13 mo w/ cold sores?!

[red and lulu]

It looks like dd is developing a cold sore on her bottom lip -- it was a little red and swollen for a day or two (I thought she bumped it) but now I see a flat little white blister in the middle of it. I'm kind of freaking out.

Anyone have experience w/ this? What do I do? Can I continue to nurse her? How did this happen?

[peainthepod]

Is it on the outside of her mouth or the inside of her lip? If it's on the inside it could be a canker sore, which is not the same thing as a cold sore (oral herpes). If it's on the outside, she could have gotten oral herpes from an infected adult who was loving on her during an outbreak. My mother infected both of my younger siblings this way (though I managed to escape, somehow).

22mo DS has had a sore in his mouth before; I think he either bit the inside of his lip and caused a small abcess, or it was a run-of-the-mill canker sore. It caused him some discomfort but went away after a few days.

I would definitely keep nursing her! Even dab some milk directly on the sore a few times a day. It can't hurt.

[VTmamadownsouth]

My son got exposed to Herpes Simplex 1 when he was just shy of 2, when my mom kissed him while she had a blister. He had an absolutely TERRIBLE outbreak, and I was really upset.

I scoured MDC and found lots of posts about using Lysine at the first signs of a outbreak (or ongoing), as well as Grapefruit Seed Extract during an outbreak. Other than that it's mostly about boosting the immune system. There are also some homeopathic Apparently something like 80% of adults in the U.S. carry this virus, so it's very common.

Here is the link to my previous thread about this topic: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...ight=cold+sore

You can find other topics about this by searching "cold sore".

Good luck! I know how much this sucks, but my son has not had any outbreaks since the initial one in February, and I understand that maybe people do not have subsequent outbreaks after the initial one.

[red and lulu]

Originally Posted by peainthepod

Is it on the outside of her mouth or the inside of her lip? If it's on the inside it could be a canker sore, which is not the same thing as a cold sore (oral herpes). If it's on the outside, she could have gotten oral herpes from an infected adult who was loving on her during an outbreak. My mother infected both of my younger siblings this way (though I managed to escape, somehow).

It's not on the inside, but not on the outside either, it's sort of in between. Like when her mouth is closed it touches her top lip.

I just don't know how she got it; I don't know anyone who gets sores, though dp has hsv1. But his first (and only) outbreak was years ago and not on his face. I don't have it, last I knew.

VTmamadownsouth, thanks for the grapefruit seed extract suggestion. I read your thread -- I share a lot of those feelings, that my beautiful baby may have to contend with this her whole life and I feel angry and sad and just awful about it.