Baby Yeast Infection

Not only can adults with skin folds get a yeast infection, but so can those wondrously-pinchable chunky babies and toddlers. When working as a toddler teacher, I had come across both sexes of children with yeast infections. One of my toddler girls had a huge rash under her armpit. When I pointed this out to her mother, she was brought to the doctor that same day. The following morning, her mother came to us with a cream - it was a cream to kill the yeast infection under her armpit! It is truly distressing to have a child who cannot talk, eventually come down with a yeast infection.

On a baby, the only couple of signs you get from a girl is just as unnerving to the child as to the mother. If your daughter cries every time she urinates into her diaper, and has a lot of redness and swelling in her vaginal area, then it may be time to take her to the pediatrician. I also had a toddler boy end up with a yeast infection. This child happened to have his foreskin attached to his penis still. If you do not know, many children nowadays happen to have the foreskin removed within a few days after birth - whether for sanitary purposes or religious reasons.

If the foreskin is not pulled back from the head of the penis and cleaned properly, then a yeast infection can occur. One this child, the recurrent yeast infections became so much that his parents finally decided to put the child through surgery (at 21 months of age) to have the foreskin removed. Now, this does not mean that an uncircumcised boy will always get yeast infections, but the parents do need to make sure that they are properly cleaning the area. This also means that the child must be taught to do this as a young man, or, as an adult, that man can get a yeast infection around the head of his penis.

Infants can also be susceptible to a form of yeast infection in the mouth, called thrush. Thrush is seen in the mouth a small, white patches on the insides of the cheeks, and the roof of an infant's mouth. It is normally painless, but can become uncomfortable enough for an infant to refuse to breastfeed. That being said, a mother can contract a yeast infection in her breasts if her infant has had thrush. Both the infant and the mother would need to be treated for the infection.

On the mother, small red or white patches can show on the breast, as well as red or purple discolored nipples. During breastfeeding, the mother may experience shooting pain in the breast, or even a more sensitized nipple area. Many antibiotics to treat yeast infections can be passed through breast milk, so doctors truly need to exhibit caution when treating this type of infection. Some mothers swear by eating more yogurts that contains good bacteria, and lessening consumption of yeasty foods.

Yeast infections can be treated, but need to be done proficiently. If the medicine just masks the symptoms only, then the infection will grow stronger, and become more problematic than originally thought.