Thrush

[Unoriginal Name]

Those of you with children have any of you had to battle thrush?

My three month old son has thrush and it's been a challenge feeding him. For awhile he wouldn't want to eat. Lately he is eating a lot better but after awhile he'll spit the bottle out of his mouth and when you try to give it to him he'll just cry. We'll battle like that for a few minutes and eventually he'll take it again and eat some more.

Anyway, those that have had to battle thrush in your children, besides the medicine from the pediatrician has anyone developed any other helpful ways to battle this ailment?

[GoodVela]

Re: Thrush

My son had a minor case of thrush when he was a few months old. He was given an anti-fungal oral cream.

One thing the pediatrician recommended was for the baby to eat yogurt. I guess the live cultures help fight against the fungus in some way.

BTW, if your wife is breastfeeding she will need to get some anti-fungal cream for when she does feedings.

[Unoriginal Name]

Re: Thrush

My son had a minor case of thrush when he was a few months old. He was given an anti-fungal oral cream.

One thing the pediatrician recommended was for the baby to eat yogurt. I guess the live cultures help fight against the fungus in some way.

BTW, if your wife is breastfeeding she will need to get some anti-fungal cream for when she does feedings.

We have some oral medicine we have to shoot in to each side of his mouth four times a day with a syringe.

He's only three months old so I think he might be a little young for yogurt....isn't he? From everything I hear our pediatrician doesn't like giving babies anything but formula until they are four months old.

Unfortunately, my wife wasn't able to breastfeed because of some medicines she is on from a complication from the birth but we have been sterilizing the bottle nipples, caps, and pacifier each night.

[joshuar9476]

Re: Thrush

my wife and i have battled it quite a bit lately ... let me text her so she can get on here and explain it better to you ...

[ashes1384]

Re: Thrush

Okay- I am going to assume that your pediatrician gave you Nystatin for it.... we tried that for one month before switching to Diflucan and that kicked it right away- ask your pediatrician for that. Also- I am a nurse and I know that it can be very painful for a baby to eat when they have thrush... it is frustrating but just keep trying, but there really is nothing else you can do besides the medicine. Hope this helps!

[Unoriginal Name]

Re: Thrush

Okay- I am going to assume that your pediatrician gave you Nystatin for it.... we tried that for one month before switching to Diflucan and that kicked it right away- ask your pediatrician for that. Also- I am a nurse and I know that it can be very painful for a baby to eat when they have thrush... it is frustrating but just keep trying, but there really is nothing else you can do besides the medicine. Hope this helps!

Thanks for the reply. Nystatin is what the pediatrician gave us to give him. I will mention Diflucan to my wife and see if she wants to call the pediatrician and ask her about it.

I figured there was nothing more to give him to help him along but I had to ask because it just breaks my heart when I feed him because I know he is still hungry but he cries and refuses the bottle because of the pain he is in. I hear it is like many little needles.

[joshuar9476]

Re: Thrush

don't ask for the Diflucan, insist it right away. when we gave it to ryan it cleared it up right away. also, make sure you're washing your bottles, binkies, and toys that the baby chews on in the dishwasher or hot sink water. don't give the baby the same bottle twice until it clears up.

[Unoriginal Name]

Re: Thrush

don't ask for the Diflucan, insist it right away. when we gave it to ryan it cleared it up right away. also, make sure you're washing your bottles, binkies, and toys that the baby chews on in the dishwasher or hot sink water. don't give the baby the same bottle twice until it clears up.

We wash the pacifiers and bottles and anything else that comes in contact with his mouth in hot water each time he is done using them and then we put them in boiling water for five minutes.

[joshuar9476]

Re: Thrush

then you're doing the right thing .. some babies still just get it. keep us updated.

[Unoriginal Name]

Re: Thrush

Thursday will be two weeks that he is on the Nystatin and we have seen a difference. Before the medicine he would only eat around 2 or 3 ounces before the pain became too much to bear. The last couple days he'll just about finish his whole 6 ounce bottle. He still fights a bit and it'll take a good 45 minutes to an hour for him to finish but if we are patient enough and endure the little crying moments when he doesn't want the bottle he will eventually eat again so that is good.

My wife told me the pediatrician told her it was actually pretty far in the mouth, like the throat area so we can't tell how it has been improving visual. My wife did see some on his one cheek at the beginning of the whole ordeal and now she says she can't see it anymore so that is promising news. Other than at certain feedings he is in good spirits unlike a couple weeks ago so that is great news too.

