Cold sore in a baby - any advice or tips?

[Marina]

We have a doctor's appointment for dd first thing tomorrow morning as she woke up today with an odd looking sore spot in the corner of her mouth. Red round the edges, yellowish in the middle, but no broken skin or oozing yet (sorry if anyone is eating while reading this).
Our GP, who hasn't seen her yet of course, maintains that cold sores are unusual in babies. Is this true, does anyone know? No-one else in our family has ever had one, so I am fairly clueless - and concerned. She has had loads of antibiotics for chronic ear problems this spring and I am worried her immune system has been worn down by them.
So - any tips if it is a cold sore?
Any natural remedies that might help her? Is she too young for acyclovir?
Will I catch it myself if I keep b/f (bit late for that now but don't fancy herpes of the nipple much )
Any advice or tips very gratefully received. She is 10 months old and otherwise well and surprisingly cheerful given the miserable health run she has had lately...

Hi Marina,
My son who is 2 has just recovered from a week of illness from the cold sore virus. If it is a cold sore that your dd has then she may well become very poorly with gingivostomatitis (google it!). This is the first response in infants and children to infection with the herpes simplex 1 virus.
I really would suggest that if possible you try to get your dd seen asap because acyclovir may be able to limit the spread of the virus.

marina, i'm so sorry to hear this good luck at the gp. hugs sqxxx

Yes it is rare in babies. usually it would take the form that goosey described. DS1's first infection was age 11 months when it infected his eczema and he developed eczema herpeticum (which can be very serious as it can lead to blood poisoning). Definitely worth getting it looked at.

oh just re-read that sounds a bit worrying- eczema herpeticum can lead to blood poisoning, but not the "normal" form, or not from a cold sore- just if eczema gets infected.

My son was given oral acyclovir by the hospital. I wouldn't recommend it though as I don't think it did him any favours.

Marina,

First, it does sound like a classic cold sore. Second, she could have picked it up anywhere, especially if she's been ill with other things and her little system is a bit run down. Our gp maintained that kids just "pick them up." Ds was about 18 months when he got his first one--a little older than your dd, admittedly. And for us it was clear how & why he got it: a visitor with an active cold sore decided to kiss ds on the lips. (I saw it happen, and was unable to stop it in time. You can imagine how often I beat myself up over that one!)

Anyway, his situation was much less dramatic than either goosey's or jimjams's. The cold sore stayed for about 10 days, no gingivostomatitis, a little temperature at first. And that's it. Unfortunately he then started getting cold sores about every 3 months for about a year, and then it petered off to about once every 6 months, which is about where we are now. He doesn't get a temperature with it BUT it often portends an upcoming viral infection--i.e. just after it goes, he'll get ill with a little sore throat or cold, probably due to his being a bit run down anyway.

Acyclovir may shorten the infection (ask your doctor if she's old enough for it) but I haven't found that to be the case. I think it's best to use zovirax & the like at the first tingle of infection (which you can't know with a baby or toddler!). So I just let it run its course each time ds gets one as it doesn't seem to bother him much. If your dd continues to get them as she gets older, it will be important to remind her not to kiss anybody at nursery when she has a sore.

I don't know about your catching it--good question for the doctor. Sorry to hear this, Marina. I hope you get some good news & good info from the gp tomorrow. Good luck.

Ohand if you fancy digging up archived messages, there are a few which talk about alternative remedies for cold sorestea tree oil & the like (?)--but I think some of the mums decided in the end that they don't actually work. This is some years back, now, so my memory may be off.

Marina, sorry to hear that your dd may have cold sores, I hope she isn't too uncomfortable with it.
My ds had cold sores all around his eyes when he was 14 months. The hospital gave him topical acyclovir (Zovirax) though I'm not sure if it really helped as they go on their own any way. I had gingivostomatitis when I was about 18 months and now get cold sores every month or so. Ds has another outbreak on his eyes about once a year. I am sure she will recover quickly. I tend to just put tea tree oil or boots cold sore lotion on mine and ds's now as I don't like the anti-viral stuff. Hope she isn't too upset by it.

marina,

i would do 3 things:

1-drop 1 drop of neat tea tree on it twice a day, use a cotton bud. make sure its a pure essential oil. i have done this on baby for odd spot and always helps. lots of people find it helps cold sore.Even if its not a cold sore, there are not many skin conditions that tea tree can't help.

