I noticed that my lil guy had white spots all over the inside of his mouth so I took him to the doctor today and he has thrush..
I inquired w/ the doctor as to what may have caused this and pretty much all I got was "Its really common in babies because yeast like warm moist environments.."
First question.. has anyone else's child/children had thrush?
So, I was expecting they'd give him Nystatin to clear it up, but instead the doctor comes back in with some BRIGHT purple stuff called Gentian Violet and swabs it all over the inside of his mouth.. and now my poor little guy literally has a PURPLE mouth and lips.. its kinda freaky looking..
So next question.. has anyone else had their child's thrush treated with gentian violet?
I'd never really heard of it before and its kinda alarming to see your child with a purple mouth.. According to the doctor he'll be purple for a good few days :roll:
My boy had thrush on his tongue as a newborn. It is very commonm since there little immune systems aren't all that powerful yet, the yeast multiplies and grows and becomes thrush.
We got this yellow medicine that didn't make it go away. After it didn't work, my doctor said that people have a natural amount of yeast in their mouths and that aslong as my nipples werent infected, and baby wasnt in pain or having problems suckling, it didn't need to be treated and would level out on it's own. And thats pretty much what happened. We didn't get any purple stuff.
What I don't know though, is what causes it to multiply. Is the baby exposed to more yeast, say in the birth canal, and thats why they get thrush? Or does it just happen on it's own? A friend of mine had a baby with thrush, but she had a cesarian so her baby was never in the birth canal.
Here's a picture of my not so happy lil guy.. he's definitely purple :shock:
I asked for gentian violet over nystatin the third or fourth time we had thrush (and it was we -- both of you need to be treated if you're breastfeeding) within two months or so. I added acidophilus (liquid) later -- sort of painted it on.
Yeast is normal. Because babies don't have well-balanced flora yet, it can overgrow. No big deal; some babies are mroe susceptible than others.
Good luck. Yeastie beasties can be persistent.
Can thrush be harmful if is left untreated?
Well acording to my docter who didn't treat us, not necessarily.
It really all depends. If your nipples hurt and if baby is in pain and cant suckle, then it needs to be treated. But that just isnt the case for everyone, like me. But I think if you or baby is having pain then you best get it treated incase it gets worse. The yeast grew to give the baby thrush, so it must be able to Keep growing and get worse. Though, every sittuation is different.
That is a heck of a purple mouth. Thrush is really not that big of a deal. It's hard to relax about this kind of stuff when you're a new mommy. but try to relax. Your baby will be just fine :)
your baby is cute
gentian violet was the ONLY thing that worked for us, nystatin did nothing....
:shock: whoa! went you said "purple" I though you meant like "tinted a shade just enough to be annoying" not PURPLE! but I guess whatever works :D (IS it working?) I've never even heard of this problem before, so I can't really say much, but I agree with the whole "if it hurts, THEN worry" thing.
I hope everyone gets better! :?