How to prevent Thrush in infant and toddlers from spreading?

Updated on November 10, 2008
E.G. asks from San Jose, CA
13 answers

My son is 7 months old and has Thrush. I was wondering if anyone else has had any experience with this. How long did it last? He is still being breast fed so the doctor advised me to use his medication on my nipples as well, so we don't keep spreading it back and forth. I have boiled his bottle nipples and pacifiers as well as the breast shields for my pump. Would anyone recommend disinfecting his toys too? Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

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Summary

To prevent Thrush in infants or toddlers, use Probiotics. Oral thrush may clear spontaneously without treatment and may be prevented by sterilizing all feeding equipment and mouth toys. Probiotics are known to naturally prevent and treat yeast infections, which is exactly what Thrush is. If symptoms gotten worst, consult a doctor.

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S.L.

answers from Sacramento on

My son had this recurring issue as well. The antibiotics didn't do it for us. I swabbed coconut oil in his mouth and my doctor also recommended that I start taking probiotics and eating more yogurt with live cultures. I was also breastfeeding. This combination did the trick and the issue went away.

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Y.F.

answers from Sacramento on

My daughter had thrush and it lasted for about a month. If you want it to go away relatively quickly and not come back, make sure you are administering the medication as often as the doctor prescribed and continue to sterilize anything that he puts in his mouth on a daily basis until the thrush is completely gone. I would include his toys too if they come in to contact with his mouth in any way. Don't worry, the thrush doesn't hurt the child if it is localized on the tongue, where it usually starts. The medication prescribed is to prevent it from spreading down his throat and becoming extremely painful. I would also recommend looking into a probiotic at a natural foods store. Probiotics are the natural cultures found in yogurt. If you prefer, you can eat a cup of yogurt daily and the probiotics will pass through your breast milk to your son. Probiotics are known to naturally prevent and treat yeast infections, which is exactly what Thrush is. Good luck.

1 mom found this helpful
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A.D.

answers from Sacramento on

Hi E.,
My daughter had thrush at 2 weeks and it lasted until about 8 or 9 weeks. I believe that she got it because I was on IV antiobiotics for about 9 hours during birth. Antoboitics kill our beneficial bacteria that protect us from bad bacteria like thrush.

I took orally and rubbed on her toungue acidophilous after 3 weeks of the meds for her and I not doing anything. Since you are breast feeding you should daily take acidophilous or some sort of prociotics to build up his benefical bacteria. Also drink a shot of apple cider vinegar every day to combat it.

I also washed my nipples with vinegar- if I were you I would do that with anything he puts his mouth on.

good luck that is a nasty thing to deal with!!!!

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H.D.

answers from Redding on

Hi. I'm H.. I have a three year old daughter and a 9 month old son. I never had a problem while nursing my daughter in 13 months. My son on the other hand... The liquid the Dr gave you for your nipples is sticky and sweet and gross, but you HAVE to use religiously. When the thrush gives your nipples a yeast infection, it can get unbelievably painful. Once you get it, it comes back at will. Everytime you take antibiotics it will come back, and you really can't nurse, because it hurts! Use the liquid 4 times a day for at least a week after your son is totally thrush free. Good Luck.

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K.M.

answers from San Francisco on

I have a 7 month old and we are just getting over thrush. I used the med on my nipples and it was a necessary evil. It dried out my skin to the point where it was cracked and bleeding (actually, it was from the thrush anyway) and was generally uncomfortable. It took us a full 7 days to get over it. Yes, I highly reccomend sanitizing the toys or anything that goes in the mouth. As you know now, Thrush is highly contagious. Dont let anything that touches his mouth touch yours or anyone else's. Two things that helped me (I think) were letting my nipples dry out (I stopped wearing a bra to bed which I had been doing to prevent leaks) and changing my nursing pads three or four times a day.

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N.P.

answers from Modesto on

Hi E.,

My nephew had Thrush at the same age as your son. His lasted for about 2 months. I think because my siter and her husband were always so busy at the time, they couldn't keep up with all that he would put in his mouth while they were at work.

Yes, I recommend that you sterilize everything that he may put in his mouth to be cautious, after each time he touches it. It's the only way to know for sure.

Good Luck, E.. I'm so sorry for your poor little guy. It breaks my heart to think of another little person having thrush.

~N. :o)

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T.T.

answers from Sacramento on

Thrush is basically a yeast infection. My son also had it and his case was pretty bad, the doctors put him on antibiotics and it finally cleared up. I recommend having him drink water after feeding or you can get a big plastic saringe and squirt water into his mouth to rinse it, you can also get a baby gum brush and brush his mouth after every feeding. There are also herbal anti yeast pills on the market that you can take to help your body controll the yeast naturaly, but I would ask you doctor before taking them as you are breast feeding and they will be passed to him in the breast milk.
Hope this helps

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M.C.

answers from San Francisco on

Hello,

My son had thrust and I did not know until it was all over his mouth and throat. His throats was hurting him and it was hard to swallow. The pedi gave him some medication very strong and within 2 days he was feeling better and within less than a week it was gone. I washed all of his blankets and any toys he might of stuck his mouth. It seemed to work and he is fine.

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M.D.

answers from San Francisco on

My son had it not to long ago. The doctor suggested pro biotics wich is in a capsule that you open and sprinkle in their food or drink. Also I gave him a yogurt or two a day. And just boil pacifiers, bottle nipples, anything that goes in their mouth. I'd onlt disinfect his toys if they were the ones he liked to stick in his mouth.

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N.M.

answers from Redding on

My son also had thrush when he was about 8 months old. We used Nystatin, but it didn't work even after using it faithfully for 2 weeks. Now, this may sound a little crazy, but I found a home remedy for thrush that worked great for us. I ran it by my doctor and she was fine with it. It is one cup of water, one teaspoon of baking soda, and one drop of dish soap. I made a fresh batch everyday. I was a little uncomfortable with putting the dishsoap in it, but I figured he is always trying to drink his bath water, so what's the difference? I would swab his mouth with a Q-tip soaked in this concoction about 3 times a day. It was gone in less than a week. Also, if your son ends up with a diaper rash that won't go away, he may have some yeast issues in his diaper area. Sorry that you have to deal with this, it stinks.

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S.P.

answers from Sacramento on

Not sure if you have starting your son on solid foods just yet but you can try feeding him a little plain whole milk yogurt (organic if possible)...even the smallest amount can help control the yeast. Good luck!

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A.S.

answers from San Francisco on

My son had thrush as well. It was gone in three days with infant probiotic. A pharmacist at a herbal store recommended it. I got the udo's choice brand. It has helped with his appetite. I just mix half a teaspoon in his milk at night. You could mix it in your pumped milk and give it to him and take it yourself as well. look it up online.

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K.E.

answers from Fresno on

I'm surprised your doctor didn't tell you to disinfect his toys. You have to in order to prevent the infection from coming back. My oldest son had thrush when he was just a few months old and I found the easiest way to disinfect his plastic and woods toys was to throw it in the bathtub filled with HOT water and a little bleach. Let everything sit for a few minutes, then rinse really well. Anything that was made from fabric I threw in the wash with hot water and a color safe bleach to make sure I got all the bacteria off. I hope this helps, and I wish you good luck because thrush can be a real pain to get rid of.

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