Dear Pat and Dr. Newman,

Thanks for your replies.  I am aware of the way to use it, recommend it
frequently, and agree it is a valuable medicine.  It is such a wonderful
relief to so many mothers and baby's who are on a Merry-go-round with painful
symptoms of thrush.  What I was surprised about was drinking it!  That was new
to me.  I had been warned in the far distant past to make sure the swabs used
in the baby's mouth were not so heavy wet that the baby ended up swallowing
it.   The idea was to "paint the baby's mouth" topically and not allow baby to
injest it.  To suggest people drink it floored me!
It is good to be reassured that it is not as hazardous as I thought.

And I DID see a baby with severe mouth ulcers from gentian violet about 5
years ago.  Mother was advised to use it by her doctor after the nystatin
didn't work.  She received no instructions and was swabbing the baby's mouth
with lots of gentian violet 4 times a day for 2 weeks!  She assumed the
instructions were the same she had been given for the nystatin.  They had a
terrible time until baby's mouth healed.  Mom actually called me for a pump
because baby's mouth was too sore to nurse.  That experience also made me a
little concerned about the possible potency of gentian violet.  It was
obviously greatly overused in this case.

As a wise doctor once told my Father:  "There is a little bit of poison in
everything."  All medicines have to be used correctly to see their benefit,
and they can be potentially harmful if misused/overused.

Jane Bradshaw