Aunty Lactivist is all of us so if you can help please leave a comment below. Any ideas or links to useful websites would be much appreciated. If you have experience of this or have seen others get through it please let us know what helped.
Dear Aunty Lactivist Do you/anyone you know have experience of BFing a baby/toddler with oral herpes/cold sores? Being pressured to pump n dump or stop BFing…but not wanting to do either, though it is v sore! Thanks S
I also think my 18 month old has a cold sore. I have the cold sore virus myself though, so hopefully I am passing on lots of antibodies to her. I spoke to my doctor who hasn’t seen herpes lesions on the breast in 20 years, although it is possible. Much less likely if you have the virus yourself. I am continuing to feed as I would have been exposed to it already anyway before I noticed the cold sore if that makes sense. Why is it so sore? Do you have a breast/nipple lesion? If so, according to LLLI, its best to cover them up and feed from the other side so the baby is not infected by you…although if she already has one then ??? Also to pump and maintain your supply from that side. Hope that helps, if I find any more info I will share. PS it can be dangerous for newborns up to around 4 weeks to get the cold sore virus IF THE MOTHER HASN’T HAD THE COLD SORE VIRUS. This is because the baby will have no immunity/antibodies from the mother when in utero.
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who has the cold sore – you or the baby?
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Meant to say, the HVA (Herpes Virus Association) website is excellent for advice on transmission.
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Hi, I am the OP and it is my toddler who has the (very large, painful) coldsore… I cant see anything obvious on my nipples but believe they have been affected as they are very very tender and painful when touched/being fed from. As it is giving her much needed comfort and nourishment i am continuing to feed despite the (rubbish) practise nurse telling me not to.
I will check out the HVA website…and am seeing GP to make sure my daughter can get the anti-viral medicine on repeat prescription as it took 2 days to be seen/start treatment.
Thank you,
Sinead
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