9 Month Old Baby with Thrush

My doctor only ever gave us Gentian Violet and it's works great. Couple of things about it, you have to put it on either once or twice a day (check the bottle) for three days, I never noticed anymore after a day, but if you stop it will come back worse and then you won't be able to use this again, but fortunately I've never heard of a child having a hard time with is. Second, get out the clothes and bibs for the baby and you that you're ready to throw away, because this stuff gets everywhere and it stains. I wore the same shirt whenever I gave it to my son, once it dries some what your clothes are safe, but it will cause her to drool and it will come out in all the drool. The third thing is that the stick that comes with it is AWFUL!! Don't use it, use a q-tip that you throw away after each application, this prevents getting the thrush into the bottle (not likely) but that stick makes the worst mess and is sooo hard to spread the medicine.

Good luck and definitely try this I like it so much better!! Also , my son got it when I was exclusively breastfeeding, don't ask how because I didn't have it, but the doctor said this would help the spreading of it (to your breast) as well!!

Hi Layla,

You both need to be treated. I suggest a course of Diflucan for you. You can still nurse. I'd use Gentian Violet as the last resort due to the mess. You also need to dilute it---I think 50-50, so it does not burn.

G. T.

My name is N.. I am a mom of 3 children, ages 2, 5, and 11. You should go to an International food market and ask for glycerin or violeta. I used violeta but it makes their mouth purple when you use it. Just tell someone that you are lloking for something to use on thrush in your baby's mouth. They are good about suggesting things to use. The violeta was referred by a hispanic person. It worked. What area do you live in? I might be able to tell you where to go. I live in Silver Spring, MD

Hi layla!
Thrush sucks. My son had it and we battled with it for 3 months. Gentian Violet works...but it's the messiest thing you could imagine. It's bright purlple and a microscopic amount dyes clothes, furniture, anything in sight! Nystatin isn't absorbed by the body, it goes right through them so it isn't really bad for the baby (that's what my pharmacist said). I used them togherther (I was lucky because my son loved the taste of Nystatin). 3-4 nights running I used GV and Nystatin during the day for over a week and it was gone. (It took my 3 months mind you to just force myself to actually do it 4 times a day. I also noticed that it's important to(which isn't good news for your little girl) to give them the Nystatin slowly, let it really get everywhere in their mouth and not have 1/2 of it swallowed without making skin contact. Even after the signs of it have dissapeared..keep doing it for at least 5 days!!!!!!!!! It WILL come back.
Good luck with this..I know how terrible in can be.
ps. If you do go with the GV use rubber gloves when applying it to your naked baby. Keep the bottle in a zip lock bag too..It's very messy! If you do get it on clothes, soak it immediately in water and oxy clean over night. rub rub rub and it should come out.

Layla,
First of all I love your name! Secondly, nystatin DOES NOT WORK! i dont care what doctor tells you it does. My daughter had thrush from birth to almost nine months and no matter how many times i bought new binkeys and boiled everything! it stayed until i used the gentian violet.
Since your breastfeeding you need to use in on your nipples too bc you can get it and it gets nasty, believe me. It works really well but is a big mess and kinda hard to find, i had to go to 4 health food stores before i found it.
Good luck!
~C.

Gentian Violet does work. but thrush goes away in time, too. if you are nusing, you can get it on your breasts and keep passing it back and forth. You probably know about diet too. No milk, no calcium, no white bread, no wheat, no sugar.

Nothing but probitoics, health food stores sell good probitotics you can take and it will go thru your milk. It means yours your and your daughters immune system is a bit low. Eating sugar will do that, 2 tbs will bring it down for up to 6 hours. You mihgt get it on your nipples and might have it already in your private area. It's bad stuff.
Do get a good probitoic. You can put plain yogurt on her tongue too, my 2 yrs old G daughter loves the stuff!!!
GOd BLess

Gentian Violet stains. You would be better to use the Nystatin. Try to rub it over the areas where you see the thrush. Boric acid might help also. Just rub it over the spots. It depends on how bad the thrush is.

My son had thrush when he was younger, so I know its kind of a pain. Even though your daughter doesn't like the taste of the medicine I would give it to her anyway. It will make her feel better and its just an antifungal. Gentian Violet can work but it is for adults, if you want to give her that talk to her doctor first.

Hi
Not sure if I would call Gentian Violet natural. It also know as crystal violet and is used in microbiology labs as a stain when identifying bacteria.
Here is the link to the Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentian_violet

If you do use it keep in mind it turns tissue (your fingers and Baby's toungue) a bright blue. I don't think it'll taste any better though.

