Q&A: thrush + diarrhea = diaper rash X vicious combination

Simone writes:

I've looked through your illness section, and while I have found some information about diaper rashes and teething, I couldn't find anything that throws thrush into the equation. Three weeks ago, my 6 mo-old son was diagnosed with Thrush. (Which in itself is weird since he's on the older side for Thrush, and I'm no longer nursing.) We were given Nystatin, and after now our third round it has proven to be ineffective. Several people have suggested Gentian Violet, and I've heard it's messy. I'm OK with his mouth being blue/purple for a few days. But is it one of those things where if he drools, the drool will then also be purple? How badly does it stain? Is it worth the trouble? I have visions of having to replace clothes, carpeting, etc.! But, we need to try something different because the Nystatin is not working. (Plus, I'm freaked out over the sugar content, and also read somewhere that yeast thrives on sugar...in other words, it sounds like the WORST thing to give.) During all of this, he also developed diarrhea (5 days ago), and subsequently a HORRIBLE diaper rash that we're finding hard to battle. He's vaccinated against rotavirus, but we took him to the doc to be sure and they've ruled that out. It took two poopy diapers to cause the rash, and every time I think we're on top of it, he poops once and it flares up. So obviously the poop itself is an irritant. I am wondering if the two things are related, and that perhaps the Nystatin is what caused the diarrhea. Has anyone else experienced this side effect? He's also teething, which could be a contributing factor, and also why I mention the drooling/staining thing. In the meantime we are limiting his solids to rice cereal and bananas in an effort to help the diarrhea. This is a vicious cycle that we're anxious to break, and my little boy is miserable!! If any of your readers have dealt with a similar situation I'd love to hear how they fixed it.

Oof. This is a big cluster of hideous.

I don't remember what the guaranteed thrush cure is, but I know it was mentioned somewhere in the comments section of Julie's A little Pregnant blog back when her son was a few months old. Does anyone remember what I'm talking about, and remember what the cure was? It contained the word "grape" (grapeseed, grapefruit, grape-something) and was topical and was far more effective (and less messy) the Gentian violet and less disruptive to the system than Nystatin.

Now, if the thrush was out of the picture I'd offer that the diarrhea and diaper rash could be caused solely buy the teething if he's got a ton of drool. Many kids get what's called "drool stool," which is watery diarrhea-like poop, often with strands of viscous drool in it. Talk about things you could never even imagine before you had kids! Anyway, the poop seems to get highly acidic because of the drool, and that can cause diaper rash that's really hard to battle. I also think sometimes the body just causes a rash on the anus the same way some kids get a rash on the face around the mouth near where the upcoming tooth is located. The human body is both wonderful and creepy sometimes.

So I'm hoping someone either remembers or can find the archive of the thrush treatment (I really really want to say grapeseed oil, but have no idea if that's what it actually was) so you can get the thrush under control. Once that's gone you can start working on the other layers. In the meantime, the more you can keep his poor little butt exposed to the air the better you'll probably be. If you can just let him roll around on a waterproof pad for periods during the day it might be the only thing that doesn't make his butt pain worse.

And now let the magic of the internets commence, with the thrush cure appearing in the comments section ASAP.

Comments

[Mommyprof]

I had better luck with the Nystatin by dipping a Q-tip into it and actually painting it inside the mouth. Just squirting it in means you could miss the affected area. You also need to be uptight about sanitizing nipples, pacifiers and teethable toys for quite a while. Thrush can be really hard to get rid of.

You can get a Nystatin cream for the diaper rash. Yeast definitely makes a diaper rash worse, so I'd ask the doc about it.

My $.02

[lisak]

Ditto Mommyprog--yeast can cause a nasty, nasty diaper rash. I used to buy a vaginal yeast cream and use it on my boy's bottoms. I don't think an MD recommended that--I think it was another mom, so I'd check with your doctor to make sure that's okay. I always thought the nystatin was only so, so effective. But if you treat the diaper rash with a yeast treatment and slather some super think zinc oxide based diaper cream on his bottom the rash will probably clear up pretty quickly. My kids were very miserable with this sort of rash--it hurt, a lot. No help on the diarrhea. One of my kids got diarrhea for any old reason and convincing my daycare provider it was from teething or something else benign was a bit tricky. Sounds like the your on the right track with the dietary changes. Good luck! No fun!

