Someone kissed my 3 week old with a cold sore, what can I do?!?!

[Applecrumble0110]

So we had a relative (my aunt) visit my baby and we are super close so I happily welcomed her. My baby is 3 weeks old and I'm super tired and had my entire family around when my aunt walked in so I didn't see anything on her lips/face and she held baby and kissed his head twice. It was a few minutes later he needed a nappy change and I saw a cold sore!!! I feel severe panic right now and anxiety. I cleaned babys face and head but is there anything else I can do plz help

So she didn't kiss his lips?. All good then op....

Bit of watered down tea tree oil on the bit of face.

What was your aunt thinking?!!!!!!

Not the lips but possibly on the face/cheek area!

Nothing. It’s too late to do anything now. You’ve wiped their face; that’s all you can do. There’s no point panicking about something that has happened.

Cold sores can be very dangerous for tiny babies. Please talk to a medical professional.

It's pretty late and a Sunday evening, not sure who to talk to. Are there any signs I should look out for

She was very apologetic later and said she completely forgot about the cold sore but I'm still so panicky right now

What a stupid woman! Urgh.

Don't panic though, it's good you know what she has done so if he gets sick you can tell the doctors so they know to give antivirals.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/neonatal-herpes/

No advice but annoyed on your behalf. Give baby’s hands a clean too as she’s likely to have been touching little ones hands and who knows if she’s touched her face

I would have popped him straight in the bath and washed him over with soap.
Coldsores can be deadly for babies.

Good advice I mainly focused on the head and washed with water and then also put some breastmilk in the water (I don't know what for, i guess I was just doing anything under panic mode) I will throughly wash his hands now and bath him later

Stupid bloody woman.

Just keep a close eye and straight to medical help if needed. Check the NHS page so you know what you're looking for.

Oh come on OP is aware how serious they can be for babies hence the panic, she doesn’t need to read that!!

@Coconutter24 honestly I do, I would have called mt dr if it wasn't a Sunday evening so just asked on here incase anyone had experience. Thank you

I wouldn’t have even visited a newborn if I had a coldsore never mind kiss them on the face. Silly woman. Not much you can do I am afraid, hopefully it was not blistering still and had scabbed over.

I think what you’ve done is the right thing by cleaning, are you in the uk? You could ring 111 for advice/to put your mind at rest

I've never known anyone forget they have a cold sore. She didn't say anything as she wanted baby cuddles. Stupid selfish woman.

@Coconutter24 I am yes, I might call now to get some advice

A baby I know ended up with encephalitis at 6 months old after being kissed by someone with a cold sore and is now severely disabled.

I'll never understand the selfishness and stupidity of people kissing babies when they have cold sores!

My in laws passed the herpes virus to my kids via cold sores and sharing towels the one and only weekend they had them to stopover. Thankfully, the worst my kids developed was cold sores themselves. I'll never forgive them for infecting them though.

Unfortunately there isn’t much you can do for your baby now, hopefully they will be fine as they weren't kissed on the lips.

I wouldn’t be letting your aunt hold the baby again. No one should be kissing a baby, cold sore or not.

Stupid selfish woman is right. As you don’t know where she kissed or how shit her hand hygiene was, I’d call 111 for advice.

I say this as someone whose three week old had to go onto infusions of acyclovir, via five different cannulas because the drug burns the veins.

This is not meant to scare you, my baby is fine now, but it was such an ordeal that she did not need.

Your aunt is a real twat.

Most babies that age will be absolutely fine because they receive antibodies in the womb. It’s likely you have come into contact in the past with the virus and passed that protection on to your baby during pregnancy. The danger is when babies are carried by a mother who has never contracted the virus and therefore have zero antibody protection when they are kissed by somebody with a cold sore. That’s why neonatal herpes is so rare.

Chances are everything will be okay but I would seek medical advice, particularly if you’re unsure whether you have the virus yourself. I’d also be really annoyed about boundaries around baby not being respected and have a firm word with relatives,

@Bournetilly yes it wasn't on the mouth for sure so I am trying to be hopeful thank you