7wo DD has a white tongue - is it thrush?

[wobblyweeble82]

DD is nearly 7wo and is EBF. She's had a white tongue for a few weeks now. I thought nothing of it until a couple of the mums in the playground commented and said it must be oral thrush? What are your views? Thrush or breastfeeding thing or just milky residue? I can't remember DS having a white tongue but that was 7yrs ago.

it's more likely to be milk residue than thrush

if she has had it a few weeks then it's more than likely you would be feeling effects too if it were thrush, and the whiteness on her tongue would be getting thicker and you wouldn't be able to wipe it off. you'd see other symptoms in her like fussing on the breast because of the sore tongue and things like that

so, if there is an absence of any other symptoms I would say it's just a milky tongue!

I've not even thought to wipe it off, bad mother that I am! I don't think its sore as she's a fab feeder :) Would I end up with sore boobs then?

DD and I had thrush and the pain was indescribable; you would know if you had it. And you would also probably have white spots on your nipples.

If you try wiping her tongue and it doesn't bleed then it's probably just milk. If it bleeds, that's a sign of thrush, but like I said, you would both have it if it was thrush.

mums don't always get thrush when baby has it, but I think after a few weeks it's fairly likely that you would have it in your nipples too tbh

as Leo says, it's incredibly painful and you would definitely know if you had it too.

DD had a very white tonhue from 2wks old. I decided it wasn't thrush because I had no symptoms and she fed well. When she was 8wks old her mouth got worse, she was in pain, and my nipples were in agony to the point where I cried when I fed her. How I wish I'd done something earlier! Insist your GP or Practice Nurse swabs for thrush, mine did it for us.

I've got the HV coming tomorrow, I'll get her to have a nosey. Now trying to work out when to try and wipe it with her having a paddy-whack ... She was admitted to hosp with a viral infection and had intravenous antibiotics when she was 3 weeks old so her immunity hasn't been the best so I guess if she has had it, it could very well be lingering. Thanks folks :)

DS had a white tongue from milk residue for most of the first three months! He also had thrush as a newborn as a result of antibiotics and it was more like white patches, and was on his gums and inside his lips as well as his tongue - he also had a thrush nappy rash. I wasn't in pain but had pink, shiny, slightly itchy nipples.

There was quite a difference between the white patchy thrush coating which increased in time, and the white coating of milk.

thrush is much rarer than people think. Most likely milk residue if baby otherwise well.