Lemon swabs for oral care? Opinions, please!`

[NICU_Nurse]

Okay, what's everyone doing as far as lemon swabs are concerned? I recently was engaged in discussion about this with a friend I work with, and I remembered that someone posted something about them actually have the opposite of the intended effect on the oral mucosa. However, having no hard and fast research to back me up, she didn't believe me. :) Does anyone remember us having this conversation a while back? I searched under "oral" and "mouth" and "swab" in this forum and came up with jack. Thanks!

[NICU_Nurse, BSN, RN]

Umm...."***." was supposed to read Association.

[BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN]

I'm just curious as to why you wouldn't use a toothette? :)

We'll have the parents bring in an unflavored/scented Chapstick for the kids that are long term and need something on their lips :)

[Gompers, BSN, RN]

The hospital provides us with tubes of Vaseline, so we use that to keep the lips (and tongue in swollen, pavulonized babies) moist. Otherwise just suction and use gauze with sterile water like you guys said.

I remember waking up from an operation and being given those lemon swabs in the recovery room. I had been under general anesthesia for six hours, so you can imagine how my mouth felt. In that moment, those nasty swabs were about the best thing I'd ever tasted in my life, LOL.

[Tweety, BSN, RN]

opps..sorry.

[neominder]

we haven't had lemon swabs in our unit for much longer then i have been there. suctioning, sterile h2o and gauze are the norm. i like to dip a sterile cotton tipped swab in breastmilk for small vented babies. it gives them a positive oral stimulation, they love it, they suck on it like it was the best thing on earth...and if they were eating, that would be what lubes the mucous membranes of the mouth...plus the moms love it. even if the baby isn't eating yet, she still is providing something pleasent for her baby that only she can.:)

[Mimi2RN, ASN, RN]

I like to use a little suction, water and cotton swabs to clean their mouths. Sometimes I'll take over a vented baby and their mouths are gummed together! I don't understand why anyone would leave a baby like that. The little ones look so much happier when they've been cleaned up. It's so cute when they stick out their tongues as they feel the water and swab! The breast milk sounds like a good idea, too.

The lemon swabs are disgusting, even for adults. I like the idea of ginger ale, but not on the babies!

[kitty29]

I am so glad to come accross this thred, and will submit it to our nurse practice committee.

I hate them because so many nurses just leave them in the baby's mouth and walk away...and that cotton stuff can come off. Also so many baby's actually get "hooked" on them.

Thank you for all this information! :)

[kitty29]

I have an update! I gave all the information you folks shared to our Nurse Practice Committee, and last week they decided that our NICU will no longer be using lemon glycerin swabs!!!

I am so very happy! However as many of our nurses are reading their emails, they have not had pleasent comments! The ones I have heard I have told them why this action was taken.

Just had to share........Thank You!!!!!!!!!! :)

[Chad_KY_SRNA]

If they don't like it run up and swab them with one of those nasty swabs and leave it in their mouth :angryfire. I am horrible for trying things that people debate about, to a point, and when I tried the lemon glycerine swabs I became ill! Upset stomach and all. I tried in desperation to get the taste out of my mouth with large amounts of water. They are worse than aweful, poor babies are having their taste glands assaulted. Lol I am crazy! Please overlook me when I get like this.

[kitty29]

If they don't like it run up and swab them with one of those nasty swabs and leave it in their mouth :angryfire. I am horrible for trying things that people debate about, to a point, and when I tried the lemon glycerine swabs I became ill! Upset stomach and all. I tried in desperation to get the taste out of my mouth with large amounts of water. They are worse than aweful, poor babies are having their taste glands assaulted. Lol I am crazy! Please overlook me when I get like this.

You are right, I've tried them too and they are terrible! Hard to believe the little ones will suck on them. Then when they get mom's good brst milk they don't want it....not good!!!

[prmenrs, RN]

They'll suck on ANYTHING--only self-comforting thing they know how to do-, but that doesn't mean it's good for them or that they like it.

I wonder if NANN or ANN has a position paper on it. Lemon/glycerin swabs should just go away from NICUs. They don't do anything good, and they are probably harmful.

[apaisRN, RN, CRNA]

They are stocked in my (adult) MICU/CICU but I never use them. A few pts have said they are gross (I admit I've never tried one) so now I generally use the green toothettes that are prepackaged with mouthwash and hook to the suction setup. I don't know if those would be good for babies. I use the pink swabs occasionally but the green ones are just faster and easier.