Thanks for all your advice. I'll definitely keep you guys updated.

[Unoriginal Name]

Re: Thrush

My wife took my son to the pediatrician yesterday because the last few days its been difficult to get him to eat much more than 3 or 4 ounces when a couple weeks ago he would eat a good 5 or 6 ounces. Apparently the thrush is just about gone which is good news. As for the difficulty in feeding him the pediatrician thinks he is starting to teeth already at just over three months and that is causing the discomfort when we put a bottle in his mouth.

My wife worked last night so I had him for two feedings and I couldn't get him to eat at either feeding. When my wife got home she was able to get him to eat his bottle but first she had to get him to the edge of sleep...that must distract him from the pain. He eats fine early in the day but as the day goes on he gets worse and that is when I'm usually with him by myself. I have him again tonight and I'm scared about trying to feed him. He cried for almost the whole five hours my wife was gone last night.

Any tips on getting through feeding difficulties?

[joshuar9476]

Re: Thrush

My wife took my son to the pediatrician yesterday because the last few days its been difficult to get him to eat much more than 3 or 4 ounces when a couple weeks ago he would eat a good 5 or 6 ounces. Apparently the thrush is just about gone which is good news. As for the difficulty in feeding him the pediatrician thinks he is starting to teeth already at just over three months and that is causing the discomfort when we put a bottle in his mouth.

My wife worked last night so I had him for two feedings and I couldn't get him to eat at either feeding. When my wife got home she was able to get him to eat his bottle but first she had to get him to the edge of sleep...that must distract him from the pain. He eats fine early in the day but as the day goes on he gets worse and that is when I'm usually with him by myself. I have him again tonight and I'm scared about trying to feed him. He cried for almost the whole five hours my wife was gone last night.

Any tips on getting through feeding difficulties?

what kind of bottles are you using? does he have a problem sucking on his binky? if not, you might want to try the nuk bottles, for the ends are shaped like a binky (pacifier).

[Unoriginal Name]

Re: Thrush

what kind of bottles are you using? does he have a problem sucking on his binky? if not, you might want to try the nuk bottles, for the ends are shaped like a binky (pacifier).

We started using nuk nipples yesterday. He still whines and fights the bottle a bit but it does seem to make a bit of an improvement. He actually cried and whined because he wanted more to eat moreso than crying and whining because something was bugging him.

I don't know if it is because of a new nipple and he hasn't quite figured it out or if it is just the nuk in general but he is gassier now. He has to stop a lot more for burping breaks. Our bottle before the nuk was Avent and when he was still drinking 5 or 6 ounces there were times he would go a good 4 or 5 ounces and not have to burp. Now with the nuk nipples he can only go 1 ounce or so and need to burp. Hopefully it is just because he hasn't quite figured them out yet.

We also wonder if although the thrush is almost gone if maybe it is still bugging him when he eats and he'll just be this way until the thrush is finally gone.

Edit: After I wrote this my wife called me and told me she could only get him to eat half an ounce and then all he does is cry...screaming his head off as she puts it. It appears that he doesn't like to eat. She says she is giving up on the nuk nipples and is going back to Avent since they are no better.

So very frustrating.

[joshuar9476]

Re: Thrush

you know, the thrush never really pained ryan when he ate, it just seemed to be more of a nuisance. we have a couple of avent bottles, and those are my favorite for midnight feedings. the only other thing i can think of is that maybe try a stage two nipple to get more flow, but he seems a bit young for that. maybe you need a second opinion, because it seems like something else is gooing on. fussy babies are no fun, i feel your pain right now. ryan just got his first cold the other day and has been sneezing and coughing nonstop. let me tell my wife to get on here again, perhaps she has another answer.

[Unoriginal Name]

Re: Thrush

I just talked to the wife and she was able to get him to eat 2 and a half ounces total. She thinks maybe he was tired and wasn't really hungry and mistook the fussiness for him needing a nap (he fights sleep so much...he'll take naps for only a half hour at a time) and not him needing a bottle.

Under advice of our pediatrician we have been on a stage 2 nipple for a few weeks now. We did try a stage 3 nipple a month ago and he seemed to drown in it. Maybe we'll have to try that again since on Avent stage 3 is around 3 or 4 months I think my wife said. The nuk nipple he is using now is a 7 month nipple according to my wife and last night and the first feeding this morning he did just fine with it. In fact the first feeding this morning my wife said he ate 5 ounces and ate it pretty quick with very little fussing. The second feeding was the problem feeding.