents I compiled of natural remedies and actions: M. at MomOnTheSide dot com. I can send them as attachments. Just start the treatments slowly, adding a new one each day; it looks overwhelming, but it CAN be done. (I was homeschooling my 12-yo during our Thrush War, so you can have a life, too, whatever that means! ;-)

Basically, there are MANY things that should be done at once so you hit the yeast in every possible place. It's a pain in the patootie, a real inconvenience to do these things (laundry, food, meds....), but it works. There are lotions you can make yourself that help with regular use. The doctors will balk, even tell you that you shouldn't do it, but there are doctors online (Jack Newman is the main one) who tell you to do it, and my midwives were all for it.

I ended up being on Diflucan for two to three weeks at a time, my yeast was so bad. That's in addition to all the stuff in these pages that I will send. You do NOT want to overdo the gentian violet--great stuff, but it's recommended to do only two, maybe three cycles of it.

Hugs, Dear M.. There is an end in sight!

I feel for you. I went through this with my daughter while I was breastfeeding and it took months to clear up. I approached it with the same vigilence that you are; Sterilization and Nystatin around the clock for months. I actually would swab my daughter's mouth with the Nystatin on a q-tip to really place it where it needed to be. I like the suggestion to use yogurt. That ought to really help. The genetian violet (sp?) is so MESSY. Diflucan would probably work too but that I believe is a last resort depending on what your Dr. thinks. Good luck....!

I dont know ony natural or alternatives to treating thrush, but I do recommend that you have your evaluated to see if he could have a genetic immunodeficiency. There are genetic conditions that make people, especially boys due to the mode of inheritance, susceptible to certain types of infections.

You mentioned sterilizing, so you may not breastfeed, but if you do you could be passing the infection back and forth.

M.,

My mother used a wash cloth with warm water and baking soda. As we became adults and had our own children we did the same and it worked. Hope this helps you.