Cleaning milk tongue

takerany

hey moms!

I gave birth to my daughter, Mia, about a month ago and she's been breastfed ever since. She always has leftover milk on her tongue and she's stubborn like me so cleaning it is difficult. I never let it build up and I always check for signs of thrush. Her pediatrician says she's fine as long as I'm able to wipe it off, and I am, it's just a matter of how to do it.
Does anybody know of a good way to wipe it off without irritating her?

MeganPobega

I breastfed my first for a year and a half and never wiped her tongue. I've never even heard of anything like that. I've been breastfeeding my second for two weeks now and have not wiped her tongue either. Did someone recommend this to you? I'm pretty sure there is no reason to wipe a newborns tongue.

djoliet

I'm breastfeeding too and I've never been told to or heard of wiping a baby's tongue after a feeding either

adelems

I second and third the thoughts above. I never wiped my DDs tongue and breastfed for a year? Never even heard of it?? :-/

takerany

Her pediatrician took a look at her tongue and even wiped it in the office during her check up. She also wiped some milk residue from her top lip too just to make sure that it actually came off. You guys may not have heard of it but I'm hoping there's somebody in this community that has and can offer advice if they've experienced it.

jenfl0res

I have heard of it not from my doc but from one of my girl friends. And she told me to is me a wet rag to clean out her mouth. I've been trying cus I'm breast feeding and giving her formula. So I do see some residue. It's a bit hard b.c they don't want to open their mouths lol but try n clean as best as u can. Hope I helped

takerany

@jenfl0res thanks! I've heard of the wet rag trick. My friend told me that she would take her baby's wash cloth and wrap it around her finger then wait for her daughter to stick her tongue out and try to get as much off as she could.

elizalegs

I actually have concerns about this, particularly since even if there were thrush you would be only serving to irritate it and potentially spread it more. Breastmilk is anti-microbial y'all - babies are building up their microflora. I would just leave it alone personally

elizalegs

takerany said:

Her pediatrician took a look at her tongue and even wiped it in the office during her check up. She also wiped some milk residue from her top lip too just to make sure that it actually came off. You guys may not have heard of it but I'm hoping there's somebody in this community that has and can offer advice if they've experienced it.

I've heard of it and have seen docs do it. I will say that just b/c a ped. does something at a wellness checkup, doesn't necessitate a parent needing  to be implementing it all the time... 

takerany

@elizalegs I'm not trying to wipe it off after every feeding, only when I notice it starting to look like there's a significant amount. It was recommended by her pediatrician that I make sure it is something I'm able to wipe off and to keep an eye on it. I wouldn't purposefully introduce anything harmful to my daughter for the sake of her having a clean tongue. I'm only doing what her pediatrician says and she is still doing great. And if I did see signs of thrush, my first call would be to her clinic to set an appt for the very next day, if not the same

klcarr19

I'm surprised my pediatrician never said anything about this. Our daughter's tongue is white from formula all the time but I think thrush presents a lot different. I notice the formula only has white build up on the middle of the tongue where the nipples rests... If I remember right from my nieces who had thrush its white almost puss looking pockets all over the tongue. Just watch for a different pattern of the whiteness and try and leave alone if it's milk build up. Baby will wash it away with saliva. Thrush is highly contagious and it would be awful if it spread on baby and possibly to you!

takerany

@klcarr19 thank you! It never looks like puss like pockets but I will keep a look out for those

klcarr19

Google image search oral thrush in babies you will see a dramatic difference!!

elizalegs

takerany said:

@elizalegs I'm not trying to wipe it off after every feeding, only when I notice it starting to look like there's a significant amount. It was recommended by her pediatrician that I make sure it is something I'm able to wipe off and to keep an eye on it. I wouldn't purposefully introduce anything harmful to my daughter for the sake of her having a clean tongue. I'm only doing what her pediatrician says and she is still doing great. And if I did see signs of thrush, my first call would be to her clinic to set an appt for the very next day, if not the same

I hope I didn't offend you- I certainly didn't mean to imply you would intentionally harm your baby! Apologies if it came across that way

takerany

@elizalegs I'm not at all offended! Thank you for offering your advice

takerany

klcarr19 said:

Google image search oral thrush in babies you will see a dramatic difference!!

Thank God Mia's tongue doesn't look like that! Those babies look like they're in pain