[Lemon]

I know nothing about Thrush, but unfortunately I am quite experienced with horrible diaper rashes.

If there are raised red bumps, it's most likely a yeast infection which you need to be careful of - it reacts differently than just a regular irritated bum. If it is a yeast infection, you may need to get "butt paste" from your pedi office, which should cure it remarkably fast.

For a regular red bum, I have had great luck with hydrocortizon lotion (just 1/2% or 1% content) you can pick up at the drug store. (Hydrocoritizone will make a yeast infection much worse, so don't try it on a bumpy butt!) Honestly, it can work like magic. Also, soak that little bum after *every* nasty diaper, with either plain cool (not warm) water or with some baking soda. You might feel like you are doing nothing but bathing him, but it will help. Water can be very healing.

After the bath, throw on the teletubbies or something that will keep him still, and keep his knees bent back so his anus is really exposed to the air for as long as you can. When he needs a diaper, load him up with as much diaper cream as possible - I'm a fan of A&D ointment, but use tons of whatever you use, remembering that a lot will end up on the diaper itself, so use a LOT.

Moxie is right on for all points (really, who here is surprised?) - air is really important, drool will make it worse, and this is a hideous cluster. :-) As your son gets older, acid-y poop will be caused by acidic food - citrus, tomatoes, etc. etc.

Also, I've had much better luck with yogurt than I have with the "brat" diet. For some reason, yogurt seems to fix a lot of things with my kids in the vomiting/diarrhea department. But I don't know anything about thrush... does anyone know if yogurt would affect it? Thrush sounds like a yeast infection, and the cultures in yogurt tend to clear up all kinds of yeast, so I would think that it would be o.k.

[Lemon]

Whoops! Forgot to wish you lots of luck. I've also heard that a nice glass of wine at the end of the day can be very good for the mom. ;-)

[Carrie]

I don't know if this is the cure from Julie's archives, but I've read that grapefruit seed extract is a great cure. Luckily nystatin worked for us so I din't have to try it (esp since I went and bought grape seed extract instead of grapefruit seed extract).

[Beth]

Comments on a little pregnant suggest grapefruit seed extract oil. I'm sorry, I don't know how to put a link in comments...

http://www.alittlepregnant.com/alittlepregnant/2005/01/whipped_cream_a.html

[Melissa]

I can't speak to the thrush and the Nystatin, so I defer to present company.
For the diaper rash, Baby Girl always reacted very poorly to Zinc Dioxide (it would make her scream until I washed it off, even after I wasn't rubbing it in anymore). So, we began a regimen of water only sponge baths at morning and night (very quick at the changing table). When the red butt comes (and her poop always seems to agitate the bottom, so they are working in tandem like with your son), I put oatmeal in her bathtub.
There are several ways to do it. If you're worried about your plumbing, buy cheesecloth and the one minute/quick cooking oatmeal. Put the oats in, fill tub with water, squeeze water through the oat-filled cheesecloth. If you're not worried about your plumbing, grind it up super-fine in the food processor (again, I've had good luck with the quick cooking oats), and mix it into the water. Because the water gets cloudy, this isn't the best bath to wash hair in ... but just the opportunity to soak always seems to take immediate fire out of BG's bottom.
Oh, and we air dry after every single bath (It has turned into our thing of how long I feel lucky from coating the room in urine while she parades around in her 14 mo. glory).
Best of luck with the little guy's bum!

[Lemon]

Simone, I forgot to add this. It's kind of an obvious one, but just in case... store bought wipes will really irritate a sad little bum. You can take a small stack of them, and rinse them all out in water, and then soak them in water before using them - that will make it less irritating. Even better, if you have some old soft receiving blankets, rip them up into small pieces, soak in some water and use those instead of wipe.

Also, if you have any cloth diapers (or even makeshift cloth diaper out of something) that will help a great deal.

[Melissa]

I think Moxie is talking about grapefruit seed extract. You can read more about it here: http://www.drjaygordon.com/development/bf/thrush.asp. Note that he recommends you get Citricidal, which is a very concentrated form of GSE that I never found in stores anywhere. I found a diluted form called NutriBiotic GSE which is 1/3 as potent so you should triple Dr. Gordon's recommendations. (I didn't figure this out until the thrush kept coming back...heh.)

I like Aquaphor for protecting the bottom against acidic poops. If it's a yeast rash, I'll mix in some Monistat (my ped said this was OK). Good luck!