2-give her 1 or 2 drops of Echinacea 3 times a day until a few weeks after its gone. Bioforce brand is ok for babies, we use it all the time to nip all illnesses in the bud. it will boost her immune system and it is also anti-viral. can add it to any drink or food.

3-give her some friendly bacteria to counter-act the favt that the antibiotics will have killed of lots of her own good bacteria. it will also boost her immune system. Babies have different strains of bacteria in their gut than adults, so try Solgar ABCdophilus or CountryLife baby bacteria from a health shop(not Holland and Barret, dont think thet sell it). it comes in a powder that you add a very small amount of, to any drink or food.

the echinacea and baby bacteria will also generally help with her "miserable health run"

we own a health shop and these are the 2 things we always have at home for our 2 children.

Expatkat, I felt such a sense of outrage that your DS had been kissed on the lips by someone with a coldsore ??? How stupid is that?? That is so senseless and selfish, I am lost for words. May I enquire how old this visitor was? My SIL thinks her DD should kiss my DD on the lips and when I say no, her husband tells me that "...she needs the bacteria...". WT*?
I am so pleased that there are other mums out there who think it wrong as I was beginning to think I was the only one and felt like I was verging on the neurotic.
Unfortunately, once somebody kick starts the virus, it's there when you get run down. I do suffer from cold sores from time to time and I only allow cheek to cheek kissing the air kisses with my children when I occasionally get one as they are so contagious.
Enough said.

Marina, I hope you'll come back to us later today with what the doctor said. Good luck.

Chicpea, it was someone who worked for us at the time, a woman in her early 20s. She should have known better. Your BIL and SIL sound quite the pair.

And Keepingmum, do you really get cold sores about once a month or what that a misprint? If so, poor you! And how often do you get them, chicpea?

Expatkat, I get one maybe once or twice a year only because I have now learnt to manage the condition. I had been prescribed Zovirax but I found that made no difference at all. In fact, now that I am thinking back, when I was in my early twenties, if I felt that tingling sensation, I would make a paste with some vit c powder (difficult to find as heroin addicts use it to mix their fix with) and a teeny bit of brewed filter coffee granules and apply it every 5/10 mins for an hour covered with a thin film of Vaseline (I read something about vit c and coffee once and didn't know which one would be more effective so used them both). Very interestingly, if I caught it early, the coldsore did not develop, I just got a small bump and no weeping or infection. And I have to say, I definitely did have the start of one.
I also found that in my single days if I went out every night for say two weeks, by the end of it I would have swollen glands which could lead to a possible coldsore. However, if I applied Vaseline to my lips EVERY night, I generally didn't get the coldsore, only the swollen glands.
It seems that Vaseline acts as some sort of protection and maybe stops something from developing?? And I still put it on every night.
Sorry, this has gone on a bit.

Another thing, if I get a mouth ulcer or two from just being too busy and not enough sleep, I work on the ulcer straight away using Aloclair mouthwash (which cushions ulcers) and some thick paste, I think it was the one mentioned earlier on, begins with A..., which is fantastic. If I don't attack the ulcer, I can then get the threat of a coldsore.

So, there you have it. One last thing, if someone turns up at the house with a cold sore I take them aside and discreetly say "...Oh you poor thing, you have a coldsore! I get them all the time (I don't!) and it's so important not to kiss the children as you know they are so contagious...". I have learnt never to presume...! Maybe that dawned on me after my SIL and BIL visited from USA with their DD (dratted daughter) who incidentally had a cold and insisted on kissing my DD on the lips.My DD was 3mths old when she got her first streaming cold.
Sorry, I have really gone on and on!

Belated return to this thread to thank everyone for warning me that this is potentially very serious in a young baby. I had no idea!
So I pretty much dropped everything last week and legged it home to the GPs (they gave us an emergency appt when I explained what the problem might be).
Anyway, dd was diagnosed as having impetigo - never thought I'd be pleased to hear that diagnosis, and following antibiotic treatment, it has cleared up. We were visiting my parents (no internet access) over the long weekend which is why I did not post before.
My heartfelt sympathies to everyone who has this condition on here - I have no personal experience of it and hope to keep it that way, from what you all say.
Gloworm, thanks so much for those tips for boosting her general immunity. I used to give ds Bioforce echinacea for children during the winter and should go and get some fresh. She already has Solgar in her cereal and as much live yogurt as I can persuade her to eat! I wish we had your health food shop near us instead of a hopeless Holland and Barratt...

Goosey, I did google gingivostomatitis, and mention it to my GP, by the way. I really hope your little guy is on the mend now.