As a new mother, you spend ample time of your day observing your newborn baby. You learn something new every day, and for first timers, everything is heightened. You may notice a white coating on your baby’s tongue which marks either of the 2 things; milk residue or oral thrush. But how to distinguish which is it? For that, read on to know when your baby has milk tongue vs thrush.
When your baby is born, it needs some time to develop and adjust to the worldly changes as well as start normal physiological responses. If your child has a milk coating in its first few weeks, do not fret about it. This is because babies do not start salivating right after birth; their salivary glands take a few months to become functional.
Those white dots you can see on the baby’s tongue are milk residues that did not go away due to no saliva. However, if it’s oral thrush vs milk tongue, sort things out properly and get a professional’s help. Read this piece to get some pointers for identification.
Identifying Milk Tongue vs Thrush
Is there a sure-shot way to tell the difference between these two conditions? Well, we have some experienced parents to end your dilemma about milk tongue vs thrush.
One thing you need is consistency. You must check their mouth regularly; if tongue staining is because of milk, it will go away from time to time and mostly appear after feed. On the other hand, thrush stays consistently.
Mostly, these white patches brush off when its tongue reaches and slides against the roof of the mouth. Another method is checking via wiping the milk residues; if doing that reveals a healthy pink tongue, then the culprit is milk.
Oral Thrush
Oral thrush in newborns is as common in newborns as a milk tongue. It is not a state of an emergency; therefore, analyze first and take appropriate action accordingly.
Thrush occurs when candida Albicans start to accumulate on the tongue, forming white patches on it. Our body has a natural phenomenon of keeping this fungus under check via bacteria. But, whenever normal physiology shifts, this happens.
Mostly, the reason why bacteria fail to control fungus multiplication may be because of giving antibiotics to the baby due to any complication. Or maybe the mother had a certain infection during pregnancy and took a lot of antibiotics for treatment.
Oral Thrush – Identification
Oral thrush appears to be soft white patches on the tongue. It can grow on the inside area of the cheek or mouth roof. The main identifying characteristic of oral thrush isthat they do not go away, are constantly there even with gentle cleaning of the tongue. Other than that, your baby will have trouble latching on because of irritability.
Treating Thrush Vs Milk Tongue
Usually, like a milk tongue, thrush is not worrisome because it easily resolves on its own. But it may take longer and increase discomfort, so in such cases, there are anti-fungal meds available for use.
Preventing this condition is possible by minimizing the intake of medicines while being pregnant, regular hand washing, especially when touching the baby, additionally keeping the nipples germ free.
Final Words
Thrush vs milk tongue both these conditions are common for a newborn baby the best part is that none are life-threatening, and treatment is available. If your baby is undergoing this issue and you want an out, talk to our professionals from Village Park Dental, visit us, or call at 281 376 4444.