Woke up with cold sore scared to pass it to the baby.

[Alina_M]

Hello everyone! I am a little bit in panic as woke up and when looked in the mirror i saw a cold sore which apeared overnight.I have a 4.5 months old baby and scared to pass it to him.I never kiss my baby on the lips but i was playing in the morning and i kissed him on the cheek and his hands.Please any advice?i don't know what to do to make the cold sore to dissapear also concerned if baby was in contact with it.As i've read horrible stories about what cold sores(herpex) could do to a baby and i am very scared.

Thank you

[Hidden]

The herpes virus can be very serious and you are right to be cautious. Some info from baby centre:

'If you carry the virus, your baby is protected from cold sores for at least his first six months by antibodies he received from you in the uterus (womb). But if your newborn baby does get a cold sore, call your doctor straight away. His immune system is still developing, so any kind of herpes virus can be dangerous.'

The NHS suggests this to prevent passing on the virus to your baby:

“If you develop a cold sore or think you're coming down with a herpes infection, take these precautions:

don't kiss any babies

wash your hands before contact with a baby

wash your hands before breastfeeding and cover up any cold sores to avoid accidentally touching your mouth and then breast – this is enough to transfer the virus”

Hope that helps x

[Lyndsaytw79]

Is it your first cold sore?

[Alina_M in reply to Lyndsaytw79]

Hello!No i've had before

When i was pregnant in the first 3-4 months i had as well

[Lyndsaytw79 in reply to Alina_M]

Okay well that’s a positive because it’s most dangerous if you’re having your first outbreak postnatally because it would mean your baby had zero immunity from you against it. Just be very vigilant with hand washing. You can get the compeed patches to cover it which is another barrier. Don’t kiss baby obviously. Are you breastfeeding?

[Alina_M in reply to Lyndsaytw79]

yes i am breastfeeding and washing my hand everytime before picking the baby up or breastfeeding.Not kissing the baby for 2 days already,its very hard.Last night i got compeed and i put it overnight .I ruined 1 patch as i didn't put it right and was scared as it was very strong and hard to remove it .With second patch it went well.I've called the doctors and they left message to my doctor to get back to me.

[Lyndsaytw79 in reply to Alina_M]

Yeah just have a chat with gp. There is an antiviral called acyclovir but I’m not sure about it with breastfeeding. Ask them because they’re really good. They really reduce the severity of it and the healing time x

[Alina_M in reply to Lyndsaytw79]

will do.Thank you c

[Alina_M]

x