Thrush in Small Infant

Hi K.,

Ask the doctor to prescribe nystatin liquid for the baby that usually takes care of it in couple of days (3-4times a day orally in small amounts). Nystatin cream or ointment for the bottom. Hope this helps.

T..

If the baby is being bottle fed. The bottle needs to be washed every time after it is used. She could also boil the bottles in hot water but not for to long. This will disinfect the bottles. She also just needs to keep giving the baby the antibotics till the thrush is gone.

I would take the infant to the doctor and ask them. That way you make sure you are doing the right thing, especially with the kidney issue! :-)

You are doing the right thing starting with the Pau d'Arco - I work with herbs from the Amazon Rainforest and that is among the best - there are some specific ones that address kidney issues and will help to flush the liver and other organs of the toxic antibiotics while nourishing and supporting those systems of elimination and boosting the immune system. If you want more information feel free to contact me or visit my website: www.shootingstarherbs.amazonherb.net - good luck.

I was on antibiotics due to mastitis when my daughter was born and she has been on them due to ear infections. As a preventative measure, I gave both myself and her directly live culture acidophilus as a preventative measure. The probiotic advice elsewhere in these responses is also very good.

She did still develop a very bad yeast infection on her bottom. Per the advice of a friend who is an herbalist, I treated her with plain yogurt (no sugar, no flavor) as a salve and it cleared up in a jiffy.

K.

I had the same thing with my child. I used acidophilus on the tongue (wiped it on with my finger) 2 or 3 times a day.
I was breastfeeding and was warned that I would have to treat myself as well or we would just pass it back and forth. I waited too long and it was very painful. I washed my nipples with vinegar after feedings and let them air dry.
Both treatments worked great and cleared things up in less than a week.
I hope things work out well for your friend.

Hi K.,

You can make a thin yeast paste and swab it in the mouth with a q-tip. It always works wonders.

D.

Make sure YOU are taking lots of probiotics. And not just supplements. Eat yogurt and kefir and probiotic foods, including REAL kimchi and sauerkraut (not stuff in a can that's been heated). You can EASILY make all these yourself.

for the mouth, definitely gentian violet...

not all probiotics work the same. there is one brand at the health food store called Bio-K plus that is a very concentrated, live one, in a yogurt tasting mixture. you can take it orally, or rub it on topically. Also Dr. Ohirra's probiotics is very good.

We found that the gentian violet worked well - you can ask the pharmacist about it. You use just a small dab on a Q-tip and squeeze it out even then put it all around in the baby's mouth. It stains and looks crazy but it works. My pediatrician recommended it after the antibiotics didn't work.

My sister & I both dealth w/ thrush w/ our oldest children..... yucky! My sister researched it a lot more than I did & found a pretty good diet that helped..... veggies, meats & a few fruits - no sugar & limit natural sugars yeast thrives from sugar..... the yeast attaches to everything, so a baby's blankets should only be used once as well as washing a pacifier (boil for 5 min.) after every use.... change your friend's bath towel after every shower, use paper towel to dry her hands off after washing hands (keeping a hand towel around helps keep the yeast around) put white vinegar in washer w/ her wash w/ all her clothes (it smells going in, but the clothes don't smell afterward.... change her tooth brush about once a week.... & sheets as well. This all makes for more laundry & work, but it helps cut down the growth of yeast..... we also found that building up the immune system is a must. Greens First is a powder that is all veggies that you stir in water to help boost the immune system.... the biggest thing we've found to boost the immune system is Juice Plus+. Fruits & veggies that have been put into powder form.... she can check it out at jphealth.net/C.
Hope this all helps. :) I know how horrible it feels.... tell her to persevere! ~ C.

Katie, I had thrush (mouth) the last two trimesters I was pregnant. My doctor prescribed medicne and after 4 or 5 rounds I just decided to live with it. As soon as I delivered it went away. Yes it hurt but sometimes thrust is caused by an inbalance in your PH not by yeast and if the baby is on other medicines and has other issues it may be worth not treating with anything but TLC until he/she is older. For a baby with other issues I would consult your ped. or nurseline for suggestions. Good luck.

gentian violet
get it from the pharmisist, otc @ walgreens...no perscription needed. It will dye everything purple, but is fantastic! Ask the ped what to use on her diaper area, thrush is a yeast infection, in this case probably caused by too many antibiotics.

