After debating whether my baby had thrush and trying natural, preventative measures just in case, I finally took her to the doctor. The spots in her mouth weren’t spreading, but they also weren’t getting better. In addition, I had been warned by midwives and lactation consultants that thrush, if passed to the mother’s breast, can be extremely painful for the mother.
So off we went, and, sure enough, it was thrush. Luckily, her pediatrician told us that we caught it very early. We went straight from the doctor to pick up prescriptions for Nystatin – one for her mouth, one for her diaper area.
If you’ve read my other blogs, you know that I favor doing things naturally and only use medicine when absolutely necessary. Well, when I read stories of women saying having thrush in their breasts felt like having a piece of broken glass in their nipple every time their child nursed, I felt like this was definitely one of those necessary times.
Although I’d read that Nystatin works for only about half of kids with thrush, I decided to use it. After doing research on various treatments for thrush, I decided it’s probably the least-toxic way to treat it. Because her case was mild and we caught it early, I thought there was a good chance it would work for her.
Administering the medicine has been easy. In order for it to be effective, it has to actually touch the affected spots. For her mouth, I dip a clean Q-tip into the bottle of medicine and paint the inside of her cheeks, gums, lips, and tongue with it. It must taste pretty good, because she doesn’t fight me. For her butt, I apply it the same I would apply diaper rash cream. The only difference is we are temporarily using only disposable diapers.
The good news? The spots in her mouth disappeared after only one day of treatment, and her diaper rash is almost gone. I’m continuing to give her the medicine for at least seven days because I want to be sure we kill it off, but it’s reassuring to see that it’s already working.
The bad news? The medicine makes her poop and farts smell SO BAD! I’m talking thick, permeating smells here. We still occasionally cosleep, and I’ve been waking up to the delicious smell of a dead skunk in the middle of the night.
It’s a good thing she’s cute.
Related Blogs:
No, That’s Not Cottage Cheese In My Baby’s Mouth
Be Afraid, Thrush. Be Very Afraid.