How to Treat Babies With Intestinal Yeast

Yeast, or candida, is always present in the intestinal tract along with beneficial bacteria. The yeast and bacteria normally keep each other in balance. Sometimes they can get out of balance and the yeast overgrows, leading to a systemic yeast infection. In babies, the symptoms of this imbalance can be seen as oral thrush (white patches in the mouth) and/or a painful, bumpy, red diaper rash. Treating the symptoms will relieve pain, but you must also treat the underlying imbalance between the intestinal yeast and bacteria in order to prevent recurring infection.

Things You'll Need

• Acidophilus capsules
• White vinegar
• Clotrimazole or miconazole anti-fungal cream
• Nystatin or Diflucan, if prescribed by your doctor

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Instructions

• 1

  Give the baby acidophilus to restore healthy intestinal bacteria. For young babies, open an acidophilus capsule and pour the powder into a bowl. Wash your hands, dip a wet finger into the powder and let the baby suck on your finger. Use one third of the powder each time and repeat three times a day. Acidophilus can also be mixed into expressed breast milk or formula. For babies older than 12 months, mix acidophilus into milk, juice or food, and feed the baby yogurt containing live acidophilus cultures. Buy refrigerated acidophilus from a health-food store for best results.

• 2

  Change wet and dirty diapers promptly. A wet diaper is the perfect growing environment for yeast. Avoid using baby wipes on a yeast diaper rash as they will feed the yeast. Rinse the baby's diaper area with a solution of 1 tbsp white vinegar to 1 cup of water.

• 3

  Treat yeast diaper rash with an over-the-counter anti-fungal cream containing clotrimazole or miconazole, or with prescription Nystatin cream. This rash will not respond to regular diaper creams and will persist longer than a regular diaper rash. If the rash does not improve within three days of treatment with anti-fungal cream, consult your pediatrician.

• 4

  Ask your doctor about oral medication if you see thrush in the baby's mouth. Nystatin liquid is a prescription anti-fungal medication used to treat thrush. Diflucan is a stronger anti-fungal that is sometimes prescribed for more persistent cases.

• 5

  Boil pacifiers and bottle nipples for 20 minutes every day. Wash toys that go in the baby's mouth daily in hot water with soap. This will kill yeast on these items and prevent reinfecting the baby.

• 6

  Reduce sugar and refined carbohydrate consumption if the baby is eating solid food. Sugar feeds yeast. Feed your baby meats, vegetables, unsweetened fruits and plain, unsweetened yogurt. Check commercial baby food labels for added sugars. Continue regular breast-feeding or formula-feeding.

• 7

  Treat mother and baby simultaneously if breast-feeding. Yeast can cause a painful infection of the mother's nipples and can be passed back and forth between mother and baby. Treating mother and baby together will break this cycle and help prevent chronic infection. Even if she has no symptoms, the mother should take acidophilus daily, reduce her sugar consumption, and rinse her nipples with the vinegar and water solution. See the resource section for information about treatment for a mother experiencing nipple pain.

• 8

  Continue the vinegar and water rinse, acidophilus, low-sugar diet, and anti-fungal cream for two weeks after symptoms are gone to reduce the chance of reinfection.