K., I would check out the information on http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/thrush/thrush-resourc... Also I've heard that oils can help. Lavender and tangerine. If you contact Jessica Wild with Angel Dance Birth Services (you can find her on Mamasource under local business reviews) she has several natural remedies. I would also check into Gentian Violet. I've heard it works wonders.

We had terrible thrush with both our girls!
Yes, Gentian Violet works. BUT BE CAREFUL!!!!!! Keep reading..

Are you breastfeeding? You didn't say.. If you are, you need to treat your nipples! You and the baby are just passing the bacteria back and forth.. You have to eradicate it in both places at the same time. I think you would have mentioned it because thrush is typically very painful for the nursing mother. If you are not nursing, there's some suggestions below..

Our first daughter had it for months before we finally got rid of it with Gentian Violet. Nothing worked for us, we tried prescribed antibiotics, different herbs, probiotics of many kinds, myrhh (which is supposed to be a natural antibacterial) and just could not shake it completely - it would always creep back and then explode. Because I was nursing, I began washing my nipples after every feeding and then swab them with Gentian Violet, all the way around the aureola and outside.. anywhere where your baby's mouth might touch. It helped my discomfort (but it sure looked funny!). And because of the nipple treatment, the baby's mouth would get coated with the GV at the next feeding. She got her dose that way, so I didn't need to swab her mouth.

This indirect treatment with the GV, if kept up relentlessly for 3-5 days, completely knocked out the thrush in both the baby and my nipples. BUT IT ALSO BURNED OUR BABY'S MOUTH! The Gentian Violet is supposed to be a very mild solution (I bought mine at Walmart) but nonetheless, both of our girls developed blisters in their mouths which made them, understandably, fussy. Their little mouths hurt! It only lasted a day, and then they were on the road to healing (with no sign of thrush ever again!), but those blisters looked *mean*.

If you try the GV, I encourage you to be *very* careful with that stuff. Watch your baby very closely. Once you've dosed her mouth, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to see any blisters developing because her mouth will be practically black with GV dye, so you will have to be vigilant about her fussiness factor to see if she is starting to feel any discomfort in her mouth from the GV.
If she starts to resist eating or feeding, that may be an indication that the GV is overdoing its job..

A note about NOT doing this relentlessly.. We tried going easy and doing the GV treatment every other feeding and other measures, but the thrush would only recede and then return. We found we had to keep the treatment going for at least 3 days (and I'm not sure how much longer with each girl). Anything less and the thrush would recede and then just come back.. Then again, I'm sure all babies and thrush infections are different!

If you are not breastfeeding, and you choose to try the GV then, as someone else mentioned, you must either treat the baby's mouth separately and make sure your bottles and nipples are sterilized completely, or use the nipples to deliver the GV to the baby by swabbing the nipple with GV. Personally, I found it much easier on the baby emotionally to give her a swabbed nipple (she doesn't even notice the purple stuff) than to try and swab her mouth directly (which she clearly did not enjoy).

We didn't sterilize our house or change the baby's clothes every 5 minutes either - we just focused on her mouth and getting the infection cleared up. Once the bacteria is gone from her mouth, she will not be swallowing it into her digestive system, and her diaper rash will improve.

About the diaper rash,we put our baby's bottom in the full sunshine for about 15 or 20 minutes every day. We would try to cover her legs and torso, but getting as much of that bottom (folds and all) as we could in the sun. UV is a natural anti-bacterial.. I'm not kidding that that helped our baby's diaper rash **immensely** while she was trying to kick the thrush. Of course, Burt's Bees Diaper Creme is a great backup..

Gotta run, my little one is waking up.. Good luck... Thrush is a tough infection to kick..

I used Lotrimin AF on our daughters bottom when she got it and it worked great. Because its also a thick cream, it prevents as well as treats. Good Luck.