How to Treat Yeast Infections in Babies. Part of the series: Diagnosing & Treating Baby Problems. To treat yeast infections in babies, usually a medicine called mystatin is used. Learn about more treatments for yeast infections with help from a pediatrician in this free video on diagnosing and treating baby problems.
Hi i’m dr david hill and today we’re going to be talking about how to treat yeast infections in babies now when we say yeast we really mean an organism that is yeast candida albicans it’s a scientific name and candidate is one of those things that rides around on us usually doesn’t do us any harm if you culture people’s skin you’re likely to find yeast in all
Sorts of places however babies immune systems are not very good at keeping yeast under control babies can also have more difficulty with hygiene than adults who can wash themselves and stay clean and dry and both of these things can make yeast a more significant problem in babies than it is in older children and adults when we see yeast infections in babies the
First place we see them is in the mouth that’s called thrush and what you’ll see is sort of a white plaque a film on the tongue or the cheeks or the gums that doesn’t wipe off now this is distinguished from breast milk or formula stuck on the tongue if you go after that with a washcloth or your finger usually you’ll scrape it right off yeast doesn’t scrape off
It’s adherent so that can be a really uncomfortable condition the treatment for that is a medication called my statin in almost all cases nystatin sort of a thick yellowish liquid you dribble it onto the tongue with a dropper or you can use a cotton swab to mush it around inside the mouth it works where it lands so you want to get it on the yeast right where it
Is we usually use it four times a day prior to feeds and it tends to be very effective when nystatin fails we can use an oral medication called fluconazole the brand name is diflucan but we don’t often have to go to that extreme the second place that we see yeast as we head down the body is in the folds of the neck or the armpits canada yeast loves places that
Are moist and babies often when they have a lot of rolls of fat their neck never really gets completely dry milk dribbles down in there drool gets down in there and that is just a fun house for canada to set up and get rolling again nystatin tends to be the drug of choice you can even use it as a nice statin powder which will absorb some of the moisture as well
As treating the yeast infection itself now the third place that we see yeast infections in babies is in the diaper area it’s probably the most common cause of diaper rash it’s not the only cause of diaper rash so never assume that the diaper rash is yeast especially if it’s not getting better yeast diaper rashes tend to involve the folds of the skin remember we
Said it likes moisture so it’s where skin needs skin in the folds the better you can keep those areas dry if you can do a real good drying off if diaper changes or let the baby go without the diaper for a little while that can help some but again nystatin powder cream or ointment is the first line of therapy in these cases as well now there are some other diaper
Rashes to be aware of if the rash affects the parts of the skin that touch the diaper but not the parts of the skin that touch each other that’s probably an allergy to something in the diaper you’re going to want to change the diaper brand also we’re seeing lots of staph infections in the diaper area these come with pustules that may actually drain pus and kids
With those are probably going to need an antibiotic as well as an antibiotic ointment so remember if the rash is confusing or not getting better or looks funny get your baby’s doctor involved in helping to treat it talking about how we treat yeast infections in babies i’m dr david hill
Transcribed from video
How to Treat Yeast Infections in Babies By ExpertVillage Leaf Group