It started with a fever. The next morning, the fever vanished. She was more needy than usual, but I credited it to her new teeth pushing their way through. As the day progressed so did her red lips. Then, a small pimple-like bump appeared on her bottom lip. So it began. At just a year and a half, she is experiencing her fist cold sore.
The Beginning Of Two Long Weeks
That night I tried to brush her teeth, but the poor thing wouldn’t have it. I was able to get a glimpse into her tiny mouth and saw at least three sores.
The next couple weeks were sad to watch as my baby girl had sores multiplying daily inside her mouth. On her tongue, on the sides, her gums, the roof of her mouth and on her lips. She usually eats anything and everything but with her new owies would barely touch a thing, usually only to get frustrated and throw down whatever it was once she realized it was hurting her. Even smoothies were not a hit.
She was not getting much sleep, not eating, and was in pain to top it off. There wasn’t much that I could do to help with the pain. There are over-the-counter medicines that treat cold sores, but none safe for young children as far as I know. Besides, those medicines are for topical use only and most of the sores were inside her mouth.
We were working on night-weaning when this all began. Since the breast was the only place she seemed comfortable, I was willing to give up the hard-earned progress I’d worked for to give her any bit of relief.
The Good News
Sad as it was, I wasn’t too freaked out. My older daughter had the same thing happen, and my niece and nephew too. Without the experience I would have been sure it was hand-foot-mouth disease, and almost wish it was. It’s sad to know both my girls will probably get cold sores throughout their lives since they’ve been exposed to the virus. This was about 3 weeks ago and she has now a new cold sore on her lip. Thankfully this one and all future cold sores will be “normal” compared to the first awful outbreak.
The good news about herpes simplex-1 virus is that most adults have it, but only about 30% actually get the sores. Hopefully my kids will fall into the 30%.
Have you experienced anything like this? What’s your story?