I don't have any experience with baby having thrush, but you may be able to find some help on these discussion forums:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/forumdisplay.php?f=363
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/search.php?searchid=...

www.kellymom.com is also a wonderful resource! Here is a link to a page all about thrush: http://www.kellymom.com/bf/concerns/thrush/thrush-resourc...

Good luck!

Layla, there is controversy about the safety of Gentian Violet. I remember using it as a child for mouth cankers, and it may have worked or they may have just gone away naturally. It was no miracle cure, and it stains your mouth purple.

I would check it out on Wikepedia and decide for yourself.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentian_violet

My son had thrush 3x when he was a baby. I found that Fluconazole worked more quickly, and was way less of a pain to administer, than the Nystatin - You just give it to them like any other medicine and dont have to make sure it gets all over their mouth. Also, the taste seems to be more pleasant. If it comes back, make sure you get treated because you could be carrying it. Its one pill from your OB. Good luck!

thrush is such a pain and HARD to get rid of. as soon as it looks like nystatin or gentian violet is working, BE SURE to boil all her paci's, your nursing bras, anything that touches her mouth or your nipples. change out your breast pads constantly (if you still wear them). thrush is so so so hard to shake! i'm sorry you've come down with it. :(

I've used it. I would paint my nipples with it before feeding, that way I treated both of us at once. You have to really be careful about your clothing. After the feeding, you might try cleaning off the excess dye with white vinegar, which is also a good treatment for thrush. Boil all of your sippy cups and any bottles or pacifiers she might use before using until it's under control. You can get gentian violet at Walgreens, but you have to ask for it at the prescription counter. I'd call ahead to make sure they have it in stock. Also, clean any and all toys your daughter likes to put in her mouth. Even though you might not show signs of infection, it's best to treat both mom and baby at the same time so you don't have recurrence.

It's not the medicine that your baby doesn't like, it's the pain on the tongue that she has that is uncomfortable when you swab it with the medicine. I would stick to the nystatin and boild everything (20 minutes) that goes into her mouth. If she is on bottles then when she is done eating, refrigerate the bottle immediately. My daughter gets this at least 1x a month but only in her diaper area.I have never used herbal remedies for this because the prescription work best and is usually gone in 5-7 days. Best of luck.

My daughters both had it and we passed it back and forth throughout both breastfed babies. My first had it and nystatin did not work at all, she hated it after a few days and we did the gentian violet,which also did not work and stained everything, terrible stuff. It turned out that she was just a yeasty baby, it never seemed to bother her, she had no problems eating and seemed fine, it went away on its own. I had the yeast in my nipple and that was much harder to get rid of, my second pregnancy got rid of it finally, weird. Second baby got it about the same age 8-9 months. Once again, I also got the yeast in my nipple and had it long after I stopped breast feeding. I did everything from nystatin, gentian violet, acidophilos pills, yogurt daily, vinegar washes, and changing breast pads often. It seems to have finally gone away with the help of some serious steroid cream and lots of air, no bra for a long time. Good luck, I hope you find some relief and comfort for your child.

Hi, Layla! My daughter suffered with thrush at about that age. We too were given Nystatin, but it didn't take care of the problem. It was only after a repeat visit that the dr. told us about gentian violet. I'm not sure why he didn't mention it earlier, but it completely took care of the problem pretty quickly. Just put her in old clothes. It's very colorful and will stain.

My daughter developed thrush as a newborn and the ped. prescribed Nystatin. Unfortunately it gave her horrible diarrhea and after two days of dealing with explosive diapers, I stopped giving it to her. The ped. prescirbed a different medication (can't remember the name) that did not have the same side effects. It cleared the thrush up in about a week and I only had to give it to her once a day (unlike Nystatin which was 2-3x per day). We also boiled everything that went into her mouth. Following the manufacturers instructions for boiling pacifiers, nipples or anything else. If your baby does not like the Nystatin you can ask your Dr for another prescription.

Hello Layla,

From my experience as a mother/pediatric nurse...My daughter had thrush and saw the pediatrician, which prescribed nystatin. Then we passed it back in forth so I had nystatin and she had nystatin. That didnt work so we continued my daughters nystatin and I took 10 days of diflucan. That didn't work. So after a good 2-3 months of exclusive breastfeeding in pain, multiple appointments for both and prescriptions I tried gentian violet. I knew it stained and didn't really give it much thought previously because of that. So as a last resort I called Target and they ordered it for the following day. A bottle that would last forever was under 2 dollars and it worked immediately for both of us. Yes it's messy, but if u can deal with being careful, using nursing pads, and making sure your little one isn't staining things by putting them in her mouth....I suggest gentian violet. If I had known that was all I had to do I would have done that first. Very Effective and I would have saved a bundle.