Newborn Lip Blister – Causes, Treatment & Remedies

Introduction

Newborn Lip Blisters

Babies, particularly newborns, can develop lip blisters referred to as milk blisters, sucking blisters, or lip calluses. These sucking blisters may result from routine activities like learning how to breastfeed or bottle-feed, or in rare instances, may indicate an infection.

Lip blister

What is a Lip Blister?

A lip blister is a raised spot on the skin that is typically filled with fluid, just as blisters are seen everywhere on the body. When squeezed or broken open unnaturally, the skin may be sensitive and painful. Sometimes there is just one blister in the center of the lips, but other times it can appear that the infant has two sets of lips or is wearing lip liner because blisters develop all the way across the top and bottom lips. ¹ Lip Blister | Researched based study from Philadelphia FIGHT

Causes

What Causes Baby Lip Blisters?

The following conditions may be responsible for a baby’s lip blisters which include:

• Friction During Breastfeeding
• Cold sores
• Allergic reaction
• Impetigo
• Oral thrush

Friction during breastfeeding

Lip blisters can be caused by the friction on a child’s lips from learning to nurse, drinking from a bottle or sippy cup, their fingers, or even a pacifier. With a shallow latch, or when the baby is not correctly attached to the breast, these blisters can develop in breastfeeding infants.

When nursing infants overuse their lip muscles—specifically, the orbicularis oris (lip muscle), which rounds and shuts the lips—to maintain their latch on the breast, lip blisters may result.

Cold sores

Cold sores can result in lip blisters and are typically brought on by the herpes simplex virus. Cold sores can be uncomfortable and have pus in them, unlike friction blisters. Although most often affecting adults, this illness can also affect newborns because of their weakened immune systems.

Allergic reaction

When using lotions, creams, or lip balm on or close to newborns’ lips, blisters may occasionally develop as an allergic reaction to the substances in those products.

Impetigo

Blisters appear on the lip and around the mouth as a result of impetigo, an infection brought on by Staphylococcus or Streptococcus bacteria. They have the capacity to burst, releasing fluid, followed by the formation of a crust. They can sometimes resemble more prominent, transparent blisters that don’t swell and contain fluid.

Oral candidiasis/thrush

A fungal condition called oral thrush/candidiasis results in white blisters on your baby’s lips. White patches that look like cottage cheese or milk may form within the mouth due to infection which might also cause pain during breastfeeding in newborns.²What causes baby lip blisters?| Researched based study from Seattle Children’s, ³What causes baby lip blisters?| Researched based study from Dove Medical Press

Signs & Symptoms

Signs & Symptoms of Lip Blisters

• A small bulge in the upper lip of the newborn
• A tiny amount of lip-peeling
• Baby’s upper lip might be punctured by a single blister.¹ Signs & Symptoms| Researched based study from Philadelphia FIGHT

How do the baby’s lip blisters appear?

Baby lip blisters resemble tiny bubbles that typically look like a wide band stretching over the lips. These blisters are easy to spot since they occur as a swelling on your baby’s top lip or as a small amount of skin peeling away from their lips. The blisters often contain clear fluid, but in rare instances, they could include pus and must be treated immediately. ³How do the baby’s lip blisters appear?| Researched based study from Dove Medical Press

Sucking Issues

What Causes an Unsuccessful Latch-on or Sucking?

A breastfed baby must be able to remove milk from the breast effectively. To put on weight and consume the right nutrients, he or she needs to drink enough milk.  Poor milk removal will reduce mom’s milk supply, which could lead to a newborn’s inability to latch on and perhaps lead to lip blisters.How effectively a baby can suck and remove milk from the breast depends on a variety of factors. Some infants struggle to stay awake.

A few reasons why there may be suck or latch-on issues are as follows:

• Prematurity
• Labor and delivery of medication
• Down syndrome
• Jaundice
• Infection
• Cardiac defects
• Tongue-tie
• Cleft lip or palate.

Signs of ineffective Latch-on or Sucking

Understanding the warning indications that a baby is not sucking milk from the breast effectively is crucial which are as follows:

• Does not wake up on its own for eight or more feedings in a 24-hour period
• Frequently catches and releases the breast while feeding
• After five minutes of latching on or two to three minutes after sucking, the baby falls asleep
• For the first seven to ten minutes of a meal, does not consistently suckle
• More than 30 minutes without indicating fullness
• Less than two stools are formed each day towards the end of the first week (during the first four to eight weeks)
• By the end of the first week, there are fewer than six soaking wet diapers produced every 24 hours.⁴Signs of ineffective latch-on or sucking | Researched based study from Cincinnati Children’s

Tongue Tie & Baby Lip Blister

Tongue Tie & Baby Lip Blister

A tongue tie, sometimes referred to as ankyloglossia, is a disorder where a tissue band connects the tongue’s base to the floor of the mouth, restricting movement. A tongue tie occurs when the frenulum (a fold of tissue behind the tongue where it is attached) is excessively short or too tight causing the tongue to stick near the front of the mouth in a newborn.

