Okay, you know how adults' tongues get that white stuff on them if you don't brush it often enough? Well my 3 week old daughter has the same thing. I'm breastfeeding. Is this normal? Is there anything I can do about it?

Hi

Don't worry!! It's problably oral thrush. It's like a cheesy coating on the inner lips, cheeks, and tongue. Don't wipe it off, her cheeks will bleed. The doctor can prescribe Nystatin drops for her mouth. When my son got it, the nystatin didn't work, and the thrush (yeast) got into my breasts, too, which made breastfeeding painful I finally had to resort to "Gentian Violet", which can be bought over the counter. It worked faster than the Nystatin, but it makes their mouths totally purple for a couple of days, like they were eating a purple popsicle. It fades within 2 to 3 days, but it really clears it up.

Hope that helps!!

Matt's mom

Thanks, it was thrush...and it's also the cause of her diaper rash.

The only thing I'm wondering is, what causes it? Her doctor asked me if I had discharge while I was pregnant...I did. She told me to let my doctor know my daughter was being treated for yeast, so am I the cause of it?

I doubt it...unless it has been that way since she was born, but i know with my kids my doctor checked for thrush at every appointment. My daughter had thrush several times in the first 6-7 months..it was very painful for me because i was breast feeding so i got it on my nipples...ouch...just make sure your using cream on yourself also otherwise you'll just give it back to her once she's cured of it.
Just a note..my daughter, now almost 23 months old has always had a white tongue...sometimes it looks like it's going away and now that she likes having her teeth brushed i usually try to brush it when she's getting her teeth brushed. What she has is not thrush, it never went away when treated for thrush. I have never been able to figure out why it is white or how to get rid of it other than brushing it off (i can't get it all off tho).

My daughter's tongue was really bad looking when I first noticed...that cottage cheese look they mentioned...she was almost right one the money with that look. I never tried brushing it or anything. I have noticed that my nipples are both pink...and I'm African American...and are also cracked when they weren't before. Also when I took a shower the other day, the worse nipple had this whitish ring around it...in the area where she latches on...after I got out of the shower. So, I do think that she has thrush, and I hope the medicine works because she keeps spitting it out...I guess it doesn't taste as good as my milk or her gas medicine? LOL But the cream that the doctor prescribed has seem to have been working on her diaper rash, it has cleared up a lot more than with her regular diaper rash cream.

Although, my tongue appears white a lot of times, but I normally brush it when I brush my teeth, and it goes away...and stays away for a while...it's like a build up thing.

Well, I'm calling my doctor today to see if she can prescribe a cream for me...so we don't keep reinfecting each other...that would be a pain!

Hi Platinum!! Mary Jane here... My son had it also... and I am bottle feeding! It is much more rare in bottle fed babies... but with me, it turns out I had a yeast infection a week or so beofre giving birth... even though I had a c-section, the yeast still got in contact with him and it took a month after he was born for it to show. He is on the nystatin right now and it seems to be working. I hope the doctors are treating you as well for this cause you will just reinfect each other over and over. Hugs to you! Mary Jane

All my doctor told me to use is the same cream i was using on her bum...i had very sore nipples....it was almost the same as going back to the first few wks of her being born it was horrible...the good news is that the cream clears it up pretty quickly. And the good news about the meds is they really aren't suposed to swallow it...it really just needs to coat their mouth. With my daughter we went through like 2-3 rounds of it and she never swallowed it, just make sure all of her mouth gets coated, i found squriting it in a little a time in a few different spots (once in each cheek and once on the tongue) really helped get her mouth coated. And make sure you use it for as long as they tell you too, and if you have some meds left maybe a day or two longer just to make sure it's gone, and use the cream on yourself a few days longer than you think you need to. Also, you mentioned in other posts that you were trying bottle feeding, your going to have to sterlize everything that comes into contact with her mouth and your nipples to make sure it's not surviving on the pump or her bottles and pacifiers.