This is How to Apply Gentian Violet to a Baby Who Has Thrush without making a mess.

Thrush is a white film on the mouth that grows when bacteria is left to thrive. It is very common for babies and breastfeeding moms.

To tell if its thrush see a doctor and/or try to scrape it off gently with a Q-tip. If it doesn’t come off and its a white film in the mouth, its probably thrush.

My 3 month old got thrush likely from his sister putting all sorts of his teething toys and bottles in her mouth (while I’m not looking). It is hard to always control the environment when babies are only 19 months apart.

My doctor suggested I use Nysatin or Genetian Violet to remove my son’s thrush. I tried (Nysatin) but despite 20 applications (morning and night for 10 days), the thrush didn’t go away.

Then I tried Gentian Violet. It is extremely effective in curing thrush. After just 2 applications my baby’s thrush was completely gone. However, I did four applications for good measure.

My doctor told me to apply this every 12 hours 4 times.

Gentian Violet was so much easier to use than using Nysatin to treat it.

My doctor just warned me that it is really messy and that is why some mothers prefer trying Nysatin first.

I think that, with proper preparation, a mom would prefer a medicine that only takes 1-2 days to cure an ailment vs. ten plus days.

For Gentian Violet to only require 3-4 applications instead of 20+ applications of Nysatin—mess or no— I bet most mom’s would prefer to go the quicker route.

It is true that Gentian Violet can stain but after a couple of applications I was able to apply Gentian Violet with little to no mess. I show how to do this in the video in this post or you can read how in step by step instructions below.

A few other good things about Gentian Violet is that it does not require a prescription (you can get it over the counter at most pharmacies) or on Amazon here and it only cost $7.00 dollars.

Important- Your baby does not swallow this, it is applied via Q-tip to the skin and tongue and other areas of the mouth in a diluted strength.

See this video

How to Apply Gentian Violet to a Baby Who Has Thrush

1- First, feed and burp your baby. I found if you try to feed him/her after you apply it, the Gentian Violet purple hue will get all over the bottle or skin. It can also come up mixed with spit up.

2- Dress the baby in something dark and put a bib on.

3- Get all the supplies ready.

4- Use an old or dark towel for the baby to lay on. I put an old purple towel over my baby’s bouncy chair which worked really well.

5- I put a towel down that I didn’t care if I stained and put the supplies on it. Supplies to put on the towel: 1 syringe, 1 empty cup tipped on its side with some tissue in it (to hold the lid of the Gentian Violet while in use and then the syringe after use), one empty cup (to dilute), one cup with water, gloves, Q-tips, tissue, vaseline, and the Gentian Violet.

6- If your Gentian Violet says 1% you need to dilute it by half. So that you arrive at a 0.5%. So I mixed 9 ml Gentian Violet with 9 ml of water (my syringe was only 6ml so in the video I show myself adding 6ml and then 3ml). If your Gentian Violet says 2% you’ll need to dilute it to 0.5% as well. So you’ll mix 3 ml of the 2% of Gentian Violet and 9 ml water. Basically, you want the Gentian Violet’s strength to be 0.5%. Use water from the cup with water and put it in the empty cup. Stir it and put the syringe in the empty cup with tissue.

7-Place the baby on the dark towel with bib on.

8- Put gloves on yourself.

9- Put vaseline all over the baby’s lips, mouth, chin, surrounding nose and cheeks (just make sure not to block his nostril’s).

10- Dip a Q-tip in the diluted Gentian Violet and let it absorb it. Then put it in baby’s mouth and rub it all around inside. Get good coverage on the cheeks, tongue, gums, roof of mouth, under the tongue, etc. I used 3-4 Q-tips, using a new one each time I dip to get good application.

11- When done applying, wipe your baby’s mouth and face with tissue to get the Gentian Violet that may have gotten on baby’s skin and the vaseline off.

12- To dispose of the Gentian Violet, take the stopper out of your sink drain (if there is one) and pour the Gentian Violet mixture directly down the drain (it will stain light colored sinks).

13- For an hour or so keep a bib on the baby and use it to dab any spit or saliva (as it will be tinted purple).

14- Keep baby in dark clothes or clothes you don’t mind getting stained while their mouth is dyed purple. I noticed that the Gentian Violet did come out fairly good in the wash if I washed everything soon after it got soiled. To stay on the safe side, just keep the baby in dark and/or not expensive clothing.

Supply List on How to Apply Gentian Violet to a Baby Who Has Thrush

1 syringe

3 paper cups (1 empty tipped on its side with some tissue in it), one with some water, one empty

I was so relieved with how quickly this worked to cure my son’s thrush. He is such a sweet little baby and I’m glad he’s better. I really hope this helps you know how to apply Gentian Violet to a baby with thrush as well.