Gentian Violet question

[Hattie'sMama]

How long should I leave the gentian violet on as a thrush treatment? I am not comfortable with my baby ingeting this stuff, so I am treating my nipples with the GV and her mouth with Nystatin, since it is barely absorbed by the digestive system. Will the GV help if I wash it off after a couple of hours when she's ready to nurse again?

[PatioGardener]

I had great relief with gentian violet - but I did not wash it off. I painted my nipples once a day (at night) for 7 days (but 4 is enough for some women) and it cleared up my thrush and baby's. There is a lot of resistance to nystatin, so treating baby with just nystatin may result in it coming back.

And I needed reminding to wash all my bras and sleep tops with vinegar, and to soak any pump parts (or pacifiers if you use them) in vinegar too - so I'll pass that reminder on to you as well.

Hope it clears up soon!

(Also, have you thought of grapefruit seed extract as an option if you don't want baby to come into contact with gentian violet?)

[sharita]

I also had success with GV when nystatin and myconozole failed after weeks and weeks of use.  painted nippled with a q-tip once a day as well though my midwife said I could do it twice a day.  Some ladies paint infants tounge with thin layer but I just let what rubbed off from nursing get on his tounge.  It was a pain in the butt though sometimes because for those few days, he had purple stains around his mouth, lol.  Soooo worth it though when you are dealing with excuriating pain of thrush.

[miche28]

You may want to try grapefuit seed extract instead of GV - the Newman protocol for this is one way to do it (http://www.drjacknewman.com/help/Candida-Protocol.asp) but I also like Jay Gordon's topical approach (http://drjaygordon.com/breastfeeding/thrush.html). One big thing for us was really getting serious about the probiotics for both if us.