Cleaning Baby’s Tongue

It’s to prevent thrush! Even without teeth you should be cleaning babies mouth from the formula/breastmilk.

It’s hard to keep a routine but yes we are supposed to clean their gums and wipe their tongue. Thrush/bacteria can grow on their tongue and in mouth in general

I do this because he be having milk tongue lol but if its no need for it then you dont have to do honestly. Some people dont do it at all and it be fine but again for milk tongue and to help prevent thrush I personally do it.

I didn’t know about it until my son was about 2 weeks old. My nurse told me to do it twice a day, like brushing your teeth

We didn’t do it all the time but whenever I wiped my baby’s face with a washcloth or burp cloth, I wiped her gums (occasionally tongue) too. Her pediatrician told us to do so at our first appointment. Once you introduce a toothbrush, you don’t have to use a cloth anymore. It’s definitely recommended to keep 0-6 month old’s mouth clean. Imagine how much milk residue could build up in a baby’s mouth when it’s not wiped away or rinsed with water.

I’m on my third and was never advised to do this by any of my healthcare providers (midwife, health visitor, GP). They’re very consistent with the info they give and none of the leaflets I’ve been given or direct advice has covered this, however I have questioned it myself as my EBF baby does have quite a white tongue but when I asked about it they said it’s not thrush and didnt tell me to clean it so? Seems to be varying advice. I’m in the UK

@Sinead i googled it too, but all the sources the AI used are random articles, nothing medical

i was also informed by health visitor about cleaning babies mouth, they’re having milk etc so of course you should clean their mouths, like brushing our teeth/tongues x

@Sinead ah see I think the difference may be American vs UK. Because the American stuff comes up differently. Thank you for your input! I’ll probably end up asking my pediatrician

@Brianna i did wonder maybe there’s different information out there based on location! X

This is common in some cultures but is not recommended routine practice where I am (UK)