Thrush in children's mouth: causes and treatment

Oral thrush, or candidiasis, is unfortunately a fairly common disease that occurs in babies, usually in the first year of their life. This is a fungal infection that causes a lot of trouble for the child, preventing him from eating and sleeping normally. However, this disease can be treated quite effectively if you thoroughly study the causes and ways to combat it.

Thrush in children - causes

Since thrush is fungal disease First of all, you need to establish why yeast fungus develops in the child’s mouth. It can be caused by various reasons:

• Infection during childbirth. If a mother suffers from thrush of the birth cavity, transmission of this disease to the newborn is possible. Therefore this disease is better treat before birth.
• Insufficient hygiene. As you know, when caring for small children, complete sterility is necessary. It is enough to poorly wash a pacifier or toy, which then ends up in the child’s mouth, and his delicate oral cavity will be captured by a dangerous virus. It’s even worse if the mother simply licks a pacifier that has fallen on the floor and gives it to the baby: an adult contains such a number of bacteria that infection is almost inevitable.
• Weakened baby's immunity. If the mother took antibiotics during pregnancy, the child was born premature or was bottle-fed, the risk of developing the disease also increases.
• Various viral, intestinal and other diseases in a child. The cause can even be a harmless, at first glance, dysbacteriosis.
• Another fairly common reason is normal regurgitation. If this happens to the baby quite often, then the delicate mucous membrane of the child’s mouth and the acidic environment that occurs during regurgitation can also lead to the development of candidiasis.

Thrush in a child's mouth - how to treat it

If you discover that a child has developed a fungal infection, first of all, you need to consult a pediatrician who will prescribe treatment. So, on the damaged mucous membrane, it is useful to apply Nystatin in the form of a cream, ointment or powder. Levorin, Diflazol and their analogues are used internally.

However, in addition to the use of medications, the mother needs to strictly observe hygiene, and also limit the consumption of sugar, yeast, various yoghurts, that is, products that cause the development and growth of fungus.

In addition, there are quite effective folk remedies. It is recommended to treat the child’s oral cavity with a soda solution for several days. Throughout the day, this procedure should be carried out as often as possible. It is also advisable for them to wipe the mother’s breasts during feeding. The soda solution creates an alkaline environment in the mouth; in such conditions, the fungus does not survive and the disease will gradually be defeated. A weak solution of potassium permanganate works in a similar way. Decoctions of St. John's wort and calendula, viburnum juice with a small amount of honey help well with thrush.

Local treatment and the use of folk remedies often help achieve the desired effect, so the use of medications may not be necessary, especially since they are prescribed to such little ones as a last resort.

Thrush in children's mouth: photo

It is not difficult to identify the symptoms of oral thrush; just look at numerous photos on the Internet.

If you notice similarities, you need to start treatment immediately. In addition, with thrush in the mouth, the child begins to be capricious, as it hurts him to eat and even move his tongue. Therefore, after a course of treatment, it is very important to make sure that the candida fungus is completely destroyed and removed from the body, otherwise the disease may return. If parents follow the necessary rules of personal hygiene and properly care for the baby, it is quite possible to defeat this unpleasant disease.