What Is Thrush?

by T. Berry Brazelton, M.D., author of Toilet Training: The Brazelton Way

What It Looks Like: Thrush causes a severe red rash. It looks raw, and seems almost hopeless to heal with ordinary remedies such as the ones usually prescribed. This is not a normal diaper rash, which is a scattered sprinkling of tiny red spots. This more upsetting rash has larger, new, red blotches with distinct, raised borders. This sore-looking rash does not appear to bother the baby as much as it does the parent. A very common infection, caused by a fungus, this rash is more likely after a baby has taken antibiotics. The antibiotics kill the bacteria that normally live in the mouth and digestive system, making room for the fungus to move in.

Often this kind of infection begins in a baby's mouth (especially in the first 6 months), where it looks like a white, filmy covering and can cause enough soreness to interfere with feedings. Then the infection sometimes travels all the way through the digestive system to cause a rash around the baby's buttocks. A breastfeeding mother's nipples may also get infected—ouch!

What To Do: Thrush won't just go away. Ask your doctor for a fungicidal ointment. With such an ointment, this kind of rash should disappear and heal over several days. Even if it returns, you'll be confident about how to treat it. If it doesn't improve, be sure to tell your child's pediatrician, as sometimes another kind of ointment is needed. Drops for the infant's mouth and ointment for the baby's bottom and for nursing mother's breast may be necessary to attack the infection—all at once.

Be sure to sterilize bottle nipples and pacifiers as these may harbor the fungus that causes this infection. If your child is on antibiotics, find out from your pediatrician if he is ready for yogurts that contain naturally occurring bacteria. These may help get normal bacteria growing in the child's digestive system, making it harder for the fungus to thrive there.

Excerpted from:

Excerpted from Toilet Training: The Brazelton Way © 2004 by T. Berry Brazelton, M.D., and Joshua D. Sparrow, M.D. All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Used by arrangement with Perseus.

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