Newborn and thrush - Children's Health Message Board

Lori · 03-13-2001, 11:37 PM

Hi!
My 5 week old niece has thrush. Ive talked to a nurse and she said to just wait till the doctor appointment in 2 weeks to get this treated.

My questions:
-Is it safe to wait this long?
-Is thrush dangerous (especially in such a young child)?
-Are there any warning signs to watch out for?
-Any way to keep it from getting worse?
-And/or for making it better?
-Heard that thrush usually leads to a yeast infection also, is this true?
-Is it catchy from person to person (ie child to another child)?

I had thrush once while on antibiotic and it never lead to a yeast infection and went away on its own. But this is a newborn and has me worried.
Thank you in advance for answering my questions

Take care,
Lori

eweejoe · 03-15-2001, 02:30 PM

Thrush is a yeast infection of the mouth. It can be spread and is contagous. The best way to prevent it is to sterilize basically everything that goes into the babies mouth. It gets MUCH worse if left untreated, and would definately NOT wait 2 weeks to get it treated. The baby would be miserable and it will be much harder to treat in two-weeks. Shame on whomever told you that!! Here's a link that will help you! Good Luck!
[url="http://www.drspock.com/article/0,1439,4079,00.html"]http://www.drspock.com/article/0,1439,4079,00.html[/url]

Lynn893 · 03-16-2001, 09:45 PM

Hi Lori,
I agree not to wait for that long til your baby sees the doctor. Call back and rebook for sooner. It's not dangerous, only very uncomfortable for the baby. It is yeast, and it can spread to other parts of baby if you are not very careful. ie: when bathing the baby, be careful not to let baby touch herself (natural for them to do) if she has had fingers in her mouth. My daughter got bad diaper rash that way. Had to use canasten cream which is an antifungal medication. If doctor cannot rebook appt. for sooner, ask about what else can be done to make baby more comfortable.
Good luck

Peace