
You find cottage cheese like curds coating the inside of your baby’s tongue and inner cheeks and try to wipe them off to no avail. It’s not breast milk, not formula. It’s thrush.
Thrush, fancy medical name Oral Candidiasis, is caused by an overgrowth of yeast, called Candida. Although not painful, it may cause discomfort akin to having a film of cotton coating the inside the mouth.
We ALL have yeast, which is a type of fungus, on our bodies. Usually we have enough bacteria on our bodies to suppress the growth of yeast, but in cases when there is less than usual bacteria present such as in young babies or in kids who are on antibiotics, Candida can emerge. For older kids using inhaled steroids for asthma, failure to rinse out the mouth after medication use also promotes an environment conducive to thrush.