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Thrush: A Persistent Little Bugger

Despite my best efforts to get rid of my daughter’s thrush, it keeps coming back. It’s been about a month since we first noticed white spots in her mouth, and while they haven’t gotten worse and have even disappeared for a few days, they always return.

After using an entire bottle of Nystatin didn’t get rid of the thrush, her doctor prescribed Diflucan. As fatal liver damage is a possible side effect, we decided against using it. The thrush, located in a small area on the inside of her cheek, is causing her no discomfort whatsoever and has never spread to other regions in her mouth. I’d rather she have thrush for a year than liver damage.

Although we decided against using the Diflucan, we wanted to do our best to get rid of the thrush. We’d read about something called Gentian Violet as a treatment for thrush. Many mothers, midwives, and lactation consultants rave about its effectiveness in treating oral thrush.

For awhile, we felt unsafe using it, because there were reports that the use of Gentian Violet could increase a person’s odds of developing oral cancer. Again, we decided that thrush was a better alternative.

However, after speaking with the leader of our local La Leche League, we discovered that the study that “proved” the link between Gentian Violet and cancer was very old. In addition, rats had been fed huge doses of Gentian Violet over extended periods of time, and it was only then that they were more likely to have oral cancer than their counterparts. Successfully treating oral thrush in babies requires much less than a teaspoon of Gentian Violet for the entire treatment. We decided to give it a try.

Gentian Violet can be found at some pharmacies, but it is best to call ahead and make sure they have it. If they don’t, they can usually order it and have it ready within 24 hours. We called in advance, and it was ready the following day. As advised, we ordered a 1% solution. We’re hoping this attempt at getting rid of thrush works.

Have any of you treated thrush with Gentian Violet? How did it work for you?

Related Blogs:

No, That’s Not Cottage Cheese In My Baby’s Mouth

Be Afraid, Thrush. Be Very Afraid.

Why Did My Baby Get Thrush?

It’s Official: She Has Thrush

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About Rebecca Wilkens

BabyLed is the married mother of one beautiful daughter. She and her family live in the Midwest of the United States. BabyLed loves learning new ways for her family to be healthy and happy. She is a strong believer in attachment parenting, cooking from scratch, and alternative medicine (but is very thankful for conventional medicine when it is needed.). She would much rather avoid illness by living a healthy lifestyle than treat an illness after it has arrived. BabyLed loves reading, cooking, nature, and good old celebrity gossip. BabyLed graduated from college with a degree in Elementary Education. After teaching preschool for two years, she quit her job to be a fulltime mommy to her infant daughter. Being one of those "paranoid, first-time mothers" has led to her reading many books and articles on parenting and children. Although she has been around children her entire life, the birth of her daughter gave her a whole new perspective on what children are all about.