Babies with tongue ties frequently struggle to fully extend their tongues, making it difficult for them to scoop up a large amount of breast milk and firmly keep it in their mouths while breastfeeding.  As a result, newborns with tongue ties frequently get scorching lips from trying to utilize their lips excessively to compensate for their tongues’ failure to maintain a deep latch and hold on to the breast firmly.⁵Tongue tie & Baby lip blister| Researched based study from Nemours KidsHealth ,⁶Tongue tie & Baby lip blister | Researched based study from National Institutes of Health

Teething Stage

Infant Teething Lips with Blisters

During the teething stage, saliva can lead to drool rash, a type of contact dermatitis (skin rash). Use an absorbent bib to catch any drool so that saliva doesn’t stay on your baby’s skin for too long. This will prevent your baby’s skin around her mouth from being inflamed and irritated by her own saliva dribbling down and staying on the skin for extended periods of time, which can lead to blisters on her lips.⁷Infant teething lips with blisters | Researched based study from Seattle Children’s

Mouth Blisters

Blisters in Newborn Baby’s Mouth

A newborn baby’s lips are typically elastic & sensitive, and when they are being nursed, they start sucking forcefully overusing their lip muscles. This generates friction resulting in lip blisters in newborns. Infants who are bottle-fed can also get lip blisters, although breastfed newborns are more likely to experience them. As newborns begin sucking while still in the womb, sucking blisters may form during intrauterine life as per a case study.  Baby lip blisters may go away in a day or two, so there’s no need to panic or take action. However, if the lip blisters persist for more than a few weeks, they can be an indication that the latching problem has to be fixed.⁸Blisters in newborn baby’s mouth| Researched based study from JAMA Network

Do They Hurt?

Do Lip Blisters hurt Babies?

Lip blisters don’t hurt a newborn because they disappear on their own after a few days to a few weeks of their initial occurrence. The blisters may last longer owing to latching issues if they persist for an extended period of time, so a healthcare provider should be consulted.  The development of lip blisters as a result of tongue or lip binding may endure for a very long period and necessitate medical intervention. ¹ Do lip blisters hurt babies? | Researched based study from Philadelphia FIGHT, ⁴ Do lip blisters hurt babies? | Researched based study from Cincinnati Children

Removal & Treatment

Removal & Treatment of Baby’s Lip Blisters

The cause of a baby’s lip blisters will determine the treatment course. Keep an eye on the blisters for three to four days to see if they are caused by sucking. Find the latching issue and resolve it if it persists or does not disappear on its own which can be achieved by following the below suggestions:

Blisters due to breastfeeding

• Gently touch your baby’s lips with your nipple. Your baby’s mouth may widen if you do this.
• Aim to place the nipple just over your child’s upper lip. Ensure that the newborn’s chin is pointing towards their chest.
• The baby’s bottom lip should be turned away from your nipple’s base.

Make your child latch on by leading them into the breast chin first.

• A successful latch is characterized by an extended tongue, a mouth that is filled with your breast, and an everted lower lip on the infant.

Blisters due to bottle-feeding

Check your feeding technique, fully enclose the bottle nipple in your baby’s mouth, or use a timed feeding bottle until your infant is comfortable latching if your bottle-fed baby develops suck blisters. To relieve the milk blisters on your baby’s lips, apply a warm compress.

Blisters due to cold sores

Cold sores usually go away on their own, but if your child gets a fever or shows signs of mouth inflammation, you should take them to the doctor. By implementing the following steps, you can stop newborns from developing cold sores which include:

• Do not allow infected family members to touch or kiss the newborn
• Before handling the newborn’s bottles, or pacifiers, always wash your hands.
• Don’t let sick persons share your newborn’s towels or linens. ¹Removal & Treatment of baby’s lip blister | Researched based study from Philadelphia FIGHT, ²Removal & Treatment of baby’s lip blister | Researched based study from Seattle Children, ⁸Removal & Treatment of baby’s lip blister| Researched based study from JAMA Network

Duration

Duration of Newborn Lip Blisters

Baby lip blisters typically take a few days to a few weeks to disappear or resolve. Though your newborn may have a latching problem that causes them to latch onto the nipple with their lips,  if blisters continue to persist after many weeks, the issue needs to be treated by a healthcare professional. ¹ Duration | Researched based study from Philadelphia Fight

Suggestions

Suggestions to Promote Healing of a Lip Blister in Newborn

Breastfed milk

Breast milk contains a number of nutrients that are a dependable source of nutrition. To soothe and moisturize your baby’s lips as well as reduce the chance of infection, dab a few drops of breast milk into their lips.

Organic oils

Apply a few drops of coconut oil or olive oil on your newborn baby’s lips to effectively moisturize them and help heal the blisters on lips.

Lanolin cream

If you are already treating your nipples with a lanolin cream, a small spread on the lips of your newborn can help promote the healing of a lip blister. ¹ Suggestions to promote healing of a lip blister in newborn | Researched based study from Philadelphia Fight, ⁴ | Researched based study from Cincinnati Children’s

Takeaway

Takeaway Points for Lip Blisters in Newborn

• Infants with lip blisters may have little bubbles or a wide band covering their lips.
• Babies’ lips might get inflamed due to cold sores or sucking.
• Although they can happen to newborns who are bottle-fed, lip blisters are more common in breastfed infants.
• Newborns with sucking blisters can benefit from proper latching positions and practices.
• Before interacting with a newborn, always wash your hands, and handle the baby’s bottles with care
• Conditions such as tongue-tie and lip-tie may hinder your infant’s ability to latch properly and cause additional blisters
• Lip blisters often disappear without medical intervention in a few days to a few weeks. If blisters continue to develop after several weeks, your newborn might have a latching issue that leads them to latch onto the nipple with their lips. ¹ Takeaway| Researched based study from Philadelphia Fight, ²Takeaway | Researched based study from Seattle Children’s, ⁸ Takeaway| Researched based study from JAMA Network