[Shandra]

No help on the grape-whatever but we had terrible thrush twice and I found that breaking open an acidophilus tablet and having him suck on it from my finger helped (or at least I think it did - we were trying everything!).

(My unscientific theory) the thing with the topical stuff is that it will kill the yeast in his mouth, but if it's a systemic imbalance (which it might be if he has a rash) it may just be taking too long to bring his whole system into line.

I did start small (one coated fingertip the first day, two the next, up to about 4 I think) and ramp up 'cause it can give an upset tummy if you give a lot all at once.

Eating yoghurt would help too. :)

Ditto to the painting v. squirting of the nystatin and I had to sterilize/wash/dry on HOT as many of the things that went into his mouth as possible. Especially clothing that he could mouth, like bibs/sleeves.

When my son was 6 months rice cereal gave (or seemed to give) him diarrhea too. We switched to oatmeal and then went back to rice at the end of all the grains and then he was ok with it.

[sue]

Nystatin has not worked AT ALL in my experience (thrush 3x so far....) but gentian violet works to a greater degree - it is messy. The baby will drool pruple for about 10 minutes, and then go back to clear. And it stains like crazy, so wear old clothes for a little while. Grapefruit seed extract has been most helpful for us. I think you mix it with water 1 part gse to 4 parts water and then apply it topically. It works really well. I would even recommend putting it on the diaper rash as well, since the diaper rash is quite prossibly a yeast rash from all the thrush.

Ditto the switching to cloth wipes for a few days. Or, if you can wrap your head around cloth wipes, you can wet down a bounty (or other super strong and soft) paper towel to use as a wipe. There are a lote of recipes for homemade wipes on the web and most use paper towels. If you can manage it, switching to cloth diapers, even if just for the duration of this, might help too. We use cloth except when we travel to my parents and every time we go there, my son gets a rash from the disposables.

Good luck, and I highly recommend grapefruit seed extract. If you have a natural food store, it'll be in with the essential oils, since it's often used as an anti-fungal preservative in soap and lotion making.

Oh, and I highly recommend finding a probiotic supplement for him to take. There are a couple out there that are made specifically for kids, though my doctor has said that I can just give a small amount of the regular probiotics to him. That will also help with the diarrhea.

[Brainy Girl]

We have unfortunately had tons of experience with both thrush and awful diaper rash. We did several courses of Nystatin, which never did the trick.

What finally got rid of the thrush was getting both of us on Diflucan (ten-day course for DD, five-day course for me) and being super, super good about sterilizing EVERYTHING. Bottles, pacis, toys. Only use bath towels once before washing. Be wary of hand towels too. Thrush thrives in cloth.

As for the diaper rash, two suggestions. If it's yeast, the only thing that will get rid of it is first, get rid of the thrush (w/Diflucan or gentian violet) and second, use Lotrimin AF instead of regular diaper cream. It's what they use for athlete's foot, jock itch, etc.

If it's teething or food-related, it sounds like a very acidic rash. If that's what it is, I recommend using Triple Paste. If TP doesn't clear it up, this sounds bizarre, but it works--make a paste of half-TP and half-Maalox. The Maalox helps with the acid. Just make up a little tub of it and use it until the rash clears up. (And if the skin is actually broken from the rash, which has happened to us, use Neosporin.)

Hope that helps!!!

[Brainy Girl]

Also, I completely agree on the probiotic suggestion. That's a great way to prevent thrush from popping up again in the future. My DD gets probiotics every day and it's helped a ton, plus our ped said that probiotics are the best way to ameliorate viral diarrhea if it ever becomes an issue (as it will since we're headed into flu season!).

[z]

We didn't use meds for thrush but a friend of mine who had had a bad case of thrush with her son gave me the following recommendations and following that for a week cleared things up. A difference was seen in the first 2 days.

1.) Eat yogurt, prefer plain and then you can add your own fruit. Yeast lives on sugar

2.) Eliminate sugar and white bread products... yeast love sugar

3.) Wash all pacifiers and nipples in boiling water every single day. When the infection is gone, buy new ones and throw out all the old ones.

4.) Grapefruit seed extract. Buy some in capsule form and some in liquid form.
Add 20 drops of the liquid to one ounce distilled water. Use a cotton swab to swab baby's mouth after you feed him and every hour that he is awake.
You can make a one or two ounce batch that will last you all day. Then throw away and make a new batch each day.
It tastes a little funky, but no harm to mom or baby. This regime is recommended that you continue for 14 days after all symptoms are gone. Yeast is a nasty thing that likes to keep coming back.
Take 3 capsules three times a day.

5.) Take Echinechea (sp?) two capsules twice a day

6.) Take garlic three capsules three times a day.

7.) Gentian violet can also be used. Gentian violet stains bad but works awesome!
Dip a q-tip in the liquid... it will be bright purple! Swab his mouth before feeding and after once a day! Do this for three days. If no change, you may continue for up to 6 days, but never longer than 7 days.

The grapefruitseed extract and gentian violet worked best for us. Gentian violet stains the baby's mouth but i don't remember it affecting the drool so much. Plus i always swabbed him at night before he went to sleep so that the purple mess was contained. Just use pj's and sheets that you aren't especially attached too.

[z]

Whoops I just realized 1 and 2 applied to me because i was nursing him. Sorry... i tried to get all the nursing references out since you weren't doing that. But it may help to give him plain yogurt... My son loved it especially when he was teething too because it was nice and cool.

[Rachel]

Well, my only advice is about the diaper rash...whenever things get really red and rashy and bumpy, we have had a lot of luck with cornstarch. Just sprinkle some on the diaper area--you don't have to rub it in or anything--and that's that. It has cleared up even the worst rashes in a couple of days. For day-to-day we use Butt Paste, but it seems like that just prevents, rather than healing once a rash starts.

Friends of ours once toasted the cornstarch in the oven first (to suck out every drop of moisture) to treat a truly evil rash, and they said it worked.

Good luck!

[Erin]

The grape thing Moxie is referring to is grapefruit seed extract... You can even use it in your wash to help kill yeast on clothes, bibs, etc. We were told by a friend of ours who happens to be the head of lactation at a large academic hospital that most of the yeast/thrush she is seeing is resistant to Nystatin... Fluconazole (diflucan) and All Purpose Nipple Ointment used in combination are the only things she has seen really clear it up (you can use APNO on the bum as well - we had good luck putting on a very thin layer first and following it with a thick coating of old-school Desitin). Here is the link to the formula for APNO (and the candida protocol by Dr. Jack Newman) - it will have to be made by a compounding pharmacy and it can be somewhat expensive, but a little lasts a long time: http://www.drjacknewman.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=39&Itemid=69

I second the water-only wipes... We cut up old receiving blankets and cloth diapers and kept a little squirt bottle of water on the changing table and in the diaper bag.

[laura]

Ditto all the commenters who advocated baking soda/ oatmeal baths, cloth wipes, and air drying. When my daughter had a yeasty rash (which you could have due to the thrush) I always used the OTC lotrimin (store brand was fine) mixed with Aquaphor (for a mild outbreak) or put it on first, let it soak in a second (sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star while the bottom gets some air) and coat the area with Aquaphor.
For the diarrhea irritation (which we had a few times-- and, oh how awful!) I would use hydrocortisone topped with Aquaphor.

I can't advocate Aquaphor highly enough. It is truly a miracle worker, and I never ever used A&D or anything like that after I discovered the efficacy of Aquaphor. It is entirely non irritating and really works to help seal in good moisture and act as a barrier to the bad, and it wipes off much more easily than the zinc creams. One of the mom's in my office had a baby who reacted to the zinc in the usual creams and switching to Aquaphor did the trick for calming the irritation and getting the yeast rash under control. I still use it for my daughter (5 now) when she has done a bad job wiping and gotten some irritation, or when she has had a bubble bath and gotten irritated (yeah. I know. But we only do it once in awhile and it doesn't always irritate.) *I* use it on myself, actually, because I have a lot of vulvar irritation issues and the Aquaphor REALLY helps me to stave off problems. (For instance, I know that after swimming in the pool I get irritated, but we *own* a pool-- a nice coating of Aquaphor on the vulva and viola!)

[Today Wendy]

I don't know about the thrush, but we had a pretty nasty diaper rash incident a while ago. Anything at all touching it hurt, and she screamed when I tried to put cream on it. We started just putting her on a tiny little Baby Bjorn potty several times a day (we'd been thinking about EC but not really doing anything about it aside from buying a little potty) and she started using it. I think she figured out really fast that it hurt a lot less to use the potty than go in the diaper, plus it gave her bum some air time without me worrying about a giant mess to clean up.

[Gretchen]

Oh, the fun of the yeasty diaper rash. Ugh.

Here's what worked for us:
- Nystatin cream to treat the affected area and kill the little buggers off.
- Water only to clean the area. We took an old plastic wipes box, cut a bunch of paper towels in half, doused them in water and stuck them in the box. They stayed nice and moist without dripping everywhere, and I didn't have to worry about running to the sink first to wet down a load before opening the diaper.
- As much Naked Baby Play Time as you can handle. We put down an old vinyl shower curtain, put a large bathtowel or beach towel on top of it, and let the kid lay around and play with her gym and her tummy time stuff. It's a mess, but it's effective. We did a few naked naps, too, when things were particularly bad.
- Triple Paste diaper cream helps clear up most "normal" non-yeasty diaper rashes. It's a really thick goop that's sold over the counter at the drug store. It's usually on the bottom shelf next to the enemas, for some reason :) Miraculous stuff, if a little hard to clean off.
- After you've got the rash cleared up, I can't recommend anything more than A&D ointment. That stuff rocks - but only as a preventative. Doesn't treat it, but it forms a barrier and the vitamins in it help to toughen up the skin to repel irritants. We still use it religiously and our kid is 2 1/2 ... we're down to only needing it once in the morning and once before bed, but if we skip those she breaks out almost immediately.

Oh, and if anyone with a toddler is fighting the same situation, I have to agree with the poster who said that it's a great time to work on potty training. It's amazing how quickly kids catch on to peeing in the potty when it burns like a mofo if they pee in their diaper :) Not that I'd intentionally give my daughter a diaper rash to aid training, but if you've got a kid that's already got one, it sure helps.

[caramama]

Oh, thrush sucks. I'm so sorry you are going through this!

For me and the Pumpkin, Nystatin worked for her but Diflucan was the only thing that worked for me. I hear that Diflucan is now being recommended for babies too as a treatment. Be sure you research it before talking to your doctor, because many doctors don't know the current recommendations for treating systemic thrush.

I also will suggest the probiotic, which (as Shandra said) can be given directly to the baby. Once our thrush was cleared, I had to stop using it because I believe it was hard on the Pumpkin's digestive system (read: bad gas and stomach cramps). Just something to watch for.

My sister in law used Gentian Violet to treat her daughter's oral thrush with great success. She recommended putting the baby in the tub naked and swabbing a Q-tip with the Gentian Violet around the baby's mouth. Find toys that you don't care about getting stained, and use them to play with the baby in the tub until the purple has faded. This could also be good nakey butt time for the baby's diaper rash.

And of course, I second (or 15th) the comments about sanitizing EVERYTHING that comes in contact with the baby's mouth and butt.

Good luck!!! It's very frustrating to go through, especially when you are prescribed something that does work. It took me many repeated calls to the doctors to get on something that cleared ours up. But it can be done and everyone will be so much happier once it is cleared up.

[Dawn]

I don't know anything about thrush, but I'm unfortunately very familiar with bad diaper rashes. For us, as soon as my daughter's bottom started to get red, we'd start the Triple Paste, and if things got really bad, we'd add hydrocortisone cream to the mix (good times, really).

I have also used Aquaphor, but in her case, it was better to use the Triple Paste, because it stuck to her butt and maintained a barrier until the next change (otherwise, she'd scream as soon as she started to pee).

The other thing to do is change his diaper as soon as you know it is wet and/or poopy. Keeping that bottom dry any way you can will help his skin heal.

Good luck.

[Amy]

When my youngest developed antibiotic-induced diarrhea at 4 mo., my doctor suggested half a capsule of acidophilus twice daily in a bottle (though I am nursing, so I put it in a syringe for him with some water). It took a few days for it to kick in but it worked great for him.

[rudyinparis]

Ah, thrush. I remember this well. That is to say, I remember it as well as can be expected considering we went through it during those first sleep-deprived months. Could NOT shake it with Younger. All the advice here is great, I will only second the acidophilus--I would open a capsule and swab a little around in her mouth. Also the gentian violet, which will make your baby look very hip-Goth.

Also, Laura--THANK YOU for mentioning that you use Aquaphor for yourself. Very useful information for me.

[abby]

most of my suggestions have already been stated. I have to agree with the bad diaper rash being related to thrush (yeast diaper rash, rather than a regular one) you can get perscription stuff to treat if the otc stuff doesn't work.

also have to second (or third) recommendations for Genetian Violet. It can be used with all the script meds which is nice (as I'm sure the Grapefruit Seed Extract, I just don't have any experuience with it). One type if you go that route, put vasaline around your baby's mouth, that way the GV won't really 'stick' to his skin and stain it and you can wipe off the Vasaline after a few minutes. Obviously this doesn't work for clothing or fabric, but a great stain remover is OxyClean (just soak the clothing in in for a day or so, not sure if this will work for GV stains, but it is worth a shot).

And like everyone said, be vigilant about bottles, pacis, any teething toys or stuff that is in the mouth, b/c yeast just thrives on that stuff.

[Mona]

If the DR is yeast, which it probably is, add white vinegar to the bath. If it's not it won't hurt, but the vinegar will help get rid of the yeast. Air drying also helps, as does either Aquaphor or A&D ointment - it needs to have that consistency. The Zinc based ointments won't help at this point. Good luck with everything.

[Julie]

For diarrhea - yogurt. At every meal. Also remember to get as much fluids in as possible - which might be hard b/c sometimes it just squirts out the other end.

Rash: We use triple paste. At some drugstores you have to ask the pharmacist to order it, so if you don't see it on the shelf, ask for it and they'll order it.

Good luck!

[Charisse]

Mouse had a fierce yeast diaper rash a while ago--we were advised to use OTC yeast cream, but stick to Clotrimazole as the bugs have developed resistance to some of the milder ones. Fair warning: it stings a bit when you apply it, so for that and other reasons you want to follow with a heavy coat of whatever soothing, really thick cream you favor. After a couple weeks of not making any progress on the rash, and getting to the point where it was waking her up in the night with pain, the Clotrimazole had a major effect within 24 hours, and the visible rash was gone w/in 4 days. You do want to finish the recommended course though--don't contribute to that bug resistance now!

...and Mouse was right about 2 at the time, I have to agree with the posters who said it helped push the potty idea along. (thank goodness for small blessings, but I wouldn't wish that kind of rash on anybody)

[Jennifer]

Ditto Acidophilus to stop the diarrhea and Aquaphor as a general preventative (we put it on every night before bed).

When our daughter had yeast on her bottom, our ped recommended monistat cream topical ointment. It's expensive because you have to buy the whole monistat set just to get a tiny tube of the topical stuff (at least in our area). We just did that once when nothing else was working and it cleared it right up.

Also, rinse out any wipes you might be using...even the sensitive ones have some small amount of irritant. And, one final tip from a friend. If you don't have time for naked baby time--or are worried about diarrhea, use a blow dryer set to cool on your baby's bottom before putting the new diaper back on.

[Ewokmama]

Get thee some acidophilus (the refrigerated stuff)!! This will help with the digestive issues, as well. You can break open the capsules and put the powder in the baby's cereal. You could also rub it directly on the rash.

Sun that butt as much as possible. Also, vinegar washes can be helpful (neutralizes ph levels). If you must use wipes, use water only. Stop using any bath product that is scented, as well, as that can irritate the skin (even J&J can irritate a baby's skin). Stay away from lansinoh - it harbors yeast.

[DD]

As a pediatrician, I will say nystatin used to work great but there is a lot of yeast that is resistant to it now; in this area I think <50% of cases I see are responding at this point.

This is going to sound shocking, but as an alternative, you can use hydrogen peroxide to wipe out the baby's mouth. Put some on a cloth, squeeze it out well, and just use the cloth to wipe the areas inside the mouth where the yeast is. Usually clears it up very quickly (within 1-2 days.) This was recommended to me by a pediatric infectious disease doc at our hospital when nystatin started failing and I've had a lot of families succeed with it. Cheap, easy to find, safe and very effective.

Note you are just wiping the mouth, not having the baby drink it.

DD

[Andrea]

We just finished battling a stubborn case of thrush, though our doctor switched us to Diflucan after the Nystatin didn't work. The Diflucan did the trick, plus we were eating yogurt. See if your doctor will give it to you. It was only once a day, whereas the nystatin was 4xdaily.

[Lisa]

We've had good luck with the following:

Baby Jarrodophilus (sp?) brand probiotic powder for babies. I mix a tiny bit into T's milk/juice/yogurt any time he starts having weird digestive symptoms, and once a week or so regardless. When he was tiny and nursing-only, I mixed it with a bit of water and squirted it into his mouth with a medicine dropper.

Diapering practice:
- wipe with either 7th Gen disposable wipes (the only brand that hasn't irritated him) or a square of old flannel sheet/receiving blanket sprayed with water.
- Pat dry with a dry cloth square. (This seems to be the key.)
- Lots of Aquaphor.
- Diaper of your choice - again, cloth or 7th Gen. disp's seem to be the least irritating.

for non-yeast rashes of any kind (including hives): Aveeno oatmeal bath. Same thing as the do-it-yourself oatmeal bath a PP recommended, but in a convenient powdered form in little envelopes you can tear open and sprinkle under the faucet. You can also add a bit of water to some of this stuff for a soothing rash paste - messy, but just do it before bathtime and dunk the kid in the bath to get it off.

- Calendula cream seems to help if I apply it as soon as things get even a little red. Cortisone cream if that doesn't work.

- A bit of naked time after bath - we play a game called "naked baby on the loose," which is pretty self-explanatory.

[Catherine]

Ditto, ditto and ditto again on the probiotics!!

My little one has been on them since 4 months - after two bouts with Thursh and a constant diaper rash! He is now 10 months old and has not had Thrush since and his little bottom is smooth as can be! He gets three capsules a day (pour into his solids) and both my husband and I are on them as well (I'm still breastfeeding). He also is no dairy-no wheat menu, if that helps!

[Amberjee]

http://www.kellymom.com/newman/c-candida_protocol.html
this is the info i used to treat thrush infection with gentian violet and grapefruit seed extract. i realise you are not breastfeeding any more, but thought it might be a good starting point.

[Marie]

In addition to naked butt time, try to get some direct sunlight onto the baby's bottom. This really did the trick when my 6-month old had a nasty yeast rash. If it's too cold where you are to go outside, stand in front of a sunny window, and hold your baby in your arms, backside up, for as long as you both can take it. A few times a day for a few days will give all the other treatments a great boost.

[Lemon]

FWIW, I've heard that Pampers swaddlers/cruiser diapers can cause terrible diaper rashes. I use them with my two and haven't ever had a problem, but just read about it in the product consumer reviews and you'd be surprised.

[Gina]

Don't have time to read all comments, so I don't know if anyone has already said this, but my daughter had really bad thrush when she was an infant and Monostat or a yeast infection cream right in the mouth worked in hours. It sounds gross but it's fine, and really effective.

[Simone]

You guys rock! I knew you'd have a lot of ideas. Some of the stuff we already know or do...we also love Aquaphor, and I think it's helping. Ditto on the Chlotrimozole. But did NOT know about the Grapefruit Seed Extract or Acidophilus; I'll have to try those. I'm not sure about the Gentian Violet but you guys certainly eased my fears about using it. I finally got a call back from our pediatrician (who was out the two days prior) and she prescribed Diflucan, so hopefully this new plan of attack will be more successful. Thanks for all the help!!

[Priscilla]

For diaper rash, my pediatrician said to put TONS of petroleum jelly on the bottom and IN the Diaper. My guy was having very watery poops and using tablespoons of the stuff helped with each diaper change.

A friend's pediatrician told her to pour Milk of Magnesia into each fresh diaper. The acidic poop will react with the base in the MOM and neutralize the pH to protect the bum before it has time to irritate it.

Good Luck

[Kristin]

What they said!! Grapefruit seed extract is extremely potent, dilute, dilute, dilute. You could probably use the diluted solution as a topical wipe for the diaper rash. I used it on my nipples.

There is a kind of probiotic that comes in a liquid form that is excellent. I just got some for my 3 yo and 6 month old. It is a good idea to take it when you are on anti-biotics or have any kind of diarrhea. It's called Bio-K but I'm sure there are other brands, check out your health food store.

I am a bit of a pro with the gentian violet. Do it at night just before bed and use old sheets, pillow cases and pajamas. By morning it should be absorbed.

[Rachel]

Whoa! so many comments on this one. A good friend in LLL has had persistent thrush (her and baby) with two of her kids and Diflucan was the only one that worked for her. In double the dose the first doc was giving her. I realize that with all this assvice you might not want to read through these comments (I am waaaayyy too tired to do so right now), but I did happen to see at least one other someone mention it. Hope it helps. Good luck with everything and extra kisses to the little guy.

[Kristin]

Hi there,

For yeasty diaper rash, I second the recommendation for an over-the-counter anti-fungal: something like Gyne-Lotrimin, the same kind of thing you'd use for a vaginal yeast infection (which is the same problem as thrush, just in a different place). You're looking for "clotrimazole" as the active ingredient.

Gentian violet: yep, the drool will be purple at first, until the stuff settles, and baby stops making yicky faces. It will stain. But we found it helpful. And we got some really interesting photos. =)

Similarly: is the little guy still nursing? If so, you might consider treating yourself with the gentian violet as well. (Dab purple stuff on n*pples, I think it was 2 or 3 times a day.) Thrush can create a nasty little circle between nursing mom and baby. Are you having any trouble with thrush? (My issue was the opposite: I had terrible, excruciatingly painful thrush while nursing the Boy; so we treated me, and also did the gentian violet on him to make sure I hadn't passed it to him, and to make sure he didn't just pass it back to me.)

Speaking of passing things back and forth, I also did a lot of boiling -- his nipples, his pacifiers, his toys (the ones that could be boiled...I did accidentally melt one string of chewy beads into interesting teardrop shapes). What could be boiled got washed in really hot water and left in the very bright sun to dry. Supposedly yeast doesn't like sun. (Occasionally, when nobody was home, the b**bs got left in the bright sun to dry. One does what one must.)

Our pedi wasn't a fan of giving him acidophilus, but I think others do like the idea, so maybe check with yours for some feedback. I think you can also break a capsule and sprinkle some in food. And in the meantime, it probably can't hurt to add them to your diet (again, in case of baby-to-mom infection). When I had my big thrush issues, in addition to the diflucan that I ultimately had to take (for a MONTH, the yeast was that tenacious), the lactation consultant recommended a really strong probiotic - something that says "billions of organisms" on the label. I think the one I used was called something like "Ultraflora Plus," and I paid an awful lot for it, but it seemed to really help get me over the hump.

Good luck -

[Kristin]

And one more tip (sorry!) -- for acidy poops: Aquaphor (as has been recommended above) mixed with Mylanta (to cut the acid). Mix in bowl, slather liberally on sore tush.

Good luck -

[Julie]

Thanks for bringing DS's thrush out of hiding! I went to nurse him yesterday at lunch and saw that the white patches were back. You obviously jinxed me! lol Actually, I'm glad I read this question and the comments in the morning because I had DH go and buy some GSE extract on his way home. We are now using it with Nystatin so hopefully we will be able to get rid of it for good this time. (we would have tried the gentian violet but we have to special order it, no one has it on the shelf)

[Shelby Shankland]

I found that Fluconazole was what worked for us, along with washing all of our clothes and towels with a cupful of vinegar to keep it from coming back. We used Gentian Violet - twice - and it didn't work for us. Also, Motherlove Diaper Rash & Thrush cream was the only thing that worked for the yeasty diaper rash. We still use it to this day. It's great stuff.

[Sarah]

I haven't had time to read all the wonderful comments, but I want to add my two cents from my experience... Even babies can have Diflucan (a systemic anti-yeast pill) because they give it to babies in the NICU. After having three kids who all fought thrush as babies (and it made me miserable nursing too! and in normal non-nursing life I never even get so much as a yeast infection!) We tried everything! Nystatin was the least effective. Gentian violet does work but it DOES stain everything! For the yeasty diaper rash my Dr. told us we could use athlete's foot type antifungals but that we shouldn't use micronazole (vaginal yeast infection-type antifungal) because it would sting more. We had a lot of luck with baking soda sitz baths (mostly just a little soak for the bottom with some baking soda added to neutralize the acid that's making the diaper rash so bad) Good luck though!!

[Kristin]

A-ha! I remembered the brand of expensive but really effective probiotic that I mentioned in my comment: Metagenics is the company; Ultra-Flora Plus is the pill. It fits the "billions of organisms" category, and needs to be kept in the fridge. If we ever add a sibling to the nest, I plan to talk to my midwife about starting it BEFORE the nursing begins....

Good luck -

[suzanne]

Here's an interesting article regarding cloth vs. disposable by the guy in charge of the "garbage project"

http://www.mswmanagement.com/mw_0209_beyond.html

[kristen]

Haven't had time to read all the comments, so sorry if someone already suggested this....
When the diaper rash has progressed to a yeast infection (you can tell if there are red pinprick dots) lotrimin will clear it up really fast. we use it on annie all the time!