Operation Carpet Mouth: The Thrush Battle Continues

[Curlita]

Raise your hand if you are tired of reading my posts about thrush...

Raise your hand if you are an infant who is tired of me coming at you with a swab full of GSE to attack your tongue...

I posted this in BFing challenges, but wanted to bounce it off the lovely ladies here, too. Bottom line: how long after I swab his tongue can I nurse him again? The long version follows...

My son and I are combatting thrush... he has it much worse than I do, with a little white carpet on his tongue. I am treating him 4x a day with Nystatin and about 4x a day with Grapefruit Seed Extract. I had been treating him before BFing him, following Newman instructions... but my lactation consultant said that I should swab his mouth after feeding so that it would stay in there and do its job.

The problem with that is that my son is a big, big comfort sucker and a frequent snacker, and as soon as he is upset by the swabbing, he wants to nurse again. We have pretty much given up on treating him after the night feedings, because there would be no way to get him to sleep. I've been giving him a pacifier (which we had been phasing out) during the day to satisfy the sucking need right after a feed.

So my question is... how long do I need to give the treatment time to work before I can nurse him again? 15 minutes? 30 minutes? 60 minutes?

Poor little guy.

[*Lindsey*]

I don't have an answer for you, Erica. But I'm sending you big s and praying you and Conrad beat the yeasty beast soon!

[Curlita]

Thanks, Lindsey... I called the Lactation Consultants (AGAIN) and asked my question... short answer is, they aren't sure. I guess it doesn't matter, since I'm dosing him again after each nursing session.

The good news is that only 24 hours into the new dosing regimen, the white carpet has sloughed off of most of Conrad's tongue. Fingers crossed that we are in the home stretch... he really is not understanding why I won't just let him drift off into peaceful slumber after a meal.

[wwisdomskr]

[scheelimama]

I haven't kept up with your thrush posts. So forgive me if you already tried this...have you tried gentian violet. We had good success with that and you would just swab it similar to the grapefruit seed extract. You can also open up the probiotics capsules and dip your finger in it and then put it on his tongue. And of course (you're probably doing this) but sanitizing his pacifiers often. Good luck. I battled thrush (myself, not my babies) for the better part of a year with both dd1 and dd2 and it totally sucked. No problems here this time though, thank goodness!!!

[Curlita]

Alisha, I've read about using gentian violet but have not tried that yet mainly because of the mess factor. Conrad *seems* to be improving, but if the current regimen does not work, then we'll move on to GV. He seems to have it much worse than I do -- just a little off and on burning. I've been swabbing and have had luck with the GSE -- even better luck when I've added some vinegar and tea tree oil.

I've been taking probiotics and have wondered about giving some to Conrad as well. I've been boiling the pacifiers, hopefully for long enough... don't want to melt them.

I have been perplexed about this because I didn't have thrush with Dylan... but realized last night that he was a C-section so didn't pass through the Yeast Zone on his way into the world.

[Isaac'sMa]

hugs. I'm glad the new regimen seems to be helping.

Originally Posted by Curlita

I have been perplexed about this because I didn't have thrush with Dylan... but realized last night that he was a C-section so didn't pass through the Yeast Zone on his way into the world.

Yes, but a lot of women/babies get thrush after a c/s because of being on antibiotics...I think it's just the luck of the draw. I had no probs with it last time around but this time I did. ??

[Curlita]

Originally Posted by Isaac'sMa

Yes, but a lot of women/babies get thrush after a c/s because of being on antibiotics...I think it's just the luck of the draw. I had no probs with it last time around but this time I did. ??

I agree that it's probably luck of the draw.... I don't even remember whether or not I had abx after my C-section. In any case, I'd still rather deal with thrush than have a C-section. Hopefully in a few weeks this will just be a distant memory.

[pishajane]

You could also try (if you haven't already!) taking all sugar and yeast out of your diet... i know it's hard, but you need to starve the yeast which love to feed on all sugar, bread, fruit, etc. And definitely keep up the probiotics.
HTH and good luck!
Trish

[*Lindsey*]

I'm glad things are improving!

I did give both Hazel and Lucy some probiotics from my finger when we were battling thrush. Certainly can